Joeant is a web directory with the goal of listing "the best sites for a wide variety of topics giving our users the most relevant results for their searches." Joeant is maintained by volunteer editors which they actively recruit through a link on the home page. A directory listing in Joeant costs $39.95, however if you volunteer to be an editor you can submit your site for free.
Joeant is very user friendly. There is a search box near the top of the home page. You can also browse through the content at Joeant by going through the directory sections which are underneath the search box. The links to add an url, volunteer, or to view new additions to the site are in plain view on the home page and easy to find.
Joeant has a clean but very professional appearance. The background is white with blue or peach shading on the borders of the content boxes. The text is in blue or black in a font that is easy on the eyes. It is obvious when you visit Joeant that it is a web directory, and the links to the information in the directory are very easy to see.
The layout of the category pages is from a slightly different story. If the homepage has a stretched layout, the category pages have a fixed canvas.
One aspect about Joeant that could cause confusion is that if you do a search through the search bar, the information is presented with a different layout than if you search for information by browsing through the directory links. When you click to view information through the links on the home page, you will see directory listings presented in a list with a star rating.
When you do a search using the search box, the listings are pulled up with a template that shows whether or not the listing is sponsored, what the editor's rating is (using a bar graph) and whether or not the site features audio, chat, downloads, games, membership, shopping or video.
The template for information pulled up through the search box should be the same as the template used to display information viewed by browsing through the directory so as not to confuse site visitors.
I don't like the method at Joeant for submitting URL's. I understand that it is difficult to get people to work for free, but I don't see how allowing someone to be an editor to avoid paying the site submission fee of $39.95 can add to the quality of the Joeant directory.
All that I can see that doing is making it easy for people to list their own sites with the highest rating possible, and list their competitor's sites with a lower rating.
On the homepage, there's a box supposed to feature the "Site of the Month" and "Blog of the Month" - which is empty.
I also don't understand the star rating used at Joeant. Under the FAQ's, which are listed on the home page, it says <em>"Sites are judged based on the reviewer's experience and in comparison to other sites of the same type and websites in general and must meet or exceed JoeAnt's basic standard of "good" to be accepted for listing. The better the site in regards to quality and quantity and the resulting user's experience on the site, the higher the rating."</em>
That explanation is quite vague and doesn't explain why all of the sites under Health and Fitness or Beauty section which are of varying quality have either a one or a two star rating. Not one of these sites, many of which are professionally designed and contain lots of relevant content, has a three star rating.
