Community Review: RSSHugger.com Blog Directory

Today, I decided I was going to plug my blog into as many blog directories as I could. And while I was at it, I was going to enter my RSS feeds into a couple RSS feed directories too. Little did I realize that it would become quite a cumbersome job to say the least. However, during this wonderful time of promoting my blog, I happened across a different kind of blog directory.

Now mind you, normally when I am asked to link back to a directory, I quietly decline and move onto the next resource on my list. The reason I do this is simply because Google, MSN, Yahoo, and the larger web directories don’t require me to link back to them so I don’t relish the idea of having to link to the smaller directories. After all, why does the directory exist in the first place? Do they want to be like Google or are they merely trying to build their reciprocal links?

Anyway, I digress. Instead of clicking away from this new blog directory, I decided to take another look and figure out what it had to offer. I went to the about page and read the contents. Impressed with the honesty of the owner, Collin Lahay (and his personal mission to fund the Kiva.com project), I felt compelled to help him out.

What is the name of this new directory?

RSSHugger.com

Who runs the directory?

Mr. Collin Lahay

What is the mission of the directory?

RSSHugger.com wants to bring blog owners and readers together in a community setting that allows surfers to gander at the listings and subscribe to RSS feeds if they so desire. Writers benefit from the added exposure that the RSSHugger.com traffic can bring to their blogs and RSS feeds.

What I like about RSSHugger.com

Directory Page Layout:

Each blog is given a single web page, which means my listing doesn’t share any web real estate with tons of other blog listings, advertisements, or flashy banners that fight for the surfer’s attention. Indeed this is proof that Collin truly cares about my ability to gain exposure through his RSSHubber web site.

Side Note: Mr. Lahay placed a Google Adsense section on each blog page but luckily it’s at the bottom of the page and doesn’t compete with the blog information shown above it.

Page Colors:

The rest of the RSS Hugger community is acceptable to the eye, using brown color tones, pleasing fonts, and an easy to use navigational system at the top of each page. Crisp and clean!

Other Features:

The site provides a Top 100 list to highlight the active blog-sites, which send the most traffic back to their RSSHubber.com directory pages. This feature is reset every month thereby giving others an opportunity to participate and receive additional promotion in return.

What I don’t like about RSSHugger.com

I needed to review the site to get a directory page listing for my blog.

While I did state that I am creating this review because I felt compelled to help Collin, please realize that other blog directories merely ask for a reciprocal link which is much faster to accommodate than it is to write a full-fledged review for a web site.

I believe putting people through the added pressure of creating a review, prevents the web site from being as popular as it could be, compared to just asking for a simple reciprocal link; could be detrimental to its long term success.

I need to contact Collin, if I change my domain name, to assist me in updating the URL listing on my directory page.

If I discontinue my current blog and want to use a different web address, I would need to rely on another person to make this type of change. Dependent on his time frame, it might not happen as expeditiously as it would if I was allowed to make the changes myself.

Conclusion

Overall, I do like the RSSHugger.com web site and would be pleased to have my blog listed in the directory.

Now I’d like to ask you to help Collin out too. (You knew I was going to ask, didn’t you?)

If you want to raise awareness for your blog or be a part of an upcoming viral community - I suggest visiting RSSHugger.com and register to get your blog listed too. Obviously, you’ll have to write a review for Collin’s web site, just like I did, but isn’t that what building community is all about?

Rated: * * * *