DIY Decor Site Linking rules
How I rank a site is based on whether or not it provided the intended information. Initially my plan was to actually give all the sites I list here a rank. Then after much aggravation, I just decided if it was listed here, you can consider it worth visiting. If it's not listed here, and it had good information, it probably had so many pop-ups and pop-unders and blinking ads and stuff that I never wanted to go back.
I take into consideration appropriate content for my current search, the amount of advertising hype and pop-up windows and pages I have to wade through to find what I was looking for.
This has a small amount to do with site design, in that if I can't figure out the navigation, or find what I'm looking for with their search function (if they have one) I'm outta there!
Content Sites (sites that provide information or answers to questions, like how to do something): I've been around. (The web that is!). So many sites have the exact same articles that they use as "content" to rank with the search engines. They don't provide anything new. It's annoying to say the least. So I try to list sites that have something fresh to offer, and the fresher sites get more consideration.
Shopping Sites (sites that provide products for you to purchase) - You'll find sites (eventually) listed here that are retail sites with items to purchase. Let's face it. We're decorating, we want to buy stuff. But I'm not interested in wading through 50,000 or more sites looking at sites that claim to have content I'm searching for, to find they are just a site full of links, most of which are unrelated.
Exception to the above: If I am shopping for baby nursery items as an example, I don't mind going into a site that has taken the time to locate all the best baby shopping sites, as long as they are not filled with a bunch of blinking banners and pop-ups and pop-unders, and links just for the sake of having MORE links.
So the shopping sites I list may be large retail sites that have a really good selection of decorating or do it yourself products, or they may be a little Mom & Pop type site, that has a unique selection of items that you won't see everywhere else.
Note: If you would like your site listed here, you may contact me and send me your site info and I'll review it.