I own the directory http://www.kuoid.co.uk but if I am honest, I am not a directory buff, and I am still quite new to it (even though I have been running it for over a year). I have managed to get it to PR2 and Alexa rank 43,483 (correct at time of writing), however, getting revenue from my directory has been an issue. I have managed to get 2 private advertisers, however sales of featured links seems to be a failure even though the price is only $0.99 for a year. Can anyone suggest any methods to improve featured link sales? I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this thread.
I'd only approve quality sites with good descriptions even if you have to adjust the details yourself. You seem to approve just about anything so I personally wouldn't even want a free listing. Choose quality over quantity and your paying clients will start to come.
When I visited your site and clicked on the Business cat, I got a malware warning from Malwarebytes. The site is PR1, not PR2.
Your directory is PR1 not PR2. Try to display Featured links on Homepage. It would give you more orders. People are not interested in inner links and it is not going to add any value to their site.
Theme wise it isn't unique, due to a restriction of software on my computer at this moment in time. There is plans for a brand new theme in the pipeline to help with the uniqueness factor. @boblord666 Admittedly I'm not extremely fussy with my approval process, but I do moderate submissions. I will get around to checking all current submissions and enforcing a stricter submission guideline. @hotftuna Thank you for pointing this out, I wasn't aware of any malware notification, I shall look into this. @Forumdirectory I get 5,226 absolute unique views a month according to my analytics @Avisblr I did consider this before, but it was something that was discouraged when I asked about this, however, it is something I shall be reconsidering. Thank you for all your advice guys
Basically if you want more business, promote the site more. One way to do this is by getting on as many Directory Lists as possible. Improve the quality of your site. Do you really earn rev from AdSense and other ads on your site? Most directories do not. Better to focus on directory listings instead of other ads. If someone would spend .99 they would spend 1.99. Why not increase fee just a bit.
Also, as I arrive on your page, there really is no tag line about submitting. I think you could do well with a simple slogan and link like: Find out why kuoid.co.uk can provide one of the best returns on investment Then use google stats to track what percentage of your visitors are clicking through. When they arrive on the new page, make sure you have a good answer for why they should submit. And thank you for choosing phpLD.
I just bought a featured link from you Just make sure you dont go around approving every crappy website submitted. Like boblord666 said, we wouldnt want even a free listing if your directory has hundreds of crappy sites listed. Approve quality websites only. Good luck with your directory
Clean up your listings, an insurance company in the crafts category? An air conditioning company in the decorating category? Add some additional categorization. I would much rather have my site appear on Arts > Artists > Painters than in Arts > Artists and be grouped in with painters, musicians, actors, DJs and poets. And, I certainly wouldn't be all that happy lumped in with a business card site with a spammy, keyword stuffed description. Your directory does look in better shape than many I've seen lately. More of your listings are properly categorized than aren't. When's the last time you audited your listings? My suggestion would be to print out your category tree. Then as you approve a new submission to each category, you also audit the old listings. Weed out the ones that are no longer active, changed topic or are otherwise undesirable. Move the ones in the wrong place and/or create secondary or tertiary categories to group things together better. Keep track of each category as you go through them. That way you will know exactly the last time you audited each category and will know which ones you haven't fixed. It also makes it seem less overwhelming to take it in smaller chunks this way rather than try to do it all at once. Yeah, I know phpLD has a link validation tool but I would still visit each site to make sure they haven't been domained or changed focus. You never know what people do with sites - I had a great cake decorating site listed that became a XXX porno site. It would have passed a "is it live?" automated validator. You will find if you make a better quality product that you will see folks more willing to link to your directory and you will be able to command far more than 99 cents for a featured listing.
Why? Are you gonna suggest a fake PR domain name for him to try to scam people with paid links? OP: Concentrate less on making money and more on making your directory a quality site devoid of dead links, spammy sites and decent content. Sometimes the lower price generates just as much spam as free. Maybe raise your price. Make things a bit more exclusive. Finally, don't worry about things like an Alexa rating or PR.
Thank you for the further advice. @YMC I will look at adding further categories. Thank you for the suggestion. @Bedwan Thank you for your purchase. I have approved your link @YMC Thanks for the advice. I'm still fairly new to being a directory owner/site owner, since I normally dabble in programming I really appreciate the help. Adsense is something I intend to remove, however, it covers the costs of hosting the directory and keeping the domain. I will get around to weeding out the bad links and poor submissions as soon as I get some time to myself
A web directory is not a search engine, and does not display lists of web pages based on keywords, instead it lists web sites by category and subcategory. Some directories are very general in scope and list websites across a wide range of categories, regions and languages. But there are also a large number of niche directories, which focus on restricted regions, single languages, or specialist sectors.
Er, actually it does all of that. And it "is" a search engine. The only difference is that directories do not list followed links in their db. Other than that, they function exactly the same.
I suggest just give it time. Build up your directory and slowly the sales will come in. I would not price it at $0.99 because it makes the submission seem very cheap, as if the "featured" link that's suppose to benefit the listing is only worth $0.99. In the long run, your directory will be crowded with worthless featured links that were purchased at such a cheap price that when you do raise the price, it'll hurt you then as you'll receive less submissions then you would get due to the overcrowding. I'd set the price higher and make it permanent-- it attracts more sales if that's what you're aiming for. I also do not suggest Adsense on directories. Most visitors to your site are webmasters and people in the business who will not click on your ads. It also makes it look unprofessional. Get a better and more professional design. Good luck!