Jun 22nd, 2007 by admin 2,228 Views
Here we go with another question a reader of Linkrain, Artifexus, asked me ” I’m thinking of launching a web directory. What would your advice be as the best way to do this? I’m leaning towards a bid directory, but don’t have a strong preference. How much should I spend if I’m serious about this endeavor? How much can I expect to make? ”
This questions is quite easy to asnwer for me because before I started this blog, I started a Web Directory and I spend some time thinkig about to change it into a Bid Directory. Let’s analyse quickly how to start each type of directory.
Web Directories
First of all you will need an easy customizable script. When I started Linkrain.com, I installed a free php script but changed it after only one month because it’s limited number of features. Before changing it I read that this script had a lot of other features but to get the “Full Script” I had to spend 645,95$ ( even if now the script is for sale at 245,95$ for a limited time). This is a lot of money to get only the php script for a web directory so I decided to search some other opportunities and finally I came across Phplinkdirectory, the script I’m still using.
You can get this script for free (with a limited number of features), for 25$ (but you’ll have to link back to phplinkdirectory.com) or you can spend 75$ to get the full rights ( I suggest to buy the full rights of this script). The script is being permanently updated, has a lot of awesome features and is really easy to install even for a person without php knowledge (me for example 
). Another great thing about phpLD is that there are many websites offering free templates and free mods for it. Installing a new template on phpLD is not more difficult than installing a new theme on Wordpress while also installing mods is very easy.
For 10$ you can also get the access to the Support Forum oh phpLD even if I had bad experience with their support. You can get the same support for free from DP members in the Directories section of Digital Point Forums.
Bid Directories
Bid Directories have started spreading the Internet and have become very popular lately (Bigweblinks.com for example). If you are going to start a Bid Directory you will need a php script link phpLinkBid which is very easy to install and cost as low as 29,95$ even if I suggest to use a script like Bigweblinks does, so that you can sort links by category instead of sorting them by letter.
A link in a Bid Directory is very useful only if the diretory is organized through a comprehensive category structure. If you are going to buy a link in a bid directory that organizes websites through the initial letters of your anchor text, the link won’t be worth more than a link from a Word Cloud site.
I don’t have as much information about Bid Directories as I have for Web Directories because, as you can see from Linkrain.com, I finally decided to not change it into a Bid Directory.
The differences between Web Directories and Bid Directories
- Web Directories are used since many years to list quality websites and give them good backlinks while Bid Directories give listed websites only quality backlinks if they are organized through categories.
- Bid Directories are an innovative type of directory, that’s why they allow you to make some quick money while you have to work more on a Web Directory to get it popular (there is also much more competition in the Web Directory Business than in the Bid Directory Business)
- If you are going to buy a featured listing in a Web Directory, you will be probably listed on the first page of your chosen category for many years while you will have to bid a lot to keep it on the first category page of a Bid Directory. That’s why many website owners still prefer to buy some featured Web Directory listings instead of spending a lot of money to keep their site on the first category page of a Bid Directory.
Another interesting point about Bid Directories is that many webmasters beleive that they are going to “die” like it happened for Word Cloud sites. In fact, the Word Cloud site phenomenon, last for a few months and now many of these sites are not promoted anymore.
By checking the website sale section of Digitalpoint you will see that many Bid Directory owners are selling their websites because they fear that this new phenomenon will last only for a few months.
How much should I spend to promote my directory and how much can I earn?
Yesterday I wrote an article about how you can get a good PageRank and thousands of backlinks by spending a few hundred dollars in promotion. When I started Linkrain.com, I spent less than 500$ for it’s promotion and after the first Google PageRank update I was able to achieve a PageRank of 5 for it. As soon as I got PageRank 5 and started to get some good traffic thanks to thousands of backlinks I achieved by spending less than 500$ in promotion, I sold some sponsor links on www.linkrain.com for a monthly fee of 15$ each link. After advertising my Web Directory in the link sale section of Digitalpoin Forums, I managed to sell all 20 link spots in less than 1 week.
Some earning revealed
Only with the Web Directory, that is less than 6 months old, I’m now averaging 450$/month (300$ for the sponsor link spots sold on the main page and 150$/month in regular directory listings and featured directory listings)
Based on this statistics, I got my 500$ less than 2 months and now I have more than 400$ each month that I could spend on it in promotion (and I’m going to do this as soon as I have more time to work on it).
Conclusions
I would suggest you to start a Web Directory instead of a Bid Directory because the future of Bid Directories is still unsure while Web Directories will last forever.
Awesome, thanks! Coupled with yesterday’s information, this is extremely helpful. I really appreciate the exact dollar figures, that really helps to put things in perspective. Please keep up the good work. - Mike
Let me know when you start your directory, wether it’s a Web Directory or a Bid Directory. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further questions
I’m interested in starting a directory myself, so thats interesting.
Thanks, I have another question for you
I have to start a web directory as well and then i will surely do it anyhow.
Interesting fact, i had thought of building my own web directory once but due to lack of experience and knowledge i have to back off and research more on this matter. The thing about bid directory is if you want to get listed on the front page you have to bid yourself up to it, this is good for new bid directory site since their listing offer is as low as $1. What i found out that most new bid directories a build on expired domain, so it is worthless even it has a PR6 if the webmaster is not going acquire more backlinks to maintain the PR. My suggestion is to always check before buying feature listing whether on Web Directory or Bid Directory, i always use SmartPageRank, CheckPageRank and some other free tools to check on backlinks before making any decision.
In conclusion, i still favor web directory since it is has a fixed price for featured listing, bid directory on the other hand can make your link to be drop out from the feature list if you’ve been outbid by other webmasters and finally do your research first. Well, that just my opinion. Thanks and good luck.
Even if I would get listed on the first page of a Bid Directory, all the other links would be probably unrelated to my website and the link would be not worth more than a link on a word cloud site.
I use smartpagerank too
I recently wrote an article about it: http://www.linkrain.com/articles/all-in-one-free-seo-tool/
Thanks for the informative and useful post. I had heard of Bid Directories but was fairly ignorant about them. With the facts, dollar figures and conclusion that you gave, I will no longer worry myself with the latter.
Directories are great for SEO. Especially if you own them! But how do Bid Directories work for SEO? I’m not real familiar with them..