Hi everyone, I was wondering if I could get some feedback from everyone. I see a lot $1 bidding directories and I am not really sure I understand why? They way I see it. There is really no difference between a bidding directory and a paid directory. They both offer permanent links (typically), but there still seems to be this resistance to the idea of high starting price bidding directories. I personally have no problem paying $50-$100 or more for a quality link whether it is on a bidding or a paid directory. In either case I am buying a service and it really comes down to the quality of the site that is providing that service. The only real difference I see is that with a bidding directory I have the option to change my position in the directory by increasing my bid where with a paid listing I don't. Can I get some thoughts from other owners? Personally I am a little leary of $1 directories whether they are bidding or paid.. Thanks! Lance
I think with bidding directory you have an option to list your site on home page by paying the top bid; this is the only advantage one can have over non-bidding paid directory.
I admit I was one that started with the $1 bid have raised it to $5 now for minimum as I now have custom template and deeplinks but initially it was to get bids as it wasn't customized and it was the first bid directory I ever owned and didn't know what I was doing now I have learned alot more
I agree with you there.. I also started with a lower bid amount until i got my template and mods in place. Maybe I am wrong, it just seems like I see a lot more low priced bidding directories than paid directories... I also don't understand auctions where the bidding starts below the reserve, so maybe this is just me.. Lance
I have never understood the below bid pricing when you have a reserve either all my directories are either paid or free with reciprical and most pay the fee
i have mine set a $10 and you will probably find that after the update a lot will increase there minimum bids
There's also the benefit of being able to control category placement. It's not only for the homepage.
Although i am not sold on bidding directories ( as they stand ) as i see them prone to maxing out and would prefer a timed bidding directory ( as one has done that i know of ), However i feel they are still a good option and overall regardless of a bidding or Paid i see quality and attention to detail as the major factors in play not the structure behind it.
The difference is whether you are buying a link or building back links. There is a subtle difference we should all be acutely aware of in these dark days. Ask yourself why bidding directories have suddenly become the flavour of the moment. That should answer your question. Anyone trying to tell you its traffic, traffic, traffic has got his other hand in your back pocket.
Well i must have no hands. Bidding directories ARE about traffic (those who actually get good traffic). I set my price for my bidding directory based on the QUALITY of the site. At the moment the toolbar is still showing PR0. As some people only care about the PR of a site, my price may rise when the PR update occurs. Its not because my image of the sites quality has changed, but other people will think differently about it when it gets PR. The majority of bidding directories were started after the last PR update, some major ones like mine, CDH, biduplinks and some others are still PR0. We saw with bigweblinks that higher bids started coming in, and bids on category pages when the site gained PR7. At the end of the day a bid directoryis just as good as a paid directory. As of now, there are only top level categories in a bid directory, so people can get a listing very close to the homepage, in terms of link juice. Compare that with a standard directory, where you may be 2 levels deep, and stuck on the third page. I think the price set by a bid directory should determine the value/quality it gives a site to be listed there. Charging $1 could make you look like a link farm. I used to get 1 submission a day for $3. Thats $90 a month presuming no high bids. Now i chnged the price to $20, i get around half the amount of submissions. However that works out at $300 a month, presuming no higher bids. Owning a bidding directory for me is serious 24/7 business. The extra revenue generated from having higher prices than others allows me to invest more, bring more traffic and quality to the site. It means those sites that paid more than a cheap $1 get extra benefits. for example, a search for genuine paid web directory shows the page of smubs listing on my site ranked quite high, out-ranking many normal paid directories. Its things like these why people should be getting listed in bid directories, and not complaining about having to pay more than the usual $1 to do so.
Confirm you are using no follow tags? Is this industry related traffic which is fair enough or is it a game the whole family can play? Bad timing. PR got a bad name and I cant see that this is helping any. Is there any subtance to this service? Do you not think you are going to run out of players?
I will continue to invest and promote my site regardless of what others think about bid directories. Why should i add nofollow to my directory? Do paid directories add nofollow? Why should i change my code just to make a search engine algorithm not get applied to thing people have paid for? Google has already said web directories are safe.
Fair enough but why is no one talking PR these days? I am just hoping I can get some real traffic to our directories before Google wakes up to the fact that no one is listening.
I don't think that's true. If you start using a no-follow tag on your links, you will hardly get any submissions. Even today, most webmasters submit to directories for their PR and not for traffic.
webmasters submit to directories for backlinkss. webmasters bid higher for the extra traffic on bid directories.
Would your directory get the same bids if it had no-follow links on the homepage? You think webmasters will bid hundreds of dollars just to get traffic?
well as my site says PR0 on the toolbar i see no other reason why they would be bidding (unless they are clever and know my site will turn PR5/6)
I guess that's the reason.... I don't know about others, but I personally at the backlinks quality of a site and not the toolbar PR before buying links from directories. (I got one link at zorg-links too )
im really starting to realize that traffic is worth more in the long run. If people like your site they will eventually link thus creating a backlink.
Bidding directories owners can start their bid little higher. $1 will give you nothing after paypal fees ..