What do you understand by "lifetime listing" ? is a listing that lasts for the life of the directory? for as long as the directory belongs to you? or until the domain expires and is no longer renewed?
I would expect for the lifetime of the directory. Realistically if you sold the directory id consider my investment in a listing no longer secure, if it suddenly dissappeared id not be suprised.
Yea, but I if I sell the directory, and I want that client who bought for me to be one of my clients in the future businesses, what's the deal here? I should put selling conditions for the new owner of the directory that he must not remove the lifetime links and then show the proof to my client that I did my best for his listings to remain in place
Well you can only do so much, a buyer would probably promise you allsorts, a few months after they own the directory they wont give a damn, id bet about 50% would start making changes resulting in paid for listings being removed, no followed etc. Even if your honest and meaning well its hard for you to assure that the new owner will do as they promised, i think most of your past customers would understand that too.
Immortality in non-existent. If the feds came in and took your site from you tomorrow, that'll be your directories lifetime over then. If I had a site with 'lifetime' links I would expect that to be forever, regardless of who owns it. If you sell the directory, lifetime links staying in tact should also be a part of the contract.
any new directory owner with half a brain would know its in his interest also to keep the sites in the directory as pipes says u can only do so much make it clear its a requirement in the sale and thats about it
Yeah when selling, just do your best to express that to the new owner, get them to understand its importance.
even if a directory is sold, it's in the new owner's own interest to keep all the paid listings, 60-70% of submitters are SEO companies, internet marketers, ecommerce and business sites owners, those will often if not always comeback to submit their new projects, client's sites... now remove their old listings and watch your directory die slowly... ETHICS EQUALS SUCCESS.
Good question. It would ordinarily be a 'reasonable' period if it were tangible goods, such as a computer. But seeing as its a listing the term lifetime would be fairly applied as implying the lifetime of the directory regardless of whether the directory changes hands or not.
funkymario has it right and when I sell a directory I make it clear that all permanent links should be kept to keep the goodwill value of the directory high. It really comes down to trust and knowing the directory owners you are doing business with. I have sold around a dozen directories in the past 3 years and all are in-tact and live to the best of my knowledge. It is a different story if you are selling a newish free directory, most of those new owners will quickly delete all existing listings.
I agree wholeheartedly, and its this kind of activity that is undermining directories as a whole. How many times is a submitter going to want to get bitten by paying for a lifetime listing only to see it deleted when someone sells the directory. Not sure if there is anything that can be done about it though which is pretty sad.
You buy a lifetime link - then lifetime should be lifetime - for as long as the directory lives. That includes no matter who owns the directory. On directory being sold - strict guidelines should be put in place to the buyer. If the buyer does not like what they are buying then they should not buy the directory. Having said the above - and let me contradict myself here - for any business to survive, sometimes changes need to be made and if after sometime a certain listing does not continue to meet the directory guidelines - go figure.
This has been discussed by me before too. Usually 1 year should be the minimum limit for a lifetime link. Ofcourse lifetime is till the life of the directory (and not the life of the owner ) Yes, this is what all follows and should follow as a proof.
Lifetime can be with conditions apply where policy can be changed anytime. Lifetime can be till the domain is dead. It depends on the site owner actually and his definition of lifetime.
What's the lifetime of a directory? Does it mean to the lifetime of the owner? If any person starts a directory at 20, will he keep the link throughout his life? Will he/she continue to pay the bills of hosting and domains just to keep a clean image/ to prove his/her honesty? Many of us prefer lifetime or permanent listing, When you opt for that option how long you expect your site should be kept there? Atleast one year? 3-5 years or more?