[LINK] Categories for a community directory

[Roger Clarke]

At 22:58 +1100 12/3/12, Ash Nallawalla wrote:
>Google doesn't like sites that use stubs, i.e. empty pages. My guess is that
>this is poor user experience when the majority of category links in a new
>directory lead to empty pages and it is also a waste of time to index such
>empty pages from the Google resourcing perspective.
>
>A developer could write extra code to mark such links as rel="nofollow" to
>keep Google ignorant about these pages, but you still have the issue of user
>annoyance.

We were talking about a taxonomy, rather than its implementation on a web-page.

Implementing a comprehensive taxonomy doesn't means that a page has 
to be created for each leaf.

Leaves like Support Groups for Leprosy-Sufferers and Smallpox Victims 
would likely be empty in Australia, and hence there's no need for any 
page for them, and hence the entry in the directory would be text 
rather than a link.

I also have my doubts about 'Google likes / doesn't like ...' as a 
design criterion for web-based applications ...

_________________________________________________________________________

>>  From: Roger Clarke
>>
>>  At 18:21 +1100 11/3/12, Ash Nallawalla wrote:
>>  >I didn't get the original message, but the SEO angle to this is that it
>>  >is bad to have empty categories. If possible, allow users to suggest a
>>  >category and then add it.
>>
>>  Any idea what the rationale is behind the 'no empty categories' dictum,
>Ash?
>>
>>  Is it 'just 'cos', i.e. the people who first did folksonomies just thought
>'list' and
>>  'extensible';  and 'structured' and 'comprehensive' were out of sight and
>out
>>  of mind?
>>
>>  A taxonomy has significant advantages, in particular structure and
>hierarchy,
>>  which give rise to clustering and even inheritance (e.g.
>>  all sports support groups have quite a bit in common and can learn from
>one
>>  another;  ditto for the various forms of mental health support).
>>
>>   From a marketing perspective (and even non-profits do marketing), knowing
>>  which segments you have strong coverage of, and which you haven't, can be
>>  very handy.
>
>
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-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

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Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University