Charging for Directory Submission ?

Discussion in 'Directories' started by onestop, Apr 5, 2005.

  1. #1
    Hi everybody
    I need some ideas. I've started OneStop Directory last november/december. There are 2200 sites liste which I've reviewed each of them manually and accepted (there were many not accepted). It has 7200 pages indexed by google and increasing every day. I never had a plan to charge for submission, it was planned to be free, and no reciprocal required.
    Now it has come to a point that I have to spend 1-2 hours a day (at least) to review all the submissions. Only yesterday there were about 130 submissions. Sometimes I miss a day or two due to my busy schedule and I end up reviewing hundreds of sites in a single day and it takes hours. Since I want to accept only quality sites, I manually review each site, and it takes some serious time.
    Site is still new and I believe it has future. What would be your suggestions about charging for submissions?
    My plan is to charge (if I do) around $3-$5 for each submission. This way I will get less submissions, and I can spend little less time working on the site.
    If I keep it free I have to find a freelancer who will help me with the review process since I don't have any extra time, and adsense and partner ads will never pay for the freelancer.
    So the question is without losing money on this site how can I make it successful?
    P.S. I don't care about PR but with the next PR update homepage PR should be PR 5. I add this note since I know many people check the directory's PR before deciding to pay for it.
    thanks in advance
     
    onestop, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  2. l234244

    l234244 Peon

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    #2
    If you are going to charge based on the fact it would get higher quality websites I would push the price up to at least $10. If it is only $3 you may still find you are getting lots of submissions from lower quality websites that you dont want to list, then you have to offer a refund.
     
    l234244, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  3. onestop

    onestop Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Thank you for your reply l234244. Whatever I charge (if I decide to), I will always offer full refund for not accepted sites. I will keep the same review process. Only purpose of charging is to pay a freelancer for reviewing the sites. I don't have a plan for big profit, my goal is to keep it clean and quality.
     
    onestop, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  4. bustour

    bustour Well-Known Member

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    #4
    Well, I can't say whether or not you should charge or not, but I will say this--your directory is nice looking, seems to be filled with quality sites in the numerous subcategories and has pr throughout the pages. In short, a much better directory than some of the directories I have seen that charge $40 or $50.
    $3-5 seems like a bargain to me--probably too cheap.
     
    bustour, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  5. onestop

    onestop Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Thanks bustour. I have a few online shopping sites, and when I was doing link building, I was having serious problems with submissions (acceptance, response time etc.) Then I decided to start OneStop Directory to help webmasters with linkbuilding. I usually accept/decline every submission within 24-48 hours, and only reason I want to charge is to pay a freelancer (a college student maybe) to do the reviewing and keep the quality of the directory. I don't have too much traffic yet (250-300 uniques a day), and I believe I can make this directory better if I charge a small fee for submission. After an internal navigation mistake I did, most of my pr went to http://www.onestop-directory.com/index.php instead of http://www.onestop-directory.com/ and index.php got PR 4 with the january PR update (it was a month after the site was launched). I've also fixed the navigation, and all the internal PR is going to http://www.onestop-directory.com/ .
    Also I have only 1 level sub-categories, and I keep adding subcategories whenever there's a need. This way I don't have tons of levels of subcategories.
    I don't know, just trying to decide, and any comments are appreciated.
    thanks again
     
    onestop, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  6. honey

    honey Prominent Member

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    #6
    I would say that is fine.
     
    honey, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  7. mariense

    mariense Well-Known Member

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    #7
    I would charge $10
    With the money buy some links to increase PR

    When the PR goes up - start charging $19.95. It is enough money to pay someone to review sites, and for you to make a profit.

    Nice directory, just submitted 3 sites.
     
    mariense, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  8. onestop

    onestop Well-Known Member

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    #8
    thanks honey and mariense for your comments. Keep them submitting :) it's still free until I decide.
    I will review the submissions tonight since I see over 200 waiting for me now :(
     
    onestop, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  9. Blagger

    Blagger Peon

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    #9
    Hello

    It's a good directory, my site is listed, lol.

    I think $10 would be fair at this stage. That would be enough to stop some people from submitting their sites, but probably wouldn't put off those serious webmasters who have decent sites.

    Maybe try $10 to start off and then up it if you are still getting too many submission you could up it, but if it's too high you may deter anyone from submitting their sites.
     
    Blagger, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  10. MattL

    MattL Well-Known Member

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    #10
    So should we hurry up and submit our sites? :) It's still free for now right?
     
    MattL, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  11. onestop

    onestop Well-Known Member

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    #11
    Ok. Tonight I've setup the payment options. I'd appreciate if you can give me feedback about it. Also does the wording clear enough? (e.g. deep linking, main category etc.) Can a somebody new to my site clearly understand the differences of 3 submission options? (it's pretty late here, and I don't know if I did everything right :) ).
    thanks again for all the suggestions, and feedbacks.
     
    onestop, Apr 5, 2005 IP
  12. Xaver

    Xaver Well-Known Member

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    #12
    I went through your three submission option. I think it is very clear, only one thing I was not sure (maybe because of my not-native english) is if the Deep Link Submission cost 25 USD per one deeplink or per five deeplinks. I suppose it is for one, but I was not 100% sure.

    :confused:
    I am just unhappy that I missed your free submission era.
     
    Xaver, Apr 6, 2005 IP
  13. RoadRash

    RoadRash Guest

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    #13
    Just went thru the $10 paypal subscription, very easy to do, well done! :D
     
    RoadRash, Apr 6, 2005 IP
  14. onestop

    onestop Well-Known Member

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    #14
    Xaver I thought this sentence was clear. So if you have a site:
    http://www.yourdomain.com
    You can submit up to 5 deep links to our directory such as:
    http://www.yourdomain.com/your-seo-page.php
    http://www.yourdomain.com/your-marketing-page.php etc.

    $25 is for per submission. I will think about adding a sentence or tweaking the sentence.
    Thanks RoadRash, you're our first paid listing :) already approved.
     
    onestop, Apr 6, 2005 IP
  15. davedx

    davedx Peon

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    #15
    I'd say $10 is too cheap. Charge at least $20.

    In my industry if you charge too low a price people are suspicious about the quality of what you're selling and won't buy it; the old "you get what you pay for" works both ways, and people know it.

    Just my 2c :)
     
    davedx, Apr 6, 2005 IP
  16. joshril

    joshril Guest

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    #16
    I just went to the directory and it looks very nice! Looks like it's $10.00.. I think I'm going to list my flagship site when I sit down to do some directory listings this weekend... How is it coming onestop??
     
    joshril, Apr 6, 2005 IP
  17. onestop

    onestop Well-Known Member

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    #17
    davedx, thanks for the suggestion, but I've decided at $10. We'll see how it goes.
    Thanks joshril, it's the first "not free" day :) so I don't know yet, we'll wait and see. waiting for you submission.
     
    onestop, Apr 6, 2005 IP
  18. honey

    honey Prominent Member

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    #18
    Looks good Matt. Good Work.
     
    honey, Apr 7, 2005 IP
  19. albert.frost

    albert.frost Guest

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    #19
    My point is that if your directory is successful and people are submitting their sites to you then why not go for profits beside the quality??? At the end of the day, its all about profits and revenue.
     
    albert.frost, Jul 28, 2010 IP
  20. Mia

    Mia R.I.P. STEVE JOBS

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    #20
    I hope you don't run a directory ;)
     
    Mia, Jul 28, 2010 IP