Make Money Online With a Web Directory

When Google decides the ranking of websites that come up in search results, it looks both at keywords entered into a search, and at the popularity of each website that contains those keywords. Google bases popularity on the number of links coming from other websites and the quality of those other websites. These links are often called backlinks. Google uses Page Rank or PR, a numeric value between 0 and 10, which represents how important a webpage is. When Google lists search results, the websites with higher Page Ranks can have an advantage over low PR websites.

A Web directory organizes websites by category. DMOZ is one of the most popular directories on the web. Website owners submit their websites to directories to try to increase Page Rank. The person running the directory decides whether to accept or reject a submitted website. Many directory owners want a high quality directory, so they usually have strict submission rules. Directory owners can also add websites to their own directories.

Most web directories are general directories. They have a large number of categories that cover most types of websites. Niche directories serve a very specific type of niche, such as gardening, politics, music, shopping, etc. Only websites that fit the niche are accepted. If you set up a niche web directory, you should put in as many categories as possible. If your niche is too narrow, too few websites will qualify for inclusion.

You can make money by charging for listings. The amount you charge for a listing can depend on the Page Rank of your directory. People are more likely to pay to be listed in a high PR directory. 

You may have to regularly refund unqualified submissions. To avoid this, some web directories charge a nonrefundable fee simply to review listings. Of course, website owners may be more reluctant to pay for a submission, if they can’t be sure their website will get listed. You probably won’t make much money charging for listings until your web directory achieves a high Page Rank of its own.

Some directory owners require reciprocal links to get listed in their directories, as a means to increase backlinks and Page Rank. This means that to get listed, website owners must put a link back to the directory on their website. However, required reciprocal linking may do more harm than good. Google may see reciprocal linking as manipulation of Page Rank and may actually penalize a directory.

A directory owner needs to promote their directory to get listings and to build Page rank. Building a high Page Rank and getting to the point where you can make money may take a long time. You might want to think of a web directory as something you may make money from in the long run. You may have to run it as a free service for a while.

Search online for a web directory script. You can either look for a free script, such as PHP Weby or Free PHP Directory Script, or buy a script. Most directory scripts are written in PHP and use a MySQL database. You will need to buy web hosting that offers PHP and MySQL. You will also need to buy a domain name. Keep in mind that you will be making an investment upfront and may not make that money back. If you have a lot of technical knowledge, you should be able to do the installation yourself. If not, you can look for a web designer or programmer to do the installation for you. I use PHP Weby for my directory. Installation took about 30 minutes.

You will have to check for submissions and either approve or deny each one. What you approve and deny will be based on whatever standards you have set. Most web directories will refuse sites that have illegal services like warez or sites that only consist of links to other websites. Your directory may be penalized by Google, if you have a lot of low quality websites. You will get a lot of submissions every day, especially if you have a general directory. So, you would have to check submissions every day.