Reasons for Creating a Web Directory
Some people wonder why webmasters do create directories at all. One would say that they are born thousands everyday and they die out thousands the next month. What is the reason to create them? Money, SEO, some indirect benefits? People do not know how they can utilize their directories to the fullest and newbies do not know the purpose of directories at all. Here are Susan Wilson's thoughts.
In fact there are so many ways that directories are used for. It is not only links, but rather a valuable source of information and monetizing. It is helpful as for the visitors of the website as for the web directory owners. All reasons why directories are being created you can explore in that article. First of all, let us remind the history of the directories. For the first time the directories were created when the number of the websites in the Internet has significantly increased. It has become difficult to find relevant and quality websites. That was Yahoo who has first implemented the websites' descriptions and their listings in catalogs. And that has become something that we call "directory" today. So, the first purpose of creating a directory was making the catalog of relevant websites.
Among the types of directory one can generally outline two main types. First is a directory as a separate website and the second when a directory is a part of another main website. This separation does not really change the matter; just the importance is that directories can be applied in different situations and for different purposes. Primarily there are three fundamental purposes why directories are being created. They are:
SEO purposes
Monetizing
Quality resource
Let us look through all three and that will give you an insight in the web directory nature.
First goes SEO benefit. With about 20 billions of websites in the World Wide Web the competition between websites has become tough. For every webmaster it has become really hard to attract the visitors and manage the search engine results. They thrive to have high Page Rank, Traffic, Popularity, Visitors Loyalty and High earning potential. That is all about SEO. Directories contribute to SEO in many ways. Read further the details.
If you know at least some basic information about Search Engine Optimization it must be clear for you that the content of the website is one of the main factors. The better the quality of the content is the better SEO is. So, now you might guess that a web directory is a great part of the website's content. Besides, the web directory content is not ordinary… It is the free of spam, human-edited catalog of quality resources (!) i.e. that is great content for SEO purposes. It contributes to the Page Rank of the web page. And at the same time users enjoy it because they can easily find the necessary information from the website. They visit the website more often and it increases the traffic.
The second important thing about SEO is that a web directory provides contextual relevant information. It is also one of the SEO criterion. The example of it is when niche website opens a directory that corresponds with the topic of the site. A directory in that case enriches the site with contextual relevant information. By the way, all the links listed in the web directory give a web site hyperlink relevancy that also contributes to PR. Having a web directory as a part of the website makes the work on SEO generally easier. Besides the mentioned content and relevancy factors benefits there are such facts that for a web directory it is much easier to develop linking, set up many backlinks, and attract additional traffic and popularity. To add a web directory on the site can be a great solution to promote the existing website. The directories have an advantage in SEO and they appear in SERPS much quicker than any other web site.
Let us summarize the stated and conclude that the Directories contribute to:
Page rank
SERPs
Traffic
Content
Contextual relevant information
Hyperlink relevancy
Link exchange
The huge list of advantages! A web directory is an easy and efficient way to SEO.
The next fundamental thing about a directory is monetizing opportunity that it gives. Directory is especially beneficial for that purposes because it has more ways to monetize than the common web site. Let us look through all ways to get profit from a web directory. There are general ways of earning from a directory such as the sale of banner space, Adsense Marketing, link programs, affiliate programs, donations as well as absolutely unique ways of profiting that are attributes of web directory business only. I will mention only some unique ways of monetizing.
All webmasters agree that no other thing can bring more stable and easier resources than charging a fee for the submission. There are many people who want to submit their websites to web directories and they are willing to pay for that. Featured listing, that is how it is called, is the sustainable source of monetizing a web directory.
One more very wide spread and profitable way to earn from a web directory is selling it. There are a lot of people interested in buying ready made directories. The reason for that is that they do not want to spend their time programming and setting down. It is possible to sell a directory for the price from $20 up to several thousands depending on the quality and popularity of the web directory.
You see that one way or the other a web directory is better than a usual website. In one minute you can hit the jackpot having sold the web directory at a good price, yet you can combine several monetizing methods and guarantee yourself stable earnings.
So, to summarize the stated above, let us see below all the monetizing methods that are available for a web directory.
Monetizing:
Via
Link programs
Featured listing
Banner space
Ad sense or Yahoo Mkt
Affiliate programs
Donations
Text link ads
The sale of a directory
The last, but not the least benefit of a directory is that it makes a website be quality resource of information. Let us see an example. Imagine that you are a specialist in one of the spheres…for example traveling. You have certain information on your website about traveling, but you would like to broaden it. What would you do? Surf the Internet, look for the appropriate websites, waste a lot of time and finally not find the needed info? No! Set up a web directory and people themselves will come to your website and will propose their material and their websites. That will enrich the information about traveling on your website.
What is important also is that each website listed in the web directory is being checked by an editor. That procedure guarantees the high relevancy of the directory content and links in it. Directory makes the content constantly update and with time the content becomes richer and richer. The quality content of web directory is important to the users that visit that website and, of course, it influences the SEO and prestige of the website. Some webmasters say that a directory has become a kind of hobby to them because they enjoy getting to know about the newborn websites first. One guy who runs a pretty much successful directory once told that his directory is a great personal resource. The benefit for him having a directory is that he gets to be the one to see the sites, to discover new and interesting sites, as they are submitted. He bookmarks many of them, and returns later for some great reading.
Let us make a conclusion:
A web directory provides quality information via:
Resources free of spam
Human edited information
Resource on one specific topic
Ease of collecting the information
You see that Directory is a great solution! It is appropriate for so many purposes! If you, for example, do not give a damn to SEO, but you are interested in gathering the information then a Web Directory is a solution! If you just want to earn in the Internet a Web directory is for you! Undoubtedly, you can simultaneously achieve all possible goals – to earn, to make SEO and to get the information you need! So many attractive opportunities! I wish you a lot of success with a directory and I am looking forward getting feedbacks from you!
By: Susan Wilson