Hi,

 

I have a local web design directory that I want to promote, but don't want to be seen as a spammer. What would you do to get designers / developers to join?

you need to give them a reason to join, you need to build up your own links so that people can find your directory and if you become a one stop place for finding a designer or developer your in, and designers/developers will flock to join...

 

the only problem is there are hundreds of designer/developer directories around and unless you have something unique you will probably will just get spammed a lot...

 

good luck with it tho..

Hi Gav,

 

I have tried to make it unique and easily found on search engines. I have made it a local design directory for companies in and around Sussex. This way I can target keywords for the area. I already have 25 number one searches in Google for phrases such as 'web design sussex' and 'sussex website developers'. I am also not doing too bad for 'website design directory' or 'sussex directory'. I did get a few design companies join, but not for a while now. I am only excepting companies that are willing to exchange links, and that seems to put them off. I can't accept sites without this otherwise whats the point, my sites ranking would not improve.

 

I would have thought that my site sending lots of traffic their way would be a fair exchange, especially as my site is so relevent to theirs?

How are you intending to earn money by this site?

 

You could just find the work, ghost it, and then take your cut. If you had money coming in, you could employ an SEO specialist if you are that worried about ranking highly with google.

 

Reaper

To be honest, this is not my full time job. I actually work creating medical training courses for the Phrama and healthcare industries at a company called Wellards (funny name I know).

 

My hope is to maybe make 1 or 2k a year from banner advertising for a bit of extra cash. This and also to gain some experience in web design and SEO.