July 28, 2007

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Interview #2 - Jeff Behrendt - AvivaDirectory.com

Jeff Behrendt runs a popular site directory which has found recent success through social media. In addition to the great sites listed in the directory, check out these articles from Aviva’s Blog.

1. For those of us who are unfamiliar with you, could you briefly describe who you are and what you do?

I’m an online entrepreneur and make my living on the web. I run several websites, the main one being Aviva Directory, which is a selective human-edited directory of quality internet websites.

2. For those of us not in the know, can you describe exactly how the directory ‘economy’ works? In other words, how do the directory, the sites listed, and visitors mesh together to create a valuable service for everyone involved?

The search engine result pages are filled with spam. A quality directory allows visitors to find quality websites without having to wade through any spam. They can be particularly helpful if you are searching for websites in a narrow niche. Basically, the idea behind a directory is that humans do it better than computer algorithms.

From a website owner’s point of view, a quality directory is a way of gaining traffic, both directly and indirectly by increasing your rankings in the search engines. If you’ve got a viable business model for your website, then this traffic and ranking boost is well worth paying for.

The directory owner is earning money from websites submitting their sites
for review. A good portion of this money is then spent on building the
directory to ensure that it really is a useful resource and on promoting
the directory to ensure that it really does get targeted traffic.

3.The Aviva blog has been Dugg several times. How important has this been for your success?

There are basically 3 ways that a business can promote itself online - through organic search, through pay per click and through social media. I’ve tried to use all three for Aviva.

Getting on the front page of Digg has been very helpful in two ways. First, for gaining attention - the site has been noticed by a lot of people very quickly. Second, it helps get quality links which drive traffic and also help Aviva rank better in the SERPs.

4. Is this your main traffic source? Where else does your traffic originate from?

Getting on the front page of Digg certainly does drive a lot of traffic and I’ve had a few server crashes because of it. But Aviva’s largest source of traffic by now is type in traffic, which in my opinion is what’s really the best for any online business, as then you’re minimizing your reliance on transient traffic from other sources, such as Digg or the search engines.

5. What is the most common mistake you see up-and-coming directories making?

Copying what everyone else in the industry is doing. While obviously there are some fundamentals that a directory owner needs to get right, the industry is so competitive that if you just do what everyone else does, you’re not going to get very far.

6. Is running a directory for anyone? What are some of the less-glamorous aspects of owning a directory?

Running a directory is all about glamour, fast cars and hot babes

Seriously, I think that the biggest surprise of new directory owners is the amount of work involved. I’ve even heard this from people who have worked hard on starting other businesses previously and who are used to putting in a lot of effort.

7. For all of us entrepreneurs out there looking to increase our traffic, how can we get the most out of submitting to directories?

A directory listing is a fundamental part of any internet marketing strategy. A few tips:

(a) Don’t go submitting to every and any directory you see. Concentrate on submitting your site to the top 20 or 25 directories. I’ve compiled a good list here.

(b) Take the time to write out a powerful description of your site that encourages people to click through.

(c) Make sure to vary the title and description you use so that you’re not submitting the same information to all directories. A good way to set up a red flag with the search is suddenly to gain a lot of links to your site with the exact same anchor text and the exact same surrounding text.

Thanks a bunch Jeff for all of the great info; we look forward to watching Aviva grow and digging your upcoming posts!