Paid Search Directory Listings

[Jason]

Hey Gang,

Just wondering what you all thought of paid search directory listings (such as goto.com). Is this they way of the future? Can we expect more of the same? Has the "free" listing gone the way of the dodo? How do you feel about the paid listing in general?

------------------
Jason M. DesRoches
Co-Founder / Business Development
Big Resources Network (http://www.bigresources.com)
jason@bigresources.com
ICQ: 17947522

[Dave Swift]

Well you said in the latest BigResources ezine that at least one of the free listings search engines would become a paid listings only search engine (can't remember the exact quote) but I disagree.
I think there will be a decline in paying for directory listings, as people now are more reluctant to pay for promotion, when there are so many free ways of promoting your site.
Anyway, that's just my humble opinion.

------------------
Feel free to email me at:
dave@daveswift.com

[brobe]

Just a quick not for anyone considering this form of promotion.

This type of promotion is very targeted and is a great way to get visitor's interested in your topic to your site. Take your time and map out your plan and the keywords that you wish to purchase before hand.

If you are just wishing to drive traffic and like to get rid of money then do it. It does work and it will bring you traffic.

If you are looking to convert sales then take note of the type of conversion ratio that your site is currently generating. If you sale 1 $10.00 product every 1000 visitors and you go and purchase keywords for .10 cents for each visitor then you are just digging yourself a hole.

Also, if your site's only income stream are ad banners / affiliate programs then this is definitely not the way to go because you are basically buying a visitor for .10 cents and that visitor is not guaranteed to click any paying link on your site. The odds are definitely not in your favor in this case.

These are just a few things to keep in mind.