Pay to get listed? Is it worth it?

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Pay to get listed? Is it worth it?

I am thinking of paying to get listed in yahoo ...

designhaus

1:05 pm on Sep 23, 2003 (gmt 0)

I am thinking of paying to get listed in the yahoo directory. I already am coming up in certain search results in yahoo and quite a few more in google. I am now thinking about paying to get listed in the uk directory or .com directory.

I was wondering if anybody out there has done this and what the results have been like? has it been profitable or a waste of money?

mcavic

2:19 pm on Sep 23, 2003 (gmt 0)

Personally, I'd spend money on Adwords and/or Overture ads first. I think the Yahoo directory is a bit expensive and not very useful nowadays.

I'm in the directory, near the top of a fairly popular category. So far this month, I've only had 15 directory hits.

designhaus

4:04 pm on Sep 23, 2003 (gmt 0)

yeah good point mcavic .... I think i may try this approach. i have used overture before and got good results ... thanks for the advice!

JuniorOptimizer

5:23 pm on Sep 23, 2003 (gmt 0)

I think it is worth it. You get the traffic from the directory listing itself, plus two extra ancillary benefits.

1) You get PageRank from the page you are linked from. Most likely it will be a PR 5 link.
2) You get a boost in the Google results for people searching from the Yahoo page. (Make sure to get your keywords in your description).

EliteWeb

5:27 pm on Sep 23, 2003 (gmt 0)

I'd list the site if you can not get it in for free. I'd list the site if it was not an adult site (600.00 buck fee for that) and I'd list it most definitely if it were in a category that didnt have 93249032942309 sites in it.

300 bucks isnt that bad, but its hard for sites that make little to no money.

Michael Anthony

5:48 pm on Sep 23, 2003 (gmt 0)

I'd vote to do it - my UK site is in a hugely competitive field and I get plenty of traffic from Yahoo. It also has a positive effect on my Google ranking too (as mentioned above).

nixon60

11:44 pm on Sep 24, 2003 (gmt 0)

How common is it to plunk down the $299, only to have Yahoo not accept the site and then be out the $299? I'm at the end of the 7th business day on a site that's clean and legit--even more so than two of my others that have been accepted. They charged my debit card yesterday but I haven't heard a word from them and I'm sitting here chewing through my lower lip and fifth- and sixth-guessing the site wondering what I could have done wrong. Someone please help a nervous brother out with any insight/anecdotes! Thanks.

mcavic

11:48 pm on Sep 24, 2003 (gmt 0)

If the site is legit, I wouldn't worry. My feeling is that if they reject it they'll at least tell you why.

2_much

12:50 am on Sep 25, 2003 (gmt 0)

If you only have 1 site, yes. If you have but a little bit of money, I'd pay for links first. Then, when you have some more, add it to the directory.

Dave_Hawley

2:34 am on Sep 25, 2003 (gmt 0)

Would it be correct to say that, one should submit to the most appropriate category that has the highest PR? That is, if a site could fit under 2 categories we should submit to the higher PR one then apply for an additional listing in the lower PR cat?

Dave

mcavic

3:29 am on Sep 25, 2003 (gmt 0)

You should submit to the most appropriate category, with the highest PR, and the fewest other links.

designhaus

10:27 am on Sep 25, 2003 (gmt 0)

thanks everyone ... this has been a huge help from all of you. i am definately going to go ahead and list it. and i do have the opportunity to make alot of money from the site. so i can recoup the 300 dollars

dillonstars

10:34 am on Sep 25, 2003 (gmt 0)

i am definately going to go ahead and list it. and i do have the opportunity to make alot of money from the site. so i can recoup the 300 dollars

Check if there is a high PR cat in yahoo.co.uk too, I know you have a UK site and the listing there is a lot cheaper.

What I don't know is if there are any downsides to getting a yahoo.co.uk listing over a .com one.

Dave_Hawley

10:55 am on Sep 25, 2003 (gmt 0)

Cheers mcavic.

Dave

nixon60

12:37 pm on Sep 25, 2003 (gmt 0)

Thanks, mcavic. I got in. It looks like my spam filter blocked their confirmation email. Phew.

BTW, designhaus, it sounds like you've already decided to go ahead, but just to bolster your decision, and my submission jitters notwithstanding, the paid Yahoo submissions have been well worth it for me in terms of Google PR/traffic. My last one doubled my revenue within four weeks.

Take care, all.

designhaus

1:43 pm on Sep 25, 2003 (gmt 0)

nixon60, you say your listing doubled your renvenue. Was this over a month or was it immediate?

I run a car hire site and was wondering how it would affect my site?

nixon60

5:32 pm on Sep 25, 2003 (gmt 0)

designhaus:
It was the last time Google did their dance. I submitted to Yahoo on the 15th, was approved on the 22nd, and then around the 15th of the following month my leads suddenly doubled, and I haven't looked back since. This is a big site that had been up for two months at the time and was a PR2. That was a little over three months ago. I keep adding content at least once or twice a week to keep it fresh and I'm at a PR5 now. As it says on the side of the box, though, "Individual results may vary." The only other paid submission I've done on it is the $39 one-time to Inktomi. Good luck!