Listed below is a collection of "bad ideas" for web directory owners.  The list provides information on actions that will damage your directory and/or your own reputation as the web directory owner.  Being involved with any of the below mistakes should be avoided to prevent risk and revenue loss for your business.

• Never remove directory designer or sponsor links.  If you use a free web directory template, always maintain the required sponsor and/or designer link(s).  Removal of these links will cause severe damage to your reputation and trust in your web directory.  Designers work hard to produce the templates, and sponsors support them so that they can be done.  The usage agreement for all such templates is for the link(s) to remain in place.  Breaking such agreements, will be visible as soon as the directory is announced, will undoubtedly result in distrust in your directory and you as a directory owner, which will in turn significantly limit the directory’s revenue.
• Don’t send spam or repeated unnecessary messages to web directory submitters.  Doing so will also damage your directory and its potential.
• Don’t forget to make database backups.  Be extremely careful with your directory’s database.  It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to make regular database backups.  If all listings present in a directory are lost, so is the trust and respect for the directory and its owner.  No matter how trusted a hosting provider is and how careful you are, there’s a good chance that eventually "something" will occur to cause database problems.  It is crucial to have a current backup that can be used to quickly restore listings.
• Don’t delete listings.  This should go without saying, but remember that the revenue generated from your directory is provided based on listings being active for a certain period of time.  It is imperative that the listings remain for that duration.  Otherwise, you are not providing the service for which you were paid.  Also, offer submitters the option to renew yearly listings before removal.  This provides a service to the submitter as well as increased revenue for you.
• Dropped domain usage has become a significant problem for the web directory industry.  Every day you can see new web directories announced with PR.  The problem has become even more pronounced with bid directories.  Even though it may seem like an advantage to start a directory that already has PR, there are numerous reasons why it’s a bad idea.  The links obtained for such web sites usually disappear before next PR update as the site’s content changes.  Therefore, you are left with only the disadvantages, such as any damaging practices performed by the previous owner, the "quick buck" perception the approach gives, and a non-brandable domain name that typically does not represent the content of the site.  Also, the internal pages of the directory will not have PR in this scenario, and many submitters will understand that the homepage PR will not follow to the internal pages with the links depleting unless the directory is being well-promoted (…and if the directory is going to be well-promoted, there’s no reason for this in the first place…).  The practice is thought of by most as a way to take funds from the inexperienced, which is contemned by the majority of the webmaster community.
• Don’t copy the description written by other web directory owners.  Write unique descriptions for your directory to use when submitting to other web directories and resources.  It’s remarkable to see web directory listings submitted to Alive Directory (or another operated by Mystik Media) that use the description uniquely written for Alive Directory itself.  This practice will always result in the description being rewritten.  This is surely the case for other directories as well.  The best practice is to write a unique description that accurately describes your directory.  Doing so will generate better results and a description being used that more closely matches your preference.
• Avoid excessive sitewide links in your directory.  Many web directory submitters realize that sitewide links take away from the value of their listings in a couple of different ways.  Furthermore, excessive outgoing links can cause a directory to appear "spammy", unprofessional, or any number of other harmful perceptions.
• Don’t remove advertising before it has expired.  Some web directories offer advertising, but either do not manage information properly or deceitfully remove advertising before expiration.  This is very harmful to the reputation of a web directory owner, and leads to lost business and trust.  Be careful about keeping correct records, and always confirm before taking action.  Reminder software can be useful for managing expiration dates.  Also, contact advertiser to determine if there’s interest in renewing a few days before expiration.  This will yield happier advertisers and less problems for you.
• Regular directories changing into bid directories has recently become a problem.  Directories sometimes change, and that is understandable.  However, if a submitter spends time and money submitting to a web directory, the listing should be carried over to the bid directory, and entered with the same amount paid for the listing.
• Don’t be afraid to move listings into the correct category if needed.  Web directory submitters are often more interested in being listed in categories that have high PR, rather than the most appropriate category. It’s important to properly categorize listings for a number of reasons, not to mention the mess that will result otherwise.  Featured listings are usually allowed for top-level, relevant categories.  If you do not want other listing types in top-level categories, be sure to state this in the submission rules and enforce it.  ~Thanks, Jeff, for the reminder to mention this one.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007 at 5:20 am and is filed under Tips for Directory Owners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.