Looking for advice. Have a brand new directory with a decent domain...

I was talking about directory submission software's. It's where most of your submissions would come from

 

I was trying to make a joke, its right up there with a pagerank increaser.

 

ok, gotcha lol

 

There are numerous examples of people making money from general directories. There are multitudes who started general directories, thought they were easy money, quit when they found out they weren't and now badmouth them. Others got caught up in the buying links Google slapdown and quit. I don't know Indy, so I don't know where he's coming from. Yes, the two major scripts have more than their fair share of issues - just visit their forums. Yes, Google seems to have a love/hate relationship with directories. But, there are people making money with them.

Personally, I would tell anyone I care about to only start a general directory if it was a regional one. Unless you are prepared (skill-wise and financially) to compete among the long-term players, like BOTW, Skaffe, Yahoo, and a few others, and the hordes of useless general directories being launched on a daily basis - run, run quick while you still can.

 

Neither one of those is why I got out... But I have told him it's not impossible to make money just that for the time and money he would be better off picking a different niche. But ya, if he can't compete with the big boys you mentioned, then he does need to run

 

How am I supposed to compete with Yahoo? Maybe I should charge 399/yr for my submissions... lol sure

 

I think there has got to be almost as many crappy directory sites out there as porn sites now days.

Try come up with an idea not done by millions already. Even if you make it a specialist/niche directory its going to be a lot easier (depending on what niche you choose) than your every day general directory.

They achieve nothing.

 

Your negative attitude will help you with nothing.

 

Actually by thinking smart I achieve quite a lot.

I make quite a nice living online.

By giving advice of not making another cookie cutter directory, if taken on board will save you a lot of wasted time.

Make something that matters, that stands out.

 

Keep thinking smart sir. I don't need your advice.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with building a general directory and yes, there is a market for them. Oh there are lots of naysayers that will tell you general directories are dead and you can't make money with one but I don't agree with that assessment. Sure there are plenty of junk directories and new ones popping up every day but there is still a great need for top notch general directories and plenty of people willing to pay for a listing in one.

Here is where you are going to hear some folk say things like yea, but only if you work your butt off and make yours really stand out from all the other directories out there. My answer to that is you're damn right! Just like any business it takes lots of hard work and commitment and that's what separates the successful ones from the failures. Most of the people that tell you you are wasting your time are ones that though this was easy money and when they realized it takes work and commitment they bailed.

I think a lot depends on what you have a passion for and if you have the heart for it. If you have already started a directory then you must have an interest in them and something has brought you to this point so go with what your "gut" tells you. Directories, like any thing else, can be rewarding but you will only get out of it what you put in just like anything else.

 

I appreciate how positive you are about this. Many people will say that it is a waste of time, but I think if you make it worth while, you will be rewarded. I am just going to keep doing what I'm doing. We shall see what happens, but I will keep an open mind.

 

We're saying he would be better off putting his time and money into another niche. AND that is the best advice. Yes money can be made but it's not a good niche.

 

Wouldn't that depend on the individual ? I do some other things besides directories but found I have a passion for them so that's where I focus my time. You say it's not a good niche but compared to what and what do you suggest as an alternative? My directories make positive revenue but to some it my seem small and inconsequential but it makes me happy.....of course there's always room for growth and that would please me even more

I agree that way to many people started directories for different reasons with most thinking it was easy money and some of the junk you see makes the whole industry look bad but you can not simply write of the entire web directory sector as worthless. Another directory may flounder and never gain traction but again it just may. Who knows, in a few years we could be talking about emmons's directory here and how great it is.

I can't see into his heart and I don't know what his interests are, his abilities or his level of commitment and I'm certainly not going to tell him he can't be successful at this.

 

Yes. As I have mentioned...
and I get the feel he is new to web design (could be wrong) so he is not going to know what to do to be a major competitor or even SEO his script to the best of it's ability.

I have suggested him take the time to find an easier niche with less competition. Not sighting a specific niche he should do.

I know, I know. It's been mentioned 10 times.

I haven't done that either. I have mentioned money can be made, just hard and takes a lot of work and time waiting too. But again, I just suggested he pick another niche.

I can't either, I'm just offering my suggestion.

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IDK why everybody has something to say about my advice. I have told both side of it. Not just a simple "No don't do it" answer.. But the fact is directories don't make much (95% of the them), they have high competition, Adsense don't make money because most traffic is webmaster that DON'T click ads, Google don't really like them and hardly ever crawls and indexes all the pages of them, next to no organic traffic and most submissions are going to come from submission software's. and really to be quality he would really need to do the submissions himself or at least write the descriptions or he is ging to have the same content as the other thousands of directories the link has been submitted to.

Anyhow, I'm trying to start an argument, was just giving my advice.

 

One suggestion as you build a directory from ground up. Try to have as many unique descriptions for sites that are being submitted. 99.9% submissions will have descriptions that are copied or used in some other directory. Accepting them will make your directory as a place of junk yard filled with copied content. In the eyes of Google the directory will not be in good book and it will raise the flag of copied content. Ultimately this will kill your directory in terms of deindexing, not indexing, PR update etc.,

 

I am learning many new things as I go, I will start more directories in the future with narrowed topics. This one is an experiment to learn the scripts, templates, seo techniques, etc. I feel like I will be able to bring in some good profit in the future with these new skills I have already acquired.