Hi, I'm thinking about starting a directory - which would be completely free (no interest in trying to make money), I know I can get the directory to have at least a PR ranking of 4-5 (because I have some sites that I can use to give it PR), but my question is whether anyone has any advice on running such a directory - which I think can become a huge headache to manage. My main intention is to make it a reciprocal link index for any sites with more then 2-3+ pr, while all other sites will get in for free..but even that may be quite daunting (I'm sureI can do the coding part) but the management of submissions seems scary..anyone have any advice?
A free directory can be quite a challenge, here is an article I wrote a little while back that you might enjoy.
I can only see this working if you have like a PR 5/6 directory People tend to run away at the mention of a reciprocal Free web directories can get a flooded with submissions and well i feel that you neednt worry about the review queue as long as you plan to run a quality directory and spend some time in link building and promoting it. The best option i would suggest is that you start a free directory with a paid submission option. The people who would like to get in fast can always make a premium payment Generally most free web directory have a review period of more than a month.
I already tried that with my Link Directory and it did not work. Guidelines were not followed, people were placing reciprocals on pages that would never get spidered and/or even removing the reciprocal links, so it went paid. Such a shame too, because its a PR6, promoted, and would have just needed a reciprocal from a good website to get listed.
unless you have 18 hours a day to manage submissions yourself, dont bother. the amount of submissions you would get would be insane. my PR4 directory had 200+ a day, so a PR5 or PR6 would get hundreds.... Why would you want to spend so much time and money on a free directory. Am i missing the point? Why spend so much time and get 0 revenue???
I think he mentioned he wanted to use the directory to build links to his other sites. The problem with free directories it that it takes time to review each submission and 90% of the submissions will be spammy, MFA sites so you will be wasting 90% of your time and it all adds up. The auto submitting sites can send in 100's of submissions an hour and it will take you 5 hours to review them all, so eventually something has to give and it is usually the sanity and resolve of the directory owner.
My experience is offering a reciprocal option is a pain in the butt, the people you want to use it don't, and the people you don't want to use it do Even a small payment will keep a lot of the spammers away, when you get PR5, increase your prices, you'll get some income which you can spend on promoting your sites.
... i thought i'd let my site be free.... till i get to PR4 or something... 10 days after posting at DP, and perhaps 2 days after getting into directorycritic, i put a $1.45 charge.... coz i had 250 pending submissions! for a coder, its difficult to be a editor! M.
Read the article, seems like a common experience. I'm not interested in making people pay ..and I really hate the idea of managing submissions. The hosting I could get for free, but it all sounds so tedious - I'm not so interested is getting payments from people who want links because then those people will feel they have a sense of entitlement to the link (e.g. if you should ever have to close your site for whatever reason, those people will feel like they are owed a link ..blah blah blah..I'd rather not deal with the headache of payment system, etc). What I'm surprised is no one tries to monetize the directory itself through ads. I was mostly thinking of starting a directory just to help a few honest webmasters, but it seems like a daunting and insane task.
slincoln, I think you should find some way to charge for your time (the time you spend reviewing sites). I know you are a good writer. Maybe you can incorporate some good content to draw interest, and then you can more easily get paid for your time.
Slincon, let me warm myself in the glow of your idealism. In some ways, yes. It's much easier if you can get some aggressive and sophisticated spam filters coded, and I'm not talking about putting up illegible captcha images on your submission form. The whole problem with the idea of a free directory supported by advertising is that a directory is one of the worst ways to make money in this way. Almost any other way is less labour-intensive and more profitable, including forums.
Thanks, it's a good tip - reviewing sites personally, but I think if people pay money they're most likely looking for a postitive review rather then an honest one..lol. The MFA and spam sites according to everyone who's posted here seems to be the ones frequenting directories most - and possibly the ones who are willingly to pay as well. I wasn't really in it for the money, I have other sites that are doing ok. But is anyone actually really making money off these directories, maybe I'm naive but I always thought that the webmasters behind directories weren't in it for the profit - but maybe for the PR rank they could distribute to their own sites.
There's money in it when you get pagerank and traffic. I believe in slow but consistent growth over time. I think that is safer. Others go right out and buy a bunch of links to boost the pagerank fast. That isn't for me but it has been proven to work as well.
Good luck to you - free directories are hard work and as mentioned above it's hard to get people to place reciprocal links. I'd say about 1% of sites submitted to my free directory are reciprocated, of those probably 5% (maybe less) are worth anything, the rest are stuck on some obscure page with 100 other links. You'll also find that the more successful your directory becomes the harder it becomes to maintain & the more time you spend on it - spam submissions are a real pain. I actually do make a small amount from adsense ~$5 a day which is better than nothing but it's still doesn't pay for the time I put in. Why do it? I'm not sure really, I'd like to think that over time I can build domaining.in up and become one of the best free directories around - I don't think I'm ever going to make my fortune this way though
If the sites you wish to promote with your directory have a similar topic, why not create a niche directory? The submissions would be easier to manage and the backlinks to your own sites would be more topical.
So far everyone has been saying it's hard work, and out of those that operate directories are saying it's a big pain and that there's no money in it - but why do people continue to run it if they're not in it so much for money, and I'm surprised people continue to invest time in something that apparently they don't seem to enjoy... I guess I'm saying Why do Directory Runners that aren't making money from Premium submissions continue operating a directory?