The Word on The Web

Personally I'm a warm beach and sunshine type of girl, the thought of snow and all that winter has to offer just motivates me to throw another log on the fire and snuggle up to a good book and a cup of tea but I wavered a little tonight when I saw the beautiful pictures of Breckenridge Colorado.

I was introduced to the Keystone Real Estate site as a sample of a really nicely done web site but once I was there, I couldn't help wandering around and looking at the sights.

Reading about the mountains and the views, I was almost ready to give up my bikini for skis and slopes, but then I remembered that I can't ski. But I'm sure they have fire places and tea in Breckenridge.

It's a nicely done website. I'm always partial to black backgrounds - very dramatic and makes the photographs on the site pop with the contrast so If you're looking for a good nice example of a site with a touch of drama and elegance, check out http://www.luckymountainhome.com/

Submitting your site to Directories

One common SEO step is to submit your site to directories.

There are a multitude of directories on the web. Many directories are free, more often than not, a free listing requires a reciprocal link back to the directory. Some directories charge a one time fee for a permanent listing, others charge a monthly fee or a slightly higher fee for a featured listing.

What I see emerging is a presence of niche directories. These directories either have a theme, such as web designer directories or adult link directory. Some have an extra purpose such as one that I found, the Biz-Giant Link Exchange Directory, which offers their subscribers a link exchange service with a subscription.

I'm seeing a lot of directories show the page rank of the listed site beside the listing or a thumbnail view of the site along with the listing or even both. I like the thumbnail feature, it gives you a bit of a preview of what you're going to see if and when you click on the link. However, in most cases, the picture is a little small to be of any great value.

A couple of directories that I've found, and like are;

The Sleek Directory http://www.sleekdirectory.com/: A listing in this directory gives you more than your standard amount of information. Featured links and top hits give you the thumbnail image, regular listings show the page rank of the site but more than that, you can "read more" on any listing and find the number of hits the site has received as well as the alexa rank of the site.

Biz King Directory http://www.biz-king.com/: This directory is clean and simple and has the same features as the above Sleek Directory.

No matter what directories you choose to submit to, you want to pick ones like these that are either focused on your niche or give high exposure to your site.