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the only one I've paid to so far is bluefind
but how many of these small directories make a profit
Mine do now thanks to members of webmasterworld who kindly past some of their knowledge to me
But that is not why i do it, money is not everything, I get great satisfaction seeing which search engine (or directory) visitors found the page at they viewed, that's what makes it all worthwhile for me, giving something back and sending another happy camper on their way.
Personally, I'm in it to beat the 3rd tiers. But only when you make serious money, can you then really make that difference.
Worth is very complex to judge, it's very much based on perception, what I think is a good deal, many may not - it just depends on your needs and what your trying to accomplish, the internets just so quantitative when it should be qualitative.
I'd like to put out a survey to the world, and get their views on which the good and bad directories are, and how many visitors on average each one really delivers. It could be very interesting reading indeed.
I really think that the stats that some of these give out, are clearly not the genuine ones. Deception gets you a thumbs down in my book, and some of these want up to a £1000 for a listing?
Is that value?
I'd like to put out a survey to the world, and get their views on which the good and bad directories are, and how many visitors on average each one really delivers. It could be very interesting reading indeed
Why don't you stop worrying what others are up to and concentrate on your own directory, other sites stats don't mean jack s**t
Oh and one more thing while we are on the subject
there is obviously an underlying problem with yourself relating to paid placements at other directories than your own, why does it matter if one site charges £ 1000 and another one only charges £ 25....That's Business....If they can get away with charging that amount of money then they have got their marketing bang on, more than likely they are using a direct sales approach with telesales bangin them phones and running up hugh phone bills.
You have worked in telesales so you should know this approach works, it's the numbers game again, the more you phone the better the chance of a person saying yes.
I was told a tale many years ago about a big advertising convention in the US back in the 60's where a top advertising guy gave a talk and he said
"This year X billions of dollars will be spent on advertising in the US, of which half will be wasted, but the trouble is I don't know which half"
That is advertising in general not just the web, some of your hard earned money does and will go to good use but at least half will go to waste, this applies to what ever form of advertising you do including submitting your site to a directory.
I see directories as a poor mans way of driving traffic. If net newbies had the cash, they wouldn't be using directories at all, more like using business magazines at £40,000 a time.
I've been watching certain directories very closely, and noticed that one will charge say £20, another £500, and another £1000 etc, yet the charges don't necessarily reflect the popularity or visitor count of each service, not that you're getting anything brilliant for your cash (in terms of reach or in your face ads) in the first place. OK, £1K spent on advertising may not be a great deal to some, but to others it's a fortune
Say these guys want £500 from whoever, what value do you place on that £500?
Now we all know that Directories will say anything to get your cash - even lie, so don't tell me that they are all sweetness and light as I have been there too many times, and know the number of clickthroughs some of these give you - and it ain't great.
Value should come in 3 parts:
Form of Advert (text ad, banner etc)
Actual Clickthrough (eg 100 a week)
ROI (which has to at least double the spend)
Clickthrough cannot always be guaranteed, that's obvious, so a rough estimate should be given, but if a publication does make the guarantee then they should at least provide those clicks on request, then at least you can measure clickthrough.
Because we have all bought ads that have promised the earth, gone and checked our own stats, then discovered not a clickthrough from the advertiser. Now that in my book is dirty and deception.
I've bought PPC ads before and the Clickthrough was a joke, and yes it was a respected PPC Engine. I then used Google, and got some good results, which made me happy. I guess my point is this: What is the point of ripping off the customer, renegging or whatever you want to call it.
If one can provide the results, why not the rest, what is the problem with that.
I always say, If you're good at something, you keep quiet about it, and if you're no good - you shut up!
(directories that is!)
Value is such a vague term anyway, and some will have you believe that value is different for most, but I don't think it is. I think value is the return on what you paid out, and the amount of return is the key, as it should determine whether you use the service again.
And that applies to websites on a low budget specifically! We aren't Coca Cola, or have millions to waste on a brand war.
