Comparisons

[Bruceper]

When I decided to make some databases available I figured I would do them in multiple formats for a number of different commercial php Link scripts.

Here's what I found

InLink - No forum that I could find
Comdev Links Dir - Tiny forum, barely used
phpmydirectory - Large forum
linkupgold - Large forum, but multiple products. When link script only is considered then small forum
phpld - large forum
Web Directory PRO - tiny forum
eSyndiCat - Large forum, but multiple products. When link script only is considered then medium forum
k-links - no forum
IndexU - large forum

Only 3 out of the 9 scripts have forums on their site where you can actually get help at. One of those products is the same price, the other one is cheaper and has nowhere near the abilities of IndexU or phpmyd.

In the end, if a user is looking for a commercial script they will look at a number of things (in no particular order)
1) features
2) cost
3) support

Putting the three of those items together means that there are really only two scripts that compete with each other, IndexU and phpmydirectory.

Both scripts go for approximately the same price unless you move up to the $500 range. phpmyd offers 10 licenses for $500 while indexu offers unlimited.

I figured I would write this so current (and new) users could see what's available out there right now and compare what really matters in a commercial script.

Note - I'm aware all of the companies have some type of help (email or ticket system) but users like active forums where they know they can get help quickly as emails and help tickets don't always get answered quickly.

[esm]

you may want to include the 800 pound gorilla from gossamer-threads in your analysis.

I took a similar position some time back when I said most links directory programs, except for a very top few, suffer from the same lack of support issue.



.

[Bruceper]

$450 for a single license doesn't put it in the category of affordable though.

Since I was looking for PHP scripts at HotScripts.com I never saw this script. Hotscripts has it under perl/cgi. But going to their site shows that the gossamer links script has a php front end. So perl and php together? That might spell disaster for some people.

[esm]

$450 for a single license doesn't put it in the category of affordable though.

Maybe. Maybe not. see http://www.nicecoder.com/community/p...than-99-a.html

Since I was looking for PHP scripts at HotScripts.com I never saw this script. Hotscripts has it under perl/cgi. But going to their site shows that the gossamer links script has a php front end. So perl and php together? That might spell disaster for some people.

well, based on my observation that 99% of the folks who purchase INDEXU don't know PHP (and maybe 80% don't know much HTML), I doubt that it makes much difference if it uses PHP or Perl.


I still say that the money is in selling links directory software and not in running a links directory site.



.

[Bruceper]

I still say that the money is in selling links directory software and not in running a links directory site.

I agree 1000% with that statement

[inspireme]

I agree 1000% with that statement

if you put the work into a site, the money WILL come, i dont think people understand it IS a lot of work, i have spend well over $2000 on promotion of my sites now - its a expensive and its time consuming to promote sites, but if you do it youll get a good income.

People would definitely be better off running niche sites rather than dmoz clones, indexU is really good for that.

[Bruceper]

I have to agree with that too. I sold my first link site a number of years ago to a company in the US (I'm Canadian) for $7500US based on content and traffic (I sold another site to them at the same time, but it's link sites we're talking about).

I haven't looked back since.

[inspireme]

I used to do web design for other people, i dont really bother advertising that any more, and instead make indexU sites, stick advertising on them, promote them... thats all i do. Easy? No way, i spend hours developing links, working on sites - this is full time, and mostly HARD, BORING, MUNDANE work. Why do i bother? because i can stop doing the work, and the money wont stop coming in - the work i do now will keep rewarding me.

Im focusing on my campsite directory because this is the oldest of my sites. I get 3000-4000 uniques a day but i expect to get it to 10,000-20,000 when its where i want it.

[esm]

I used to do web design for other people, i dont really bother advertising that any more, and instead make indexU sites, stick advertising on them, promote them... thats all i do. Easy? No way, i spend hours developing links, working on sites - this is full time, and mostly HARD, BORING, MUNDANE work.

but dody thinks it's easy. maybe he could explain to us how he can do it so easily. http://www.nicecoder.com/community/p...rectories.html

I will say this. If you want your links directory site to fail, just clone a part of DMOZ. And it doesn't matter which part. DMOZ clones are doomed to failure.

Actually, I am beginning to think that the idea of creating and building a new site and then selling it may be the one way to make money with a links directory site.

I think if you sell the idea or concept of the site to someone who can market it then you may just make some money. And it really doesn't matter which links directory software you use. If the owner would add a couple of key features to INDEXU, I would highly recommend INDEXU.



.

[Bruceper]

The reason I sold my sites is because they were about a specific topic, and the company that bought them specializes in that topic. They took the sites, and added their advertising instead of what I had instantly giving them exposure to an additional 1200 uniques per day.

I would assume it paid off, because they have since bought other sites from me.

Of course this sounds easy, but they were the ones who actually approached me. I've tried selling sites on my own and it's a hit and miss prospect.