I am proud to announce that both Aviva and her sister directory SevenSeek have become Authority Directories.

What is an authority directory?
I suppose only Google knows the answer to this.  However, for quality websites Google tends to given an extended listing with 4 additional links to the site, as shown in the below screenshot. This is not a perfect measure as some obvious authority websites (e.g. Google) do not get listed like this.  On the other hand, if a site gets a listing like this, it has clearly achieved a special status in Google.

authority2.PNG

What directories are authority directories?
Fortunately, I don’t need to figure this out as the appropriately named Autho-rity.com has already done this.  According to their list, the following directories are authority directories:

* Dmoz.org
* Botw.org
* Business.com
* UncoverTheNet.com
* AliveDirectory.com
* JoeAnt.com
* ExactSeek.com
* Site-Sift.com
* SevenSeek.com
* AvivaDirectory.com
* GoGuides.org
* Skaffe.com
* Abilogic.com
* WowDirectory.com

I noticed that a few directories were omitted from the list:

* Dir.Yahoo.com
* Gimpsy.com
* Bubl.ac.uk

In addition, there are 2 directory resource sites that are authorities:

* Best-Web-Directories.com
* DrectoryCitic.com

It would be well worth your while to make sure that your website is listed in all of the above authority directories.  If you are looking for additional quality web directories, check out my list of the best web directories.

Special hat tip to Amit for noticing that Aviva had become an authority directory, Dave for noticing that Sevenseek had become an authority directory, and John for predicting that both Aviva and Sevenseek were about to become authorities. Thanks also to all the people who have supported and encourage me along the way – I really appreciate it!

Update June 12, 2007: Well, it looks like Google is promoting a lot of websites to authority status.  Since this post was written the following directories have become authority directories:

UkSmallBusinessDirectory.co.uk
WebWorldIndex.com
Clush.com

Also, the following directory resource site has become an authority:

Info.Vilesilencer.com

Congrats all around!