Yup, its about time Some of you may have heard about my free directory, some of you may have already submited their websites to the directory, and some of you are maybe directory partners. In each and every case, you are maybe already part of my project. As you know, my directory offers completely free listings, with no reciprocal links needed. Directory has almost 17000 listings, and growing rapidly every day with over 100 new daily submissions. I'm just looking on my admin panel, and it looks like I have over 3000 new websites submited for inclusion. My baby has grown, big time. In your opinion, what is the best way to monetize it? I used to run AdSense on it before, but I removed it and placed Wikalo Ads, as a support for my other project. So, I'm thinking about something more serious, like sponsored listings or directory sponsorship. How much could I charge for sponsored listings? What are other ways of monetizing a directory, besides sponsored listings, directory (or category specific) sponsorships, and selling text links? Thanks.
I've never owned a directory and don't plan to so I'm not an expert however, of the directories I've used they have different methods to generate money. Why not let companies pay for their site to be number 1 on the listings instead of listing them in alphabetical order. For an additional fee they could also have a small image next to their site, different color text etc.
I've had similar ideas, and I guess that I will need to get my directory custom coded in the near future. This free sofware has served me well until now, but the requirements have grown now, so I guess that our own solution would be the best.
Apart from text links and adsense, you can try affiliate programs, but the most obvious is sponsored listings. Also check out our affiliate program specifically for directories http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=123124
What about selling text links - you could do this yourself, or use a company like TLA add this in with Google Adsense and your revenue could increase considerably. Like any type of advertising though, your directory would have to generate traffic (which very few do no matter how many listings they have!) or if the traffic is not there, then a good Google Page Rank will persuade many to advertise.