Bid Directories are some of the most profitable yet risky directories to run. The problems with them is that there are so many factors that can go wrong. You can annoy Google from the default layout of the templates, and also you've got your sponsors to consider. This is on top of promotion. However, if you get the balance right, then it can lead to a very profitable site to add to your portfolio. This article shows how.

Start From A New Domain

It is very easy to acquire a domain with pagerank sitting doing nothing. However, this will have three detrimental effects. First you will more than likely lose that pagerank with the first pagerank update following the change in focus of the site, secondly the directory will have a completely unrelated domain name, and finally you could end up damaging your brand if people viewed the web archive before submitting, and find that instead of building the domain, you bought it.

Add Content To Your Site

Don't just stick up a directory onto your site, contribute more or else Google will consider your site a link farm and slap it in the supplemental index. Include more content in your directory, such as a blog, or a forum, or even just a few unique articles, to avoid this occurring. Furthermore, you will have something to offer your readers, who could turn into bidders.

Be Honest And Helpful To Your Submitters

If you get a submission, inform them about it, how the review process went, what they can do to improve their listing (surprisingly I get a lot of people who are unfamiliar with Bidding Directories), and the like. This will help generate repeat business from webmasters, a crucial tool in the running of Bid Directories.

Don't Give Away Free Reviews

This is a personal bugbear of mine. For one you are cheating yourself by giving away something you can obtain money for, the second thing is you are cheating people who could be submitting to your site.

Don't Up People Bids For Free

This is another personal bugbear of mine. I've paid for a directory listing, why at a later date should you up a friends listing or indeed offer a "double your bid". It's not very nice for current advertisers to find their money worthless.

Offer Other IncentivesSo, instead of offering free links or doubled bids, what should you offer instead? Well a good thing to offer for high bids are things like blog posts (remember the blog I told you to attach to your domain? Well now is a good time to use it), and also deep links with listings (most scripts have the ability to add that). You can change the minimum bid amount for these whenever you want without offending your current bidders. You can also offer incentives to current bidders as well to improve the bids.

These along with promotion and SEO will help make your Bid Directory a success. Good luck!