The 10 Best Damn Black Websites Period!

[Troy 2,107]

Hi BestBlackBuys Here are a few of quick comments

• When viewing your site on my mobile phone a big gray block appears.  Just visit your phone from a mobile device or test it here.  Fixing this problem is important because many people now surf the internet via handheld devices.
• Several of your menus are broken down by period Sept, Oct, Dec.  Since there is no Jan, Feb or March, I get the impression that the website is not being updated.  I would not break out the content that way, because it does not scale.  In other words. what will you do when you have 12 months, 30 months?  Will that menu structure still work?  Articles like 12 Ways to SAVE on Utility Bills!  are evergreen and does not need to be restricted to a given period like last December.
• There are too many menu options.I recommend cutting it by at least 2/3
• All the links to purchase things, at the bottom of the page.  Broken links hurt sites significantly in SEO

Finally, in terms of SEO, what search terms are you trying to rank on?  In other words, if someone goes to google to look for something, what terms would they type to discover your website?  The site's goal: The website dedicated to helping African American consumers save money ... shop smart ... and spend wisely! I see the site offers articles on ways to save money and offers options for shopping.  Would you expect to be found it someone searched for, "african american shopping sites"?  Are people using the terms you are trying to rank on?  Are you on the first page of these results.  This is probably the most important thing to think about. I'd also try to fix that mobile problem ASAP.

Hope this helps.  

[Guest BestBlackBuys]

Thank You. Would LOVE to speak with you personally. If you are available - send me an email.

[Troy 2,107]

Blavity recently acquired Shadow and Act. 

"Blavity is a venture-backed technology and media company aimed at building beautiful products and experiences for black millennials. Founded in July 2014, has quickly grown to become one of the fastest growing digital media outlets on the web, reaching more than 7M millennials a month." https://blavity.com/About

I can't confirm the traffic it seems hight look at estimates from various sites that produce traffic metrics but getting all of Shadow and Act's content should help Blavity.

As a 50-something, they really is an outsized focus on youth--not that I'm that old, but the sensibilities are completely different...

I ned to find a way to reach "grown folks" not trying to be like kids...

I dunno that probably came out a bit too negative, but I think someone my age or older knows where I'm coming from...

[Troy 2,107]

Best Black Buys two things:

1. What is your strategy for competing or rather differentiating your site from Amazon?
2. You have to address your mobile issues.  While I see you use a mobile design, it can use a lot of work.  When I bring it up on my cell phone I get a blank screen (save the menu) and have to scroll quite a bit before I see anything.  The image on the right display what I see. 

Just over 50% of internet users use mobile.  Optimization for mobile is very important for SEO. Whether we like it or not if you are selling anything on the web you are competing with Amazon. 

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As I review other top Black-owned sites the landscape is being depleted. It looks like ad revenue is moving away from these top websites.

I wish I had the resources to really look into this because this because it looks like bad news for the web in general and is a portent for more consolidation, more wealth concentrating on sites like Facebook, and fewer websites--especially the ones that focus on black folks.

 

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AllHipHop.com was founded and launched in 1998 by CEO’s “Grouchy” Greg Watkins and Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur.

After many years of developing the site, AllHipHop.com has become a valuable resource for hip-hop on the internet, featuring daily news, interviews, reviews, multimedia, a fast growing community and other interesting content.

[Troy 2,107]

EDITORS NOTE: (9/20/2017):
I'm rebuilding The Best Black Website Database.  These sites will contain the most popular sites on the World Wide Web: https://aalbc.com/top_black_websites

There will be more than 10 lists on the site.  Just created the database a few days ago, and it will evolve over time.  I'm also going to create my own metric to rank these sites, which should more accurate rank these sites.  I'll still collecting data, but this is what I have so far:

[Troy 2,107]

The list now has 50 sites: https://aalbc.com/top_black_websites/ I've been looking at HBCU, Black Greek letter organization, websites, and plowing through lists of popular Bloggers.

 

Looking at the data it is becoming obvious that our collective focus on social is killing indoe websites.  I'l spoken to too many people who have just given up on their websites--that can't obtain organic traffic.  

 

Some of these sites offered GREAT content.  We can never know where these sites would have been were they allowed to grow. 

 

I say allowed because they are undiscoverable in Google search.  They are undiscoverable not because of bad content but because of the way google works and our collective refusal to promote each other.

 

The list of websites is my small contribution to helping to promote these websites. 

 

[Troy 2,107]

Editor's Note (11/2/17): Check out our new list, The Top 50 Black-Owned Websites

[Guest Myke D]

On 5/17/2016 at 2:52 PM, Troy said:

Hi Ultra,

I've checked out the site, but I have to admit the banner at the top of your pages confused me because it does not seem to match the name of the website "Black Awareness Foundation."  Your menu's say things like, "Black Giving Back," "Black Hero Series," "Reconstruction of the Black Family,"  But the logo seems to have a white hand in it.

Now I know Black people can have hands that color, and I have nothing against white folks, but the intent of the site upon initial inspection is confusing. Looking deeper the vast majority of the content deals with bi-racial hair issues; which explains the banner.  

The focus on current events and history you promised in the description above feels like a bait and switch tactic--that honestly rubbed me the wrong way.

Why not simply present the site as one for Biracial people?

Seems to me that you DO have something against "white folks". 

 

 

[Guest Africa Linked]

Nice list of sites, you can also check out my site for a review

 

www.africalinked.com

[Guest Lilyblack]

Hello have you checked out OPOAA.COM, (Old Photographs of African Americans) a Black owned Genealogy website that's been around for almost 15 years.  Very well put together indeed, but not supported by many.

[Guest Check this out!]

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