hard work, dedication, loads of quality backlinks.... your directory should be cheap(free'll be better), search-engine friendly, fast approval..... good luck
Go for a unique look. I've seen a lot of people using the peppermint theme on PHPLD for example, and they all look the same to me. Abilogic and WebXperience spring to mind as two that have that different look about them. They look pro and they definitely stand out. They are also well marketed.
Create original content your web directory, use a unique look and feel and work hard! Don't allow all those spam listings, MFA and more of those BS websites. Link building, a budget for marketing. Use a business plan to market your web directory. Try creating a real internet guide that people will use.
i think the biggest factor is many backlinks to get high pr. that is what people search for these days.
The first thing in my opinion is to stop worrying about beating the big guys and concentrate on your directory. Some of the points mentioned Design: Yes it is important but does anyone remember wowdirectory's past design? or don't tell me that you like the design of canlinks . Design is an important factor but it isn't a guarantee for success. So spend time and money and give everything for free, that sounds like a good business model j/k In my opinion you are doing a great job with your directory and if you continue working the same way and have patience then you will manage to play in the same league with the big boys. Patience is the key in my opinion for a succesful directory.
some fantastic points you made. true but considering a directory to be new and dont have much to spend, is it still possible for such directories to go top of table. what i truly believe for a good and responsible directory, should allow free submissions than the money factor. take for dmoz for instance. they could have made theirs a paid option easily. people are there willing to pay even $500 for getting into dmoz. why they havent? Why accept such huge spam submissions and review them? no matter how much you are willing to pay, you cant get in. isnt dmoz a great example for non commercialisation. on the other hand, owners of small directories cant just survive only with free submissions. thats another sad side of the same coin. I am a person who truly believes that for any high quality directory, should allow room for free submissions.
Yes free submissions are necessery, however when the directory starts getting popular it's really hard to keep up with the submissions, especially if it's just a one man show. I have kept my directory free but to be honest I am starting to get frustrated from the ammount of spam submissions that I get. A possible solution could be just a really small fee of a of couple of dollars to stop these kind of submissions which is something that I am thinking of implementing. I am on the same boat, my budget was minimal when I started but at least now I am covering most of the costs, the key to this imho is to try and find sustainable not expensive promotion methods that will bring you both links and traffic. I know it sounds hard but there are ways or at least that is what I like to believe.
Sad, but true. I high pagerank counts for a lot. I think you can make some pretty good money once you reach a pagerank of 6.
Too much focus on PageRank and not enough on trust, IMO. If the direcrory has high PR but links to crap sites, the trust will not be there and the link juice won't be flowing.