Online Directory - Making money

[cmedia]

We have an internal use directory that we have been using since day one, about 3 months ago we toyed with the idea of developing it into a website, and charging for companies to list on it, as its quite a unique market.
We have all the code and graphics and ready to go live tomorrow, what are peoples experience on selling such a product.
As it could be a nice cash flow side to our business if sucuessful but do not really want to spend lots of time on it, on a daily basis as it would detract from the core business.
Was thinking unlimited impressions over 12 months for around £99.99

[caththere]

We have an internal use directory that we have been using since day one, about 3 months ago we toyed with the idea of developing it into a website, and charging for companies to list on it, as its quite a unique market.
We have all the code and graphics and ready to go live tomorrow, what are peoples experience on selling such a product.
As it could be a nice cash flow side to our business if sucuessful but do not really want to spend lots of time on it, on a daily basis as it would detract from the core business.
Was thinking unlimited impressions over 12 months for around £99.99

It's good that you're charging for the (classifieds / directory) service you're offering. I'm no expert but it sounds good enough. Maybe later on you can give commissions to those who refer others to your business? Just a thought.

[mattsaw]

Was thinking unlimited impressions over 12 months for around £99.99What exactly are people getting for their money? I can only think of 3-4 directories that charge in that region, and to be honest none of them are worth that money.

Online directories tend to be such a crowded marketplace, they're incredibly difficult to get traffic to, therefore any traffic benefits from them to customers are minimal. Even directories such as the Yahoo directory send single digit visitor numbers per month for the majority of their categories.

In terms of SEO benefits, for most directories they are minimal, search engines have devalued them to such an extent that the vast majority of listings are pointless.

In a marketplace where even the long-established and promoted directories find it hard to even charge a nominall fee, I think you'll struggle to get many paid listings.

[caththere]

Was thinking unlimited impressions over 12 months for around £99.99 The only thing I'd do is re-think the price. Money = energy go ahead and charge in my view.

[sirearl]

We have an internal use directory that we have been using since day one, about 3 months ago we toyed with the idea of developing it into a website, and charging for companies to list on it, as its quite a unique market.
We have all the code and graphics and ready to go live tomorrow, what are peoples experience on selling such a product.
As it could be a nice cash flow side to our business if sucuessful but do not really want to spend lots of time on it, on a daily basis as it would detract from the core business.
Was thinking unlimited impressions over 12 months for around £99.99

Whats your daily traffic level.?

Earl

[UKSBD]

Online directories tend to be such a crowded marketplace, they're incredibly difficult to get traffic to, therefore any traffic benefits from them to customers are minimal. Even directories such as the Yahoo directory send single digit visitor numbers per month for the majority of their categories.

In terms of SEO benefits, for most directories they are minimal, search engines have devalued them to such an extent that the vast majority of listings are pointless.

The smart business owner and SEO takes advantage of people thinking
like that, and rather than moaning about directories take advantage
of them.

I have categories in my directory that receive 3,000 visitors a month,
have an individual business listing page that received 1,700 visitors last
month and several other business listings pages that received 500+

Luckily for me the people who's listings they are set up for, aren't smart
enough to upgrade their listing, I make a lot more from the AdSense on
the pages than I would make if they paid for an upgrade :)

[mattsaw]

The smart business owner and SEO takes advantage of people thinking
like that, and rather than moaning about directories take advantage
of them.

I have categories in my directory that receive 3,000 visitors a month,
have an individual business listing page that received 1,700 visitors last
month and several other business listings pages that received 500+

Luckily for me the people who's listings they are set up for, aren't smart
enough to upgrade their listing, I make a lot more from the AdSense on
the pages than I would make if they paid for an upgrade :)

Are you willing to put your (my) money where your mouth is?

I have around 50 SEO clients that I would be more than happy to take a (paid of course) listing in a directory that would send that kind of traffic. I'll even let you choose the categories to make it fair :)

I'll monitor the traffic and sales sent by the directory and then report back here.

Are you up for that?

[UKSBD]

You can have them for free and choose the categories

Make it a mix of competitive and non competitive categories, bear in mind
though I specialise in service/location and the point of my directory isn't
just to send traffic, but to generate genuine enquiries.

Probably no good for London based businesses, but you can add a couple
if you like. PM me and I will set you up a special registration page.

[mattsaw]

No, it's fine I'm more than willing to pay :)

If you PM me with your top 10 categories and I'll submit and clients that I have relevant to those.

[UKSBD]

I'll PM you the top 10 categories, but personally I wouldn't pick any of
those, up to you though.

[SillyJokes]

I wouldn't pay £100 to be in a directory.

Few directories are worth being in and usually their success is inversely proportional to the price they charge.

[UKSBD]

Horses for courses.

I wouldn't pay either if I was an online joke shop, you would need too
many visitors to generate the cost.

Mind you, you did pay me aboput £80 one Christmas season ;)

[MASSEY]

Horses for courses.

I wouldn't pay either if I was an online joke shop, you would need too
many visitors to generate the cost.

Mind you, you did pay me aboput £80 one Christmas season ;)

Can i ask how you get traffic to your site because i dont think i have ever come across it organically on a search engine?

[MASSEY]

and to pay £99 to be listed on a crowded page i hate that, its only good if your in the top 3, your probably more likely talkin £15 - £20 maybe for the seo boost.

[mediakitchen]

Following this thread with interest as I am about to launch a uk accommodation directory site. If one was not to charge businesses to list on the site and taking bookings on the site is not a possibility then any other ideas for a revenue model for the site?

Thanks

Paul

[cmedia]

Your right I am thinking of dropping the price to £10-15 for the year, as I mentioned it was just something we developed from our own internal system and any form of income would be a plus point.

[UKSBD]

Can i ask how you get traffic to your site because i dont think i have ever come across it organically on a search engine?

Longtail
over 200,000 keywords last month, plus an ever increasing amount of
reffering sites and direct traffic (probably up to 10% now)
Like I said earlier people who know how to use directories can get a good
advantage from them.

For an online store selling low price items it wouldn't be worth the upgrade
(although the link juice alone is probably worth the fee)

The people who really benefit are the ones who provide a service or high
end product where just 1 or 2 customers would pay for the upgrade.

The trick is in getting the balance right, I used to optimise for competitive
keywords/phrases, nowadays I don't even bother, but just concentrate
on niche and longtail. If a silly little phrase lands a customer a job which
pays enough to cover the cost of the upgrade, they only need I click
a year.