I don't dare enough to start a free directory. Offering free directory will require a lot of work, unless just click approve all submission without review them carefully. Do you think that you will submit to new directory site that cost you $1 for review fee? In return I will rewrite the description or adding a comment.
The bad part is people want to spam. I am only approving paid links in my directories. The ones that accept free links are bombed with links and links and links - only 5 to 10% are good. My suggestion, is accept links with min payment, advertise and give value to your submitters. I make any where between $0.00 to $20.00 a day, may not get any submissions for a week.
even $1 most people who like "free submission" would not pay... You can make a paid review directory instead.
this entire directory concept is now old stuff... i am having two directories but i am getting hardly any featured links... google this days are now not showing back links too..
The idea is to reduce spammers. Serious webmaster should think that $1 is acceptable for lifetime backlink.
The problem is that the "lifetime" of most new directories is very, very short. Im not implying anything regarding the Op, merely, that directories spring up each day and others die each day, because they are hard work and not the gold mine that many people hoped for.
Offer more benefits for the people who pay the $1 and allow free signing up and use adsense or something to help cover the other costs.
Hopefully your script is configured to accept the payment before the listing details otheriwse you'll still have to contend with the spammers trash. If a dollar is the only barrier to getting into your directory, then it's likely you'll still get quite a bit of spam, especially if you're refunding the fee for rejected submissions.
But you need to make it worth for webmasters adding their website to you directory - I mean - get some PR and backlinks for that directory. And yeah, you'll probably soon won't be so eager to review all that spam for $1 - it's jut not worth it. A good directory requires a lot of work...
I use eSyndicat and just by making sure only registered users are able to post - got rid of spammers. Spam typically comes from bots and bots are not programmed to register, check email and validate link - thus overall giving a free service except that users are forced to register which is not too bad. $1 without registration would give you loads of spam, and you would really have to spend a good deal of time removing spam from real submissions.
I used same method. I request $2 for regular links. But i have also reciprocal links option. Before this method, i was getting about hundred links a day and now i get 10-12 links a day.
$1 - $5 minimum bid on all my directories and it eliminates SPAM. I don't know many (or any) people that use free directories and expect any benefit from them these days, except maybe DMOZ but that's a whole other story...
in all honesty - if you're going to charge, first build up your page rank and add value... once you've done that for each of your main category pages - then you should charge money Not $1.00 though... That just makes it seem cheap, worthless even. If you're going to charge - charge like $50.00. Doing so will help the users get a good directory backlink with decent PR, they won't feel like it's a cheap service - and it will provide you with the capital to further your link building to gaining more PR for the sites sections... =) Add more value, charge more money, add more value again, keep charging money... Build a huge directory and topple Dmoz... Hey wait.... Ignore everything I just said... I'm going to do that instead
@ThePassiveIncomeBlog Based on your very first sentence, can you kindly remove yourself from directories and advice in general. @OP The $1 method is not going to work.
Nice. I think the same way. Force user to register before submit link is useful to reduce spam. Do you guys offer full refund for rejected link?
What creed said is the most suitable solution. However, if that is not an option, then innovation is the key thereafter. I know I got rid of spam 100%. (dirjournal, authoritydirectory and bam directory to name a few. They can attest to it)
If you set the fee to $1 then you can approve anyone who has paid (and meets your submission guidelines) then do a mass delete from the DB of anyone who's still pending and hasn't paid. This is a simple solution to get rid of spam. This will make your life a lot easier than running a free directory.
Fees are great but some people even though it is $1 would wonder why you would ask that and the reason for this. Hence I feel the best method is build a quality directory with several anti-spam bots and use a human eye to review like dmoz. $1 fee will still get spam and just be used like a link buying directory.
Agree totally. If your going to charge, then provide a resource people are willing to pay for, and charge a fair amount. $1 can be seen as suspicious, and the old adage, you get what you pay for... Until you have a resource that people are willing to pay for, then just keep it free and gradually build up your reputation. A few anti spam tricks and human editing will ensure the majority of rubbish doesn't get through. Our UK Directory is paid, but our US Directory is, and will be for quite some time, free. Think "long term and end game", not "overnight and quick buck".