What's the current status of directories now? I'm thinking about starting one that's focused on a specific niche. Maybe make it a free to submit with paid/sponsored links and I would manually approve all links to make sure all content is quality. How easy is it to make money with directories nowadays?
It is very tough to turn a profit, you need to invest money, time and be willing to wait around 6-8 months to get established, if you make it that far you have a shot at earning some cash.
Like any business online or offline it is not easy. But if you have a passion for whatever niche you choose, along with hardwork and patience, I see no reason that you wouldn't be able to do great! Good luck with your decision.
If you got say a PR 6 directory, should you now stay away from charging people for listings and keep it free ? what other ways is there to monetize directories now?
Google does not hate directories and they don't have a problem with directories charging review fees.
Well , 6 months in , an not remotely near profitability, I think any online business kinda has to get momentum, with the business becming more than just the sum of its parts, Thats hard to achieve at a meaningful level
It all has to do with how you go about it. If it's not working out for you, it might be time to re-examine your strategy, and try something different.
You need to get back to your work Build your backlinks and get higher rankings in not just "G" but all... I would vary my linking practices to include Blogs,articles,directories and all that happy stuff and make sure its relevent to your site... thx malcolm
you see all directories being punished???? my new directory get a pr4 in only two months ranks good in serps and have 27 robots crowling it this month and every day visit from robots of the big search engines. like many others directories.So your claim for punished all dont stand. also if u r saying all directory punish you mean that BOTW,Yahoo dir ,DMOZ,Google dir,are punished too..
Yeah, I even blogged it I liked it so much. Very creative take he has on current G situations. Even if it was early in the morning
Hi tressin, regarding the current state of directories im unsure. But regarding if you can make money from them, and your idea for one, well i believe you can make money from anything. I would suggest making your own decision and not deciding on a handful of posts that tell you the bad side of anything, i would do plenty of research first, and not just here, at other places, and not just online, some of my better decisions are made away from the pc when i have time to decide, without distraction. Dont look for a reason not to, but weigh up all of the risks and decide what you feel comfortable with yourself. It may not be that you point blank say yes or no to starting a directory, but just end up altering your plans a little, my plans change all of the time to accomodate constant change.
And having no valuable content and, in your case at least, having a profile made of largely purchased links. Google penalty, here we come!
Yes, if you start charging, i believe google will derank your site as they have deranked many directories in the last week or so.