Well...for starters - just make it a working one. The link is "dead" at the moment You have chosen quite a difficult business model...these days most of the established general directories are dyeing ( killed by the search engines ) and there is not even a hope for a new one to prosper. But anyway - you can try, but you have to be different . This is the first and most important advice I can give you : don't be like the rest of the crowd or you're already dead. For start you can think up a whole different concept of a web directory...not just a bunch of link pages. Offer something more valuable. Why don't you try to review each website manually and write a 300 - 500 word article about it, linking to the most important pages, something like aboutme.org . That technique will not only differentiate your directory from the rest, generate a lot of content on your site, "raise your price" as a link giving opportunity, but will also ensure only the most quality sites will be in the directory. Sure, that's hell of a lot work, but it's worth it - trust me. Than you would want to give some amazing design to your directory...something custom made, something beautiful and last, but not least something with a lot more features than the regular web directory. You can look at blogcatalog.com and technorati.com as agood source of inspiration. They are also just directories, but they have managed to kick ass, both in the SERP's, traffic stats and money generated per month. Just try to be creative. Before you start to market your directory, make it worth the effort to visit.