Hi Do directories make money? Is it worth buying a script (phpld for example)? Or are there any free ones? Or is it worth me writing my own? Is most money from featured links, or advertising? Thanks
Hi Yeh i saw that. Kinda disagree about it though: $25 for the script $15 2 year domain registration $400 for a custom made skin $500 on link building and promotion to get to something like PR5-PR6 if it’s done right $60 other small expenses more like ... $25 for the script $12 for 2 years (ok...$2 diff but still) $0 to do a skin yourself... $0 to get it to pr5/6 ... can do this yourself. I can get pr3 with about 20-40 mins work...if i leave a domain up for about 2 - 4 months. Of course it ain't instant. But spending 500 dollars is a waste of money IMO. $60 on other small expenses... can't see this happening...what expenses? But then, i have too much time on my hands to waste
I have written one on my own and I think that it will attract people because it is different than all the others. Link in my sig.
i'm using free version and it's just fine as long as you can handle it. i just pay for the domain since i'm using free us professional hosting for my sites. i dont have credit cards & paypal. just using egold
It depends on the length of your piece of string. If you're willing to work on it and promote it well, then yes. But the Adsense payout isn't particularly good, and you won't make decent money on paid submissions until your PR and traffic is quite high. There are free ones out there, but the paid versions will have better features. It's only worth writing your own if you have good coding skills, and intend to make good use of your directory script. A lot of directories are abandoned after a few months because the owners lose interest. But if you can code your own, it means you can build as many directories as you like, add custom features, and perhaps resell the script if you're confident of its quality.
Just my two cents, but I think an awful lot of new directory owners put the cart before the horse charging for listings in a directory that is: basically empty >50% (adsense) ads or "sponsored link" link farms using redirects for listings brand new If a site cannot put even a modicum of effort into establishing itself (ie. the owner has not invested any significant effort in it), why should anyone bother paying for a listing? Will it still exist in 3 months or a year?
Most directory scripts are relatively cheap (25-75$) and if you can write your own script I guess you will have no problem modifying any of the commercial ones to suit your needs. It's however all about the time needed. For example if you need 50 hours to write your own script and 10 to modify an existing one I believe that it's worth spending the 25-75$ and spend your time promoting the directory. Unless of course you are planing to resell your script or use it as a promotion tooll for your directory (give it away free with a backlink).
Yes you are right 40 hours spent to save 25-75$ :S. I think you can get people that will make you a good directory script in few hours for about 25$ . I noticed that once at scriptlance.com
I think the problem is driving traffic to a directory. I can submit to a thousand directories not a problem. Currently at 420 , can submit my url to all the resources I can find...and after all that im thinking uniques around 200 day maybe? Traffic is the key, making a directory appealing on levels other than free submission, perhaps bundling other webmaster resources on it. Writing up a few articles about the pros and cons of directories, and distributing to article distribution sites. Thats what im after at this point...traffic ideas.