There is more to establishing an online business directory than just improving your search engine rankings. When implemented properly, you can actually generate a substantial income. There are a number of tools you can use to effectively monetize your directory. Using the methods listed below, you can create an effective and profitable online business directory.
1. Join Affiliate Programs: Affiliate Programs, also known as Associate Programs, are programs where one online merchant will pay other websites a commission fee to direct traffic to their website. The websites will post links to that merchants sites and will paid according to a particular agreement, such as if someone clicks on the link to the site and makes a purchase of a product or service. Links can be in the form of banners and text links. An affiliate program is an excellent way to bring in money. It will not cost you anything to join and the affiliate code is a matter of copy and pasting the merchant’s code. For instance, if your directory is a business directory,
2. Costs Per Click (CPC) is an effective advertising tool that can be a money generator. Google AdSense is an example of a very popular CPC. All that you have to do is sign up with a network such as Google AdSense and paste some code on your directory page. The network will then serve text or images ads that are relevant to your directory pages, and you will earn a certain amount of money for every click. How much you make depends on where you place the Ads on your page, how the Ads relate to the content of your pages, and the number of people clicking through. Amazon.com has a popular CPC program. As well, other popular programs are Yahoo! Publisher Network (YPN), Chitika, BidVertiser, and Clicksor.
3. CPM (Cost Per Mille) Advertising Networks: These networks are another method of generating income in your online business directory. They operate much like Pay Per Click except the ads displayed on the site will generate the income. CPM refers to the cost for 1,000 impressions. You can receive as low as $0.10 and as much as $10 per 1,000 impressions. Popular CPM networks include: Right Media, Casale Media, Value Click, Advertising.com, Burst Media, and Tribal Fusion.
4. Sell Advertising Space: You can also sell your own advertising space in your business directory. Generally, people will sell text ads and banner ad formats. The most popular banner formats on the web are the 728*90 leader board, the 120*600 skyscraper, 125*125 button, and the 300*250 rectangle. This is an effective and non intrusive method of using ads to generate income.
5. Paid Polls and Surveys: There are companies that will compensate people to run small polls and surveys on their web pages. You just have to sign up with the company and select the type of surveys and polls you want to include on your directory pages.
There are many ways to effectively monetize your online business directory. The methods you choose should be relevant to your directory in order to maximize your income potential.
Author Resource:
When searching for local businesses in Victoria cities such as Frankston, Warragul and Seaford, be sure to visit your local Business Directory Victoria and browse by city level or specific categories including health professionals, restaurants and even florists. http://www.superpages.com.au/