I'd say the niche is the market. My directories fall under health and fitness and safari/adventure travel (much more specific). I reckon the niche has to relate more specifically its audience than just a general category. It must be able to define their reason for visiting, what products or services they like to buy etc. Not just "entertainment" but games consoles, or problems with games consoles for example.
Hi, Thanks again for your comments. I have made my directory general once again although I have made it UK based. The reason for making it general is that I have added an email service in the hope that will attract users. As the directory is new consequently very few ads. would you suggest I disable the ad. count display ? do you thing that the predominence of "0"'s would put potential users off ? Kind regards David
hope ? never rely on hope, dig down n dirty and apply yourself, changing, adding, removing until you get it right but never hope, that stuff id for fairy land books I would leave your count and be proud of it, always look to where your going, not the now. But i would re locate it to the left panel and then use the ads to fill and square the front page to the bottom and right sides. just my 2 c
I'd think about moving all those categories/links on the right to the left and losing at the very least, one of the Google ad towers.
Hi, Has anyone any ideas of how I can get my directory used / popular ? I did try buying targeted hits but I didnt get any users. Or is this the 64,000 dollar question. Should I pay for more hits ? Work on seo ? ( maybe pay somone ) Join loads of forums and use url in signature ? I dont have a huge buget so advertising is out at the moment. All of the above ? I have been looking myself for directories and sites to advertise my house exchange and I have been finding that many site have conditions that make it difficult for some advertisers to use their site. Where mine is perfect for the job even if I say so myself. How can I tell every one. Sorry if I sound naive in such matters KInd regards David
I find the greatest amount of my directory traffic is in the areas of real estate, travel, and ecommerce nich sites.
David, go with a niche directory... If you really want to make money from your directory you're going to need to optimize your site for the search engines... I really don't see a general directory ranking high for Google, Yahoo or MSN... niche directories rank much better for niche keywords...
well, i really dont think directories are out dated...still there is hope. but it all depends how much quality you can bring in the service. it's not a difficult task to get visitors to your directory for sure. shell out some bucks in the begining, and thats it. we started a new directory last week, especially for arts. and we are very hopeful about its success.. finally, go for a small geo locations rather than a big world wide shot... all the best
HI I would not pay for seo.. I would have articles written on the different categories you have in your directory and then submit those articles to article directories and in your article bio line link to the category related to that article and invite people reading the article to submit their website to your directory if they have one. This will build backlinks to your directory and help your serp rankings and get you more submissions. Also submit your directory to other directories as often as you can that also really help. And lastly keep working on building and promotion your directory as much as you can because it takes a lot of work and time to really start seeing good $$$$ results from your directory. Thx Tom
Hi, I am enjoying developing the website and script and as I said before , although earning money from the site is not my motivation it would be nice for it to be used and never know it might just earn some money as well. Regards David
When you feel that you are waisting time it means its time for change. It means you are not making anything out of it. but have to do a lot before we expact something from these directories stuff. It takes time and need to advertise them gradually before we start getting something back. I don't realy want to disapoint you. But you have spent lot of time to it, Now shouldn't give up all. I beleive you have many directories!! Lets work on one or two so you can be fair with them.
Hi, Thank you for your thoughts. I do only have one directory and it has taken me many hours to get it to this stage now , but I wont give up on it. Regards David
i suggest instead of directory, u spend your time behind social bookmarking and classified which helps u r site
Niche is fine, but doing the correct niche is impossible for many I would say. If you get it wrong, it will go wrong badly, and if this happens, you may as well be doing a general directory anyway. It's so easy to get this wrong and those that do will always pay the price. I suggest doing something you know about - to have the best chance of success that is.