Advertising is about profit for the publication and minimising that risk for the advertiser. Or that's how it should be.
Does an unhappy customer use the same service again? I say no.
We should remember to try and stay on topic for the sake of the original poster
steve
Splut - got to be worth it at 1p per visitor
Great British Pages - Free listing alone is well worth submitting your site.
Lime Search - this could be good in the future, and is attractive looking. But it's stayed at the same ranking for a couple of years now, and that suggests it now lays dormant, as far as traffic levels go at least. Perhaps a re-design can propel it forward?
They require a recip link. hmmmm could be offputting to some webmasters and they do not return the links either. Bit of a non starter I think, but it's free to get in so.........
Abrexa - without doubt one of the top 2nd boys. This has impressed me imensly, it's been about for years, and is connected to LimeySearch, which is also impressive (PR potential) and it's only £9.95!
UK250 - This is NICE! Since changing their design, it looks better. Has a very nice feel and is a pleasure to use (fun even), but it's more of a guide of the best sites in each category, perhaps disguised as a directory? Maybe.
But - yes there is one, unfortunately, at £269 exl VAT and with no guarantee of being listed, could make people reluctant to even bother with it.
Another Yahoo style mentality? Who knows.
My Cartel/Webfinder/Thomson - This was tough. I couldn't decide whether it's a 1st or a 2nd tier one, but it goes to the 2nd tiers, because of their lack of service and encouragement of telesales campaigns.
£60 for a listing might be worth it though. (via MyCartel only)
Everydayuk - I like this, purely as it's a portal, and people use portals far more than a site with just a directory concept.
yahoo PR 8 $299
Well everyone knows the story behind this, yes it is expensive but worth it long term
business.com PR 7 basic listing $99
A good quality Back Link
goguides PR 7 $40
A good quality Back Link
gimpsy PR 6 $40
A good quality Back Link
Joeant PR 6 $39.99
A good quality Back Link
----------------------------------------------------------
There is a lot of talk at the moment about these directories below on other forums
bluefind PR 8 $45
started by a well respected SEO guy and attained PR 8 in a matter of months, well worth submitting your site maybe not for the traffic but a good quality back link
sevenseek PR 8 $45
Same as above
Two large directories which are doing very well at this moment in time and also worth the $25 submission fee
webworldindex PR 6 $25
A good quality Back Link
wowdirectory PR 6 $25
A good quality Back Link
There are hundreds or even thousands more which are worth having your site listed, do a search at Yahoo or Google for
directory submissions
submit your site
add your site
site submissions
and use other keyword phrases similar to your sites theme and you will find lots of them, drill down to where they have directories or search engines listed and you will find even more.
It's no use listing each and every directory what is out there because some will be suited to your site and others won't
just my 2 cents worth
The pages I searched through on Google were in the 300's and the same sites/add url pages kept on coming up. I thought that would happen even before I started searching, as too many have repeatedly added their pages to the engines. The add url/submit url might save a little time when searching for directories/SE's but that's about it.
Better off paying the cash and getting in that way - as it's faster.
business.com PR 7 basic listing $99
A good quality Back Link
goguides PR 7 $40
A good quality Back Link
gimpsy PR 6 $40
A good quality Back Link
Joeant PR 6 $39.99
A good quality Back Link
...........................
for a few dollars more PR 10
a very good quality Back Link
Not sure I like these 'pictures' and graphics of insects, and other creepie crawlies on what are taken as serious resources. 39.99 to get in, hmmmm - a little steep for a newcomer, with the likes of Yahoo still being free and the more established Abrexa/Limeysearch wanting a small £9.95 for entry.
Gimpsey is nice, but having to pay a fee of 20.00 just to be approved, I've got mixed feelings about this one, like Joe Ant and their charges, could well be the major factor whether it's regarded as a serious contender or plain money maker. Big downfall is the strange way of searching, with no way of performing a normal keyword search, which is restricting.
Pretty Colours though.
