Hi everybody I have written an article about bid directories, and some tips on promoting them. Let me know what you think! http://ezinearticles.com/?Make-Your-Bid-Directory-Stand-Out,-Google-Safe-and-Profitable&id=1117121
Good article. You summed up a number of points quite well. the ethics of not manipulating bids was a good point. Also allowing free bids is OK, providing they are displayed below the other sites that paid for a listing. As an alternative to free bids you could hire someone to add quality informative sites - a directory editor. That saves you from letting sites in for free just to fill up the categories. Also you mentioned in the title staying Google safe. To stay Google safe you need to review sites and reject the crap sites like the casino affiliate pages. Don't give away keyword rich anchor text too easily like "online casino" etc. Google doesn't like bid directories because they just accept any site. If a crap site bidded $1000, would you reject it compared with a crap site that bidded $5?
That is the issue now. There are so many crappy casino affiliates out there that they're on the lookout for listings which they can easily get into. I think waving $10 in front of a bid directory's nose is one of them. Personally now, whilst I would've in the past, I wouldn't accept a $1,000 casino listing. I've made around half that in the last 3 months or so, and so i think accepting one huge listing now would be detrimental to my directory in the long term. Which I do believe there will be
That's a great attitude and one which potentially lose me around $10,000 possibly more. I'm glad I still rejected most of the casino bids on ZL.
If you just keep it family safe it will be ok...in theory. We will see if Google has the same "theory".
I finally managed to read your article, and i must say its a decent read. However, do tell us, is your bid directory profitable, and I mean income net of all related expenses
Hello.... Very good read, thx for sharing Making Bid Directories Profitable My biggest question is why haven't bid directories changed? Would anyone consider changing how bid directories operate in the sense that they are only so good as the bids get higher... ( bid directory suicide ) Wouldnt it be better to have a side panel with the "ALL TIME" Highest Bidders on the left or right, then where the main bids are on the home page making them "This Months" top bidder then reseting it 30 days later so everyone gets a crack at being on the front page and receiving traffic and indexing while increasing profit margins and continuous content changing. In a sense when the lowest bids become too costly...say $50-$100 dollars then interest is completely lost as many wont bother with trying to catch the leaders when they have to drop a large amount of cash at one time. Take bigweblinks or any bid directory that the minimum bid is way too much for the average individual willing to take a chance... Wouldnt this "monthly" method be more profitable for bid directories? Anyones thoughts? thx malcolm
Nice ideas Malcolm. The problem is that nobody - like Google or SEO companies take them seriously enough to call a directory so just arn't interested.
I use annual bids , we had a discussion about this last year at the height of the bidding days I converted to Phpld bidding because it haD these features built in , phplb now has a less capable form of bid life control, so , Phpld is still superior in this particular matter. Anyway, Mr OP , are your directories Profitable
Thanks for sharing, nice to read a decent and helpful article. Definitely worth considering and putting it in action.
Yes . I have SEO'd it so it gets a few links from google from non "bid directory" keywords (things like "travel and tourism websites" etc.), mainly longtail stuff, but it all helps. I think I've probably spent about $30-$40/month on advertising on it, and make around $100-$150. It's not my main investment (nor should it be), but a little bit of work here and there keeps it ticking over with a nice amount of beer money
Wow, you're saying you get up to 50 paid submissions per month, based on your minimum bid, interesting I guess one must have another look at my advertising methodology, was simply loosing money as fast as I spent it Awesome , wonderful results
I wouldn't say that, this month is a little low (I'm on $94 this month), but a lot of people bid more than the basic amount. I talk about it in my article. I offer blog posts on my Bid Directory Blog for $10, and deep links for $5 ($3 until the end of April!), and you've got those who just want to be on top. Long story short, I actually cannot remember the last time I got a minimum bid listing, as people would knock up their bid for a small amount to get value for money benefits.