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Local directory map listing. Profitable? Easy to be indexed?

by Andrea Rillo
3 replies
Hello Warriors,
I was thinking about opening a local directory website (like yelp or tripadvisor) and indexing it in my city for all the main keywords that could be searched for.
My city is a 1 million people city and I think that this kind of website could have a good earning potential.
However, I'm not sure about how long would it require me to index it and if it's a really good way to generate an income.

I was thinking about getting paid for getting listed on the website (maybe a monthly fee) and use a part of these fee on paid online advertising.
However, I'm not sure if I should "sell" the spot on my site before having even any traffic and use these money to bring in some or just wait for the traffic and then sell the spots.

Do you have any experience with this kind of business model/project?

Thank in advance.
Andrea Rillo
#directory #easy #indexed #listing #local #map #profitable
  • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
    Originally Posted by Andrea Rillo View Post

    Hello Warriors,
    I was thinking about getting paid for getting listed on the website (maybe a monthly fee) and use a part of these fee on paid online advertising.
    However, I'm not sure if I should "sell" the spot on my site before having even any traffic and use these money to bring in some or just wait for the traffic and then sell the spots.
    Most directories have the option of free or paid feature listings, the featured listings could be granted free or at a lower cost at the start to help attract some listings. It really is chicken and egg, you need one to have the other / listings / visitors. Look up Duval ? here on the forum who does some php directory offerings and maybe some advice.

    It could take some time to develop a directory that takes on paying customers, and would be probably a longer term project over a short one with non definite outcome.

    Have a buddy in the states who has run directories for a long time / many years and in his words of recent

    "Directories have really taken a hit. Google finally figured out how to minimize them."

    so probably dig deeper with your homework before getting underway, but anything can work if people are dedicated and within realistic thinking.
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      It is my thinking that a broad based "city" directory is not such a good idea. I am sure with a lot of work it could become successful but getting there would be a long time coming. If you change it up a bit and target a specific market or vertical market, I think that is when you stand a chance.


      The secret in todays environment is not the directory itself, but the content behind it. Keeping all of this content market specific, with the idea of "helping" your end users is key. Using the content as the traffic driving force is the element that really needs to be focused on.
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  • Profile picture of the author Underground
    Going too broad would be a bad thing. Going too niche in a city of 1 million, probably not good either.

    You should pick the top niches with a decent enough amount of traffic and create silos around them.

    Top niches are things like Accommodation, Property, Recruitment, Events, Entertainment, Bars, Clubs, Shopping, Education, Restaurants, Legal, Profession.

    So Accommodation in Turin, Property in Turin, etc. Those should be your main silo landing pages, and you can have many categories and sub-posts underneath that back them up.

    Do a search on here for the free silo plugin from Themezoom.

    The old way of doing directories are dead. But SEO is not. And if you do it properly and be selective in the keywords you go for, you can rank your site for nicely trafficked keywords, and then even longer tail ones will follow once you get the DA.

    You really have to invest good money, effort and time into a site these days. I don't know about anywhere else but most of the ads on British TV these days are advertising some website or other. Price comparison, travel, insurance, vouchers, betting, etc, and the big companies are very aggressive, you need to find a way to build it that makes your site very compelling and unique and something others ain't offering. That is going to take some nous.
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