Skaffe - ah now this is more my thing! Looks more professional and simple to use. Simple is good, as I hate figuring out what to do.
39.99 again, what is this - can't they invent a price by themselves? All 3 charge the same price. Perhaps it's just coincidence....
Should all do well, but with all newcomers there's a period of massive use and then the decline, but the telling signs of a good directory are whether it can maintain that interest/level of use, as that will determine if they can charge for the advertising.
Personally, I wouldn't pay for any of these directories because I can get many PR4+ links for free.
Unless you have a lot of money, I would not waste my time with paid directories.
If you want to pay for links, I would suggest looking for niche magazines or journals that have websites. I have found a few quarterly or bi-monthly magazines in my niche that charge about $100 for 1/4 page print advertisements and also provide free links to those who advertise in the magazine. In almost every case that I have seen, the advertiser links page is PR4+.
One site may just have reach, but if it isn't set up to promote a client, then it's useless as a promotion tool. Reach by itself is pointless.
That's like me saying "I'll put you deep within my site where you'll hardly be found - but it's okay cos I have reach"
I'd much rather have a good fancy advert placement that puts me right in front of the viewer, than reach anyday!
Paying for a link is not an option for me due to low margings on low priced items.
Chilli Search - says it's a directory, but has overture results? No comment.
directory.co.uk - searches 10 UK engines. To be a directory or not to be, also no add url available. Free?
dotuk directory - £40. Yeah, not bad, directory, web searches plus ringtone, books and auction search too.
PR 4, high alexa rank, but nothing special.
hihojo.co.uk - what the? lol. These names huh. Different, but few sites - very few! Couldn't find add url or charges.
Spotwot - Er, add url link don't work...... And another one that fails to state it's charges. God I hate dalmatians, buyer beware?
Tinusi - Pretty Site! Ahhhh - directory heaven. Very nice indeed. Charges? Where are those charges?
UK websitesdirectory.co.uk - says it's powered by uk250 - not just powered by the looks of it, as the submit link takes you to their payment screen. hmmmm
Very pricey to get in anyway.
V8GO - new site, it claims to have 22'000 categories. I don't think so. Again, no clear charges.
I've saved the best for last:
Slider.com Says it has a directory, but clicking the directory tab only gives you web search again. $9'000 a month starting rate? For a text link. huh!
No thanks.
Two that we use that I haven't seen mentioned:
nationaldirectory
AJDee
Smaller directories, but they have been helpful.
Cheers,
CaboWabo
regards
The "small guys" as you call them do a fantastic job in their niche, I would list them all but there are too many.
sure some of the directories will die off after a year or two, but they do not need to have much direct or indirect effect to justify their fees.
I also do not usually look at them on a per link basis...I look at them more from a "I want links from about 50 unique IP ranges for a one time $2,000 fee" angle.
each link does not mean a ton, but their value increases exponentially as you get more and more of them, especially if you have a keyword rich URL or know which ones will let you fudge the listing titles a bit.
some of the dirt cheap small ones are a better deal than some of the more expensive and more established ones because they give you better control of anchor text and your listing is closer to the root URL with less links on each page.
So what are you saying? It doesn't matter if they don't deliver, as their cheap? So because they are cheap - they don't have to drive traffic. That's bordering on legalised theft mate.
Cheers,
CaboWabo
I am saying that if they have minimal cost that you can afford to make a few judgement errors. IE: in 5 years if only half the links are up that you bought you still got a ton of links which directly and indirectly paid for themselves over 5 years.
perhaps I am a bit crazy for being willing to "risk" $20 here and there.
>For us, it comes down to ROI. If the fee is $30.00, I expect at least 100 referrals (real ones) from the directory over a year period. That isn't asking much, but some of these smaller directories don't even come close to reaching it, and then it just becomes a PR buy, which is not good business in my book. Others swear by it, but I am old fashioned - I want the referrals to justify the buy. Otherwise, I'm just buying "air".
based on this line of thinking almost all seo services are just buying "air"?
