Hi Why do some many people start/buy directories, I mean from a money point of view. Most people will always go for a free link over a featured link, I know I personally would never pay for a link, also most of the ones I've seen have none or very few featured links, so I don't see how people can make money from them. Please advise Dee
Hi Dee, Featured links can be a good source of revenue, but they can be hard to sell sometimes - especially for newer directories. Banner ad revenue, like Google Adsense, is often used on directories as a primary source of income. There's lots of other more creative ways too that perhaps others can share.
hi There're some people willing to pay for the link, especially web directory with high PR and traffic.
If you're willing to put in the effort it's not the most impossible thing in the world to learn how to do. The fact is, there's just too many people who aren't willing to put in the effort, and still decide they want a directory (or 10). It takes a lot more effort than some people think to run a directory (as opposed to all those "other" 'directory owners' that run link farms). But there are ways to get an income - just don't expect it to be much in the short-term. Directories are a long-term investment, and can take a lot of time.
'Free directories' are super difficult to monetize. Both affiliate banners and google adsense doesn't perform all that well. Some people use them to promote their paid directories, submission services and some just use them for 'branding'. I did manage to get 3-4 featured listings in a free directory once it hit PR 4 (unfortunate that people pay so much attention to PR).
I think for the most part it is Over...Unless you are willing to put you heart and soul to it and make it unique enough where you can get visitors. The traditional Web directories wont work any more...The scripts the you get such as phpLD and others are the tools you can use, but not the traditional methods of the same categorize structures as we see todays...Contents my man, unique contents. The methods of wait for the payed submitters are done with. If you are passionate about directories then a script like phpLD (and others) will help, but it needs your ideas to make it happen. For examples with phpLD you can add a blog like contents on any categories that are related to the contents, add pictures and videos, alter the looks and feel of the templates, add modules into it etc,..
A lack or research i think, most new quick start up directories are simply unaware of what happend over the last few years. I partly feel sorry for them, that they dont understand, and partly i see them as ignorant for their lack of research into whats going on in the directory world. There is a massive surge of naive webmasters that simply dont get it, not just with directories but with business online.
That's all true, but the questions about how to make money with a directory, not how not to, or how hard it may be There are still ways to make money with directories, it's just not as simple as it used to be.
Its hard, why pretend and tell people they can make money doing it this way or that way if we cant manage it ourselves? Adsense sucks on a web directory, if someone does click while in a directory then its probably going to be because the adsense is positioned so as to be clicked accidentally, putting your adsense account at risk. Its never been simple to make money with web directories, thats one of the great misunderstandings of directories, that they are launch and go type sites, a little money spinner, lol, not quite im afraid. Dont cover your ears when someone tries to tell you how difficult something is it will save you future disappointment.
Hi Thanks for all your replies. I don't mind hard work, I'm used that that , but after ready all your replies, I've decided it's not for me. Seems like a heck of a lot of work for not that much return. Thanks all Dee
It definitely is a lot of work, and the return's minimal. Like I said, it's all true, but this would have been a really nice thread for people to contribute ideas on how to make money from a directory [as per the title]. Instead it's gone like almost every conversation about directories - a discussion about how hard and little reward running a directory is. I guess sometimes it's easier to think about the problems than work towards a solution. Still, I guess Dee got her answer