I have a few questions for the launch of my directory. I want this to be a paid high quality niche directory so should i not offer free reciprocal links? Should I just have a Paid Normal Listing and Featured Listing? Since my directory is new and has no Page Rank Should I keep my prices really low Or keep them high and just hold out till i have higher pr that way everyone doesn't submit while prices are cheap and then no ones left when i have high pr. Since it isn't a general directory there will be less people who would want to advertise on my site so im thinking of keeping my prices higher and just holding out till my pr improves... Also i read that you should add some listing to your directories before launch. Should i try and offer featured listing for free to a few high pr sites in my niche as a way to try and get quick pr?
If you have other websites/blogs/forums in that niche, do add them to the directory before the launch. How would that help with PR?
never seen any value in them, but thats just me your call and depends on how you go a about it, we will have free general listing with the option to upgrade to a paid feature. My view only PR and price is rubbish, for example if G drop your PR are you going to refund all people listed a % of thier listing fee ? price should be based on your operating costs including advertising etc and also take into account your bottom line nett profit you wish to earn. as above price has nothing to do with new, old or other, you could offer a welcome 50% of for the first 1000 listings or so as part of your business plan or similar if you wanted to. Remember giving away stuff is only for the beginner sales people it is the easist thing to do, and is usually done by people with no confidence or ability. we have launched in Beta mode with one listing, its called promotion and making people aware of whats coming up. that free thing again and that PR thing again , good luck with it all and hope it goes well for you.
You know what I'm thinking of doing is a one time review fee for a set price with a disclaimer. Like this site... https://secure.botw.org/secure/expressblogsubmit.aspx?categoryid=0 This way its not based on page rank or anything and i would always have the final say in whether i like the website or not.
You may want to clarify that to include $ refunded if not accepted or part there of, to keep the fee if not lsted, although may be fine is not good business practice and will hurt submissions. I also do not agree with a one time with a yearly review. think about it, the bigger it gets the more staff time is needed to do a good job, but no more fees coming in to pay them except for new ones but you will end up in a loosing cycle. for me it's a yearly fee, this allows to pay for staff, and to continue to advertise the site etc.
I belive DU has already made some of the points very clear, though I would also like to say a few comments regarding the G Pagerank system, I seriously have no idea and G is so unpredictable these days. I would never go chase pagerank at least not for my web directory, I believe in SERPs being the best way to promote your web directory. Increase SERP's try to reach page #1, if you have the ability to reach rank #1 in Google for a specific high-traffic keyword, I would so recommend it! Pagerank is a rubbish system, and I went browsing a few days ago and found a really funny article about a user that discovered Pagerank on one of his PM letters, lol. Can you believe it? Meti
Ok im sorry its a little hard for me to understand, so you are saying i should include a refund if i dont accept a persons listing? This way people dont get mad if i dont accept them and they payed right. And I like the yearly idea, i think you are right that if you don't do yearly you will end up losing money. Do most people make it a paypal subscription? so they are automatically billed at the end of the year unless they cancel? Also ur right i think page rank is rubbish and im going to make my site valuable to be listed on because of the directories quality and search engine ranking and not just cause it has a high page rank.
That's a great spirit mate -- now work on your web directory and you should get there in time. Remember, SERP's may take time to achive, so be patient. Meti
Keep thinking like this and you will do well. Content is king - give users and search engines something useful to find.