Sensible price for a directory inclusion?

[temi]

I wonder what people will consider a sensible price for directory inclusion and what the prices is based on. I have seen some really really outrageous directory pricing.
I also wonder what a good payment interval are, some small directories want to you to pay monthly.

[maxseo]

Would you say that setting the prices based on PR is ok with Google?

..

[temi]

I think yes, Google is far more relaxed now about people using PR than it used to be a few years back.

[OldWelshGuy]

I am launching a raft of local portals and the cost is £20 per month. OK they are not directories as such, and they will be #1 for their main phrases like plasterers in 'yourtown'. The difference being that I am driving traffic to them. I have sites where the chosen businesses are getting 20-30 enquiries a week from them, and a raft of business, so they really can't be compared.

I am not sure what model many of these directories ae using. I find the pricing to be odd in the least

[midlandi]

I think its more about how much can you afford?
In fact is one who charges $1 going to benefit you more than one who charges $10?
I suppose there are many factors to take into account.
But ultimately the most benifit is from the one who dosnt break the bank!

[temi]

Both OWG and Midlandi are right, I think however we need to first separate sites/directories that are mainly for boosting back links and the kind of site OWG refer to which will actually drive traffic to your site.

Yell.com for example charges about £300 per year but it drives quality local enquiry to their users site.
Bussiness.com or a high PR directory (usually US based) will not give you the kind of traffic Yell.com or scoot will give you and they will charge you about $100 per year, however they will boost your back link with will affect your position on SERP.
Now, I think they are both value for money depending on what you are after and I prefer to pay annually rather than monthly.

[OldWelshGuy]

That's right, a local portal style directory or one that drives enquiries directly can't be compared to a general directory.

[! Ask !]

I think monthly is really annoying, I would prefer 6 months or 1 year.

Pricing depends on what you get, normally general directories are targeted to SEO value, so the link is valued based on PR and SEO benefit, normally the higher the price the more return because less sites will be listed and you will get more PR and SEO value, and even more residual traffic if any.

If you have traffic generating directory, then the pricing will depend on the ROI and traffic for the listed sites, a real state directory will have a different ROI from conversion of a niche coffee directory.