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Local Directory Isn't So Local - Advice Please

by tnvalleymedia
8 replies
Hello everyone. This is my first post here. I've been lurking for a bit. This forum is great and the sheer amount of information is enough to make my head spin. I hope I'll have something of value to add in the near future, but the truth is I'm pretty new to sales/marketing.

I started a directory for the Tennessee Valley, and now I'm not sure whether to continue. It has been a massive undertaking and I fear that the scope is far too broad. I feel overwhelmed and I'm not sure whether to kill the site or press on. I live in a very small city, so I could probably create a directory just for my city and it would be far more manageable and probably a better value for the handful of advertisers I already have. Or, should I feature my county? I don't want to let the site die, but I'm not sure if I can keep going at this rate. I've spent a ton of money to advertise it with little to no return.

I've already learned so much by being here but some advice specifically geared towards this situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
#advice #directory #local
  • Profile picture of the author manicmethods
    Drop the link here just so we can check it out. I've asked for it so it won't be seen as your trying to push it out to the WF forum.

    I know you're new, just post it without the http:// or www

    Cheers.
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    • Profile picture of the author tnvalleymedia
      Thanks!

      tnvalleyguide.com
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      • Profile picture of the author tnvalleymedia
        Sorry onSubie, just saw your post as I posted the domain.

        Right now the majority of the businesses are just from one city, and that is the problem. I see no feasible way to list every business in the entire TN valley. It's a huge area.

        I tried to include local news and events, but it became too much of a headache. At that point I reached out to ourvalleyevents.com and formed a partnership so that the visitors to my site could go to their site for info regarding events.

        The traffic is iffy- 475 pageviews in one month. There isn't enough traffic to justify selling ad space, so I have been relying on business owners to buy a one year subscription, which a handful have done.

        I have advertised the site in the local newspaper, all the local hotels, with FB ads, via Twitter, and through a few partnerships.

        I set up a FB page for the site and despite offering monthly giveaways from local merchants it has only 52 "likes."

        Thank you for all the feedback!
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  • Profile picture of the author onSubie
    Hi

    If the site is well developed and getting traffic but just becoming too much to manage, you might be able to sell it for a decent profit to a local company or on flippa.

    Local (to the Tennessee Valley) marketing, advertising or Internet firms may be interested in a directory type domain if it is a good one.

    The other thing you could do would be to set it up with less time sensitive information and make it more of a static informational site rather than a site with regular new content. If that is what it is. Posting the domain would be nice so we can take a look.

    How much monthly traffic do you get? What is your primary content? How do you monetize the traffic?

    Like everyone else, I'm curious

    Mahlon
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  • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
    I don't know your area, but first ask yourself what are people likely to be searching for? As in, will anyone use "tenessee valley businesstype" when they search or are they more likely to use "your city businesstype" when they search?

    My experience is that it is better to keep it local. That has several advantages - it's easier to do the seo and it's easier to get advertisers, especially if the area is local to you and you know people.

    So, I guess I'm saying, ditch that site and set up a local one - but offer to transfer existing advertisers for the duration of their subscription. That will give your new site a kick start as it will have real live advertisers to encourage new advertisers, and real text for google to index.
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  • Profile picture of the author tnvalleymedia
    Hi Carol. Thank you very much for the insight. Yes, it makes a lot of sense that people are much more apt to search for the city and business as opposed to the TN valley since it is a massive area. I think I had this mentality that I'd be able to make a lot more money with a huge area.

    I hope you don't mind, but I have some new questions before I take the leap and create a local site for my city. If you'd rather not answer them all I certainly understand!

    Would you post news and events for the city or would you steer clear of that? Aside from scouring local newspapers I believe it would be somewhat hard for me to keep that current. I suppose I could set up a blog along with the site and allow guest bloggers?

    Would you include just small businesses or include the mega corps like Walmart? I'm on the fence about that. My longstanding goal with the site has been to help out the small business owners as much as possible. However, it wouldn't be a complete directory if I left out the big guys.

    I will definitely transfer the existing advertisers and I am looking forward to helping them get more business.

    Now my final question- Should I stick with DirectoryPress or use something else? I have a subscription for elegantthemes and I really like the eList theme. DirectoryPress has been good, but lacks polish, IMO. I have another site that uses eDirectory, but I can't afford to use that for a fledgling local site.

    Thank you!
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    • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
      Originally Posted by tnvalleymedia View Post


      Would you post news and events for the city or would you steer clear of that? Aside from scouring local newspapers I believe it would be somewhat hard for me to keep that current. I suppose I could set up a blog along with the site and allow guest bloggers?
      Probably not. Keep your aim for the site tightly focused. If your site is aimed at people searching for a business, adding local news/events could quickly make the site look unloved and dated if you don't update it regularly.

      You only need to add the text that Google needs in order to get your site ranked for your keywords.

      Originally Posted by tnvalleymedia View Post

      Would you include just small businesses or include the mega corps like Walmart?
      That issue has never arisen for me. I wouldn't bust a gut trying to find the right person to authorise an advert, but on the other hand if they are interested, then why not include them?


      Originally Posted by tnvalleymedia View Post

      Now my final question- Should I stick with DirectoryPress or use something else? I have a subscription for elegantthemes and I really like the eList theme. DirectoryPress has been good, but lacks polish, IMO. I have another site that uses eDirectory, but I can't afford to use that for a fledgling local site.

      Thank you!
      I use Classipress. It works for me. Use whichever theme gives you the look you want. Remember - people want a site where it is easy to find the information they want - they aren't interested in bells, whistles, whizzy things or an artistic experience.

      One of the most common things that is said to me about many of my sites is that they are easy to navigate.

      I don't know how big your town is, but consider starting several sites rather than one general purpose site.

      My village website works because it is aimed at a very small community so takes all comers.

      My B&B sites work because they are aimed at specific keywords, which makes seo much easier. Anyone wanting bed and breakfast accommodation in Ledbury will google that. They probably aren't interested in finding listings for chiropractors, bricklayers or accountants.

      If you want to talk further, PM me or skype me.

      Edit: Just realised you can't PM. I'll PM you.
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      • Profile picture of the author cashtech29
        Nice post rose.
        Very informative...
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