Things to consider when building a web directory

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Building a web directory is easy; making it grow is a whole other story. Today, many niches are of high competition, and directories – freely or cheaply available with seemingly effortless templates to download – are getting more and more common. To make web directories profitable can be tough, but running a web directory can have other, non monetary, positive side effects.

Webmasters looking to add their site to web directories does that to get more inbound links – period. The directories actually making a difference on one’s traffic are few, and often expensive to get listed in. The average webmasters is looking to maximize the links gained, and considering the huge lists of free web directories, they do have a lot of options. You, on the other hand, have less options, simply because you would want every one visiting your directory to both add their site AND add a link to your directory. This will rarely be the case, but one can dream, can’t he?

The single most important factor webmasters look at is page rank. Even though its value has been debated over and over, most webmasters consider this a good indication of link quality. Gaining visible page rank can take some time, but for any directory, any gain in visible page rank will make your links seem more worth, thus increasing your chance of getting both reciprocal links and people buying sponsored listings.

As mentioned earlier, there are many sites devoted to web directories, getting listed there is essential for people to find you. But, as these lists grow, webmasters will be more and more likely to pick the best ones, as opposed to submitting to each and every one. Getting your page rank 0 directory listed there will of course get you submissions, but most likely not the submissions you are looking for.

Some directories try to force people into reciprocating, this will rarely work. It’s better to give them an option, and make it worth their while. The same applies to paid submissions. If you have a web directory of low, or zero, page rank, trying to force people to pay just won’t work. Instead, you can find a good, webmaster relevant, affiliate program. People submitting their site to your directory are showing interest in gaining link popularity, there are many affiliate programs offering products for webmasters.

To get paid, or reciprocal, submissions, you need to give them their values worth. If you want them to pay for inclusion in your directory, it better be a very good link you are providing. If you want them to reciprocate, make it a habit of reviewing those reciprocal submissions as soon as they come in. Anything you can do to make these options appealing is good, it’s even necessary if you want it to be financially sustainable.

If you are patient, the best way to do it is to wait for your visible page rank to show, before you add your directory to the various lists and directories of directories out there. It will take longer to fill your site, but the quality of the submissions – in terms of reciprocal and paid submissions – will be much, much higher. While you wait, try to fill your directory with quality sites. That way, your directory will look far more appealing to the eye. A web directory with nothing but empty pages clearly shows your directory to be very new, or worse, poorly maintained. You want your site to come off as a serious, established site. This visible page rank won’t just show, you need to work for it, but its well worth your time.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Theo is writing about creating a web directory. Visit Yet Another Directory for an example, or see another of Theo's online ventures at bantningspiller.

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