How to Build a Directory Website That Actually Makes Money
Directory sites look easy: a list of businesses and a search box. The list is the easy part. I have built several of these and sold a few, and the things that decided whether a site earned were never on the listing page.
Here is what I would have in place before expecting any income.
1. Real data on day one
An empty directory is a dead one. Nobody claims a listing on a site with twelve entries. Seed it from a source with structured data. For local services that usually means a places API, which gives you a name, address, phone number, opening hours and categories for each business.
Decide your unit of content early: one page per business, one per city, and one per category in a city.
2. Pages that match what people search
People search for "window cleaners in Leeds", not for your home page. The...
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