This article is written for article directory owners looking to earn revenue from their sites. Before entering into any online business, it makes sense to develop some kind of revenue model for your business. Article directory owners are offering a service for website promoters who can submit articles to increase backlinks to their sites and establish credibility. They are also providing a service for information-seekers who read the articles in the directory.
Article directories are typically free for authors to submit to, and free for visitors to browse and print/download articles. In order to earn money from your site, you can incorporate advertising, affiliate marketing, or sponsorship.
One of the easiest and most profitable ways of monetizing your directory is to display Google Adsense ads within the articles themselves. The ads are contextual and should complement the article content rather than just distract the reader. They are highly targeted and can provide excellent click-through rates. Once you are approved as an Adsense publisher, you can customize your ads and easily insert dynamic text into your html or php code.
A second way to earn from your directory is to put affiliate links into targeted areas of your site. If you have a general article directory, you can put affiliate text or banner links on category pages to match the content. For example, you could put webhosting affiliate links on a category page for Internet or web hosting articles. If this is done carefully, while tracking the success/failure of each ad, you can make a reasonable amount of money. If you have a niche article directory, you can target even smaller demographics and secure higher click-through and conversion rates.
Article directories with a Google PageRank of 5+ can also earn yearly or monthly fees by displaying sponsor links. A one-line text link can be displayed on the homepage or as a sitewide link on all pages. The higher the PageRank, the more you can charge for the link. But resist the temptation to place just any link on your pages. The sponsor's link should be relevant to the content of your site, for seo purposes.
There are, of course, several other ways to earn money from your free article directory. Develop a marketing campaign with clear and measurable goals so you can evaluate the success of each campaign. Give your promotional efforts a reasonable amount of time to meet your expectations.
Don't fall the way of the spam-filled, content-lacking "Made for Adsense" sites. Develop your directory with your authors and visitors in mind. Content is still king, and a quality directory will be visited repeatedly by human visitors as well as search engine spiders. A polished, trusted website will make it much easier to lure sponsors and increase click-throughs on your advertising links.
