Empty categories.. Good or Bad?

Simon Gooffin · 06-08-2006

Empty categories.. I do not remember if we have already discussed this question before. But I think it's very important to understand if it's good for SE to have lots of categories or bad. I ofter see hundreds or even thousands of categories but very few links. Most categories do not contain any links at all. Any thoughts? Please share.

redeye · 06-08-2006

Don't know what effect it has on SEO, but when I visit a directory and see all those empty categories I feel I've visited an amateur site and don't go back.

Just like going into a supermarket with empty shelves!

Ryan · 06-08-2006

Thats a good question, if you do have a lot of empy categories then visitors might not come back, but if you dont have the categories, webmasters might not submit their sites. So at the start i think its good to have the empty categories to allow webmaster to submit, then maybe after a few months you can trim some of the empty categories out but in all I think they are needed.

Simon Gooffin · 06-08-2006

Ok, thanks for sharing your ideas about visitors. But there is another important thing called Search Engine Optimization. Do search engine spiders like tons of similar pages with the only difference - category titles? That's the question that bothers me a lot also.

Sai_dallas · 06-08-2006

Simon,

If there is lot of empty categories search engines do not like that.

That is why it will take time for a Directory to get good PR.

There is no easy escape; you have to have empty categories in the beginning to let the user know where their link should be.

If you are manually adding links, it is better you cover the empty categories then adding links in the same category.

Thanks
Sai

Sai_dallas · 06-08-2006

A Major help is having a .htm or .html file for each category.

You may check http://www.Onebigtravel.com

This site is indexed better as soon as I started that site.

I need to get this site to esyndicat 1.2 as soon as I can but do not have time. Older version is installed but the links were not moved at that time.

So, I am still pointing to cpLinks version on that site.

I like cpLinks software but, there is no help of any kind.
(Do not use it – you can not get any support)

Thanks
Sai

EDIT: This site is since converted to eSyndicat.

jschodde · 06-08-2006

My thoughts on this were to have a very visible message in the empty category like "Be the first to add your listing here!" with a hyperlink to the "Suggest a Link" page.

subseo · 06-08-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon Gooffin

But there is another important thing called Search Engine Optimization. Do search engine spiders like tons of similar pages with the only difference - category titles? That's the question that bothers me a lot also.

I had directories with plenty (over 90 percent) of empty categories and whole directory was spidered just fine. That was months and months ago.

Recently, though, I have felt Google is much less prone to deep-index directories (general ones) than it was in the past.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sai_Dallas

That is why it will take time for a Directory to get good PR.

To get good PR, all you need is links. To get PR5, all you usually need is 1 link from a PR7-8 page. Then wait for next Google update, and you got the PR.

Though, this is not general rule. Recently I have seen a directory that has hundreds of thousands incoming links, and it has also high PR links, but is only PR4 or what, while in the past I think it was PR6 or 7. A mystery.

Anyway, Google is more and more on the watch for duplicate content and general directories serving only as link-farms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sai_Dallas

A Major help is having a .htm or .html file for each category.

Nowadays, this is being denoted as "popular myth" by most SEO experts.

szolo · 07-01-2006

Empty catagory pages most likely be virtually the same (very little difference between and empty employment cat page and a empty training catagory page this may be viewed by google as content or page duplication, which you want to avoid.

glen · 07-02-2006

"Anyway, Google is more and more on the watch for duplicate content and general directories serving only as link-farms."
Google is so smart that I can't believe

View Poll Results: Is it good to have lots of empty categories?
Yes	3	7.14%
No	28	66.67%
I do not know	11	26.19%
Voters: 42. You may not vote on this poll

06-08-2006	#1
Simon Gooffin Administrator Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Intelliants LLC Posts: 8,607	Empty categories.. Good or Bad? Empty categories.. I do not remember if we have already discussed this question before. But I think it's very important to understand if it's good for SE to have lots of categories or bad. I ofter see hundreds or even thousands of categories but very few links. Most categories do not contain any links at all. Any thoughts? Please share. __________________ Best Regards, Web Directory Script, Auto Classifieds Script , Affiliate Management Script, Article Directory Script Recommended Hosting IF YOU NEED TO CONTACT ME DO THIS IN HELPDESK. All PMs will be ignored

06-08-2006	#2
redeye Moderator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: UK Posts: 579	Don't know what effect it has on SEO, but when I visit a directory and see all those empty categories I feel I've visited an amateur site and don't go back. Just like going into a supermarket with empty shelves! __________________ LIFE IS SHORT ENOUGH SO DON'T MESS WITH ME FOOL! eSyndicat "integrated" into e107 CMS Yarm-Online BikerLinx

06-08-2006	#4
Simon Gooffin Administrator Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Intelliants LLC Posts: 8,607	Ok, thanks for sharing your ideas about visitors. But there is another important thing called Search Engine Optimization. Do search engine spiders like tons of similar pages with the only difference - category titles? That's the question that bothers me a lot also. __________________ Best Regards, Web Directory Script, Auto Classifieds Script , Affiliate Management Script, Article Directory Script Recommended Hosting IF YOU NEED TO CONTACT ME DO THIS IN HELPDESK. All PMs will be ignored

06-08-2006	#5
Sai_dallas Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,112	empty categories are bad for SE Simon, If there is lot of empty categories search engines do not like that. That is why it will take time for a Directory to get good PR. There is no easy escape; you have to have empty categories in the beginning to let the user know where their link should be. If you are manually adding links, it is better you cover the empty categories then adding links in the same category. Thanks Sai

06-08-2006	#3
Ryan Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 122	Thats a good question, if you do have a lot of empy categories then visitors might not come back, but if you dont have the categories, webmasters might not submit their sites. So at the start i think its good to have the empty categories to allow webmaster to submit, then maybe after a few months you can trim some of the empty categories out but in all I think they are needed.

06-08-2006	#6
Sai_dallas Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,112	A Major help is static url A Major help is having a .htm or .html file for each category. You may check http://www.Onebigtravel.com This site is indexed better as soon as I started that site. I need to get this site to esyndicat 1.2 as soon as I can but do not have time. Older version is installed but the links were not moved at that time. So, I am still pointing to cpLinks version on that site. I like cpLinks software but, there is no help of any kind. (Do not use it – you can not get any support) Thanks Sai EDIT: This site is since converted to eSyndicat. Last edited by Sai_dallas; 07-23-2007 at 01:18 PM.

06-08-2006	#7
jschodde Join Date: May 2006 Location: Scortching Hot Arizona Posts: 67	My thoughts on this were to have a very visible message in the empty category like "Be the first to add your listing here!" with a hyperlink to the "Suggest a Link" page. __________________ Version 2.2.02 Pro http://www.moparlinks.com (in the works...)

07-01-2006	#9
szolo Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1	empty catagories - not recommended SEO Empty catagory pages most likely be virtually the same (very little difference between and empty employment cat page and a empty training catagory page this may be viewed by google as content or page duplication, which you want to avoid.

07-02-2006	#10
glen Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 1	"Anyway, Google is more and more on the watch for duplicate content and general directories serving only as link-farms." Google is so smart that I can't believe

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