I posted this at my blog but thought I should post it here as well! I bought 2 directories about a week ago. I'm looking like everyone at ways to increase exposure, gain quality backlinks, get more traffic and obviously make some $. My question is this: If I buy a "regular link" on a directory page. Say the General Directories subsection of a respectable directory of PR6 am I really getting a PR6 link? At first it sounds like a stupid question but this is my logic. The 1st page of the subcategory ie. www.yourdomain.com/SUB_CATEGORY/ is a PR6. Now if you add your site and it's an already populated directory more times than not your link will end up here: www.yourdomain.com/SUB_CATEGORY/5/page_X.html PR0 At first I thought oh well the main page is PR6 so I guess I'm getting a PR6 link then you realize PR is from that particular page. So you look at the category pate and it’s a PR5 your like WOW! Then you realize your on page 5 of that subcategory…<Or even page2> That being said is it worth it if you are looking for PR or Traffic? Alot of these big sites with High PR have a high entry free but I'm wondering what I'd actually receive from them besides a PR0 backlink. My conclusion from this research has been that you must buy a sponsor spot if you wish to guarantee a direct link from there main subpage with High PR. The other option is looking at the particular directory. If they list alphabetically start your listing with an A. Obviously these are hard to predict and can end at anytime but if you have one that starts with an A and has a high PR your definitely in luck as chances are you will always be first page regardless of there methods unless of course they do it in order submitted. Maybe that is why so many of the Asomethingdirectory.com are doing so well Just kidding. I'd appreciate everyone’s thoughts on this as I believe lots of business fail not because the owner wasn’t motivated just that he/she used their initial excitement and capital on the wrong venue and then left with little money and low enthusiasm eventually give up. I've been there I know what it's like! ALSO: From a directory owners point of view. Why are you selling all these “lifetime featured†at such cheap prices? Like what is going to happen in 2 years from now when you have NO MORE ROOM but all these obligations? I think you’ll start to see more PR5 or 6 SALES. Where the directory owner who has made all his cash just sells the directory and then the guy who bought it is either stuck with something where most of the featured links for popular categories i.e directories are already gone… Or they will strip all the features saying it’s new management and they owe nothing. Personally I’ll sell links but features have to be rented. If your site sucks presently sell it cheap for the month but in 6 months when your site is 2 PR’s higher…. You can make a new price Either way this came to me on a train ride when I was about to hit “PURCHASE†on one of the big boys. If you buy a feature that guarantees you first page sorta. But it's not really a "Feature" anymore if they have 15-20 it's just like normal links but at the front... Thoughts?
Glad to see someone using the head at DP. Permanent featured links are half the death of your directory, cheap regular listings are the other half. Worse than directories are word cloud pages with permanent links…. Think about it.
Agreed. I bought a PR4 for a wordcloud than thought. If I sell all these and offer PERMANENT what after a year? I"m paying for a domain and hosting all for the 1-300$<IF THAT> I made a year or 2 ago. I'm still thinking of launching a wordcloud but it will be ...................................................................................................................................................... You will find out details when I launch it. I want to be 1st of course.
That came to my head many times, specially after buying "permanent" listing on a pr5 several times, then as I see the link stats on a cloud site, i'm asking myself what will happen when it gets all field-up how will it be monitized later an the cost of maintaining it etc,..So cloud site that offer "permanent is off for me, but on a very well stablished directory offering "Perm" then take them up on that deal, personally I think it's bad for them, because it will get populated and less revenue later.
The price of featured and regular links has to be compatible with the quality of the directory. Does anyone want to buy a link from my sites http://www.chaikiok.info , http://www.gurita.info if I price the regular links at $ 50 ? I think no one will. To price illogically is the sure way to kill your directory.
The big problem 90% of directory owners are QBC, they just hit and run. For some months they sell permanent everything cheap, then sell the directory and the the next owner as to deal with the situation.
That is the biggest single problem in the Directory Sector right now ! And it wants fixing big time, buyers beware Caveat Emptor
That’s half the problem “submit if it’s cheap†if you start with high prices no one will buy. Yet to promote the directory you need money, I’m lucky as I have a few sites making a profit and always spend most of what I make on my sites. As for the PR, if you limit the number of links per page surely the PR will pass to the rest of the pages. I also try not to discount the new Directories some great bargains to be had before any pagerank update.
The error in your thinking is that when you first start you have NO VALUE TO GIVE. Therefor your prices should reflect. If you price your links at $50 no one will buy that is true but why would they? This is a business if you could just setup shop and make money I'd have 200000 directories on the go. It requires some expense in the beginning either money or time or both. You should focus on getting a quality page rank and backlinks before you focus on price points and profit. Think long term. This is the internet people nd despite the fact that many eel oh it's been done its' over... This new technolog is still in its infancy as far as mainstream use is concern. Whats going to happen in 2010? 2020? 2030? If you always offer prices with an expiry you will always be able to continue charging. Brian: regarding the if you don't have too many links the PR will pass down. Are ou refering to external sites or internal? I was thinking of that on my directory. I have say 10 main categories and they are PR3. If I added 10 more categories would taht deter my pagerank? Basically saying do outbond links to the same domain (Not sure if technically outboud but I hope you know what I mean) drain PR as much as a typical outbound to a different directory?
I’m far from being an expert; the truth is I know little about directories but I’m going all out to make mine work The experience I have had it that pr will pass to your inner pages. My first update got me a pr4 with lots of inner pages 2-3. Just keep building good quality links, and work hard and all will be well.
Good point, I see directories with 15 or 20 regular links per page but apparently unlimited featured links. That's why on LinkLister I stipulate in the Terms of Service, unlimited regular links and annual featured links: http://www.linklister.co.uk/guidelines.php