One of the hardest sites to launch in addition to community and city sites are directories. Directories are a great way to organize data by topic, subject or niche but almost anything you can think of has been done. Rather, it is better to think about how you want to present and deliver data to the user instead of simply displaying information.

Obtaining Data

Collecting data for your niche site can be a chore. Manual collection can be in the form of newsletter subscribers or as complicated as survey marketing. However, there are some companies such as Oddity Software who sell databases that you can use in your projects. For business data, lead sites such as LeadPile is a good place to start. You may also considering purchasing websites that have established memberships or subscribers. Another solution is APIs, which Marchex makes great use of with their city domains by using the Localeze and Yelp API.

Developing Data

Delivery is key when developing a directory website. Not only do you compete with many other sites delivering the same data but you want to give visitors a reason to choose YOUR site over your competitors. Think: sticky, sticky, sticky and niche, niche, niche. Simple publishing will not do unless you are delivering data that was difficult to obtain previously (example: a list of businesses who donate to charities, live in the USA and are angel investors). As with any content, make it easy to forward data to others (social marketing) and deliver exactly what your visitor expects: niche information. Examples of well developed directory sites are: RetailMeNot.com, StumbleUpon and HotScripts.com.

Monetizing Data

Just as development, monetizing directory websites are not easy. PPC might pay off but not by much. Affiliate marketing works better in most cases than PPC but most effective are good old fashioned direct ad relationships with end users. That route is a hard sell but pays off much more than PPC or affiliate marketing. Don't be afraid to get creative and explore other opportunities, such as enhanced listings, premium content or actual e-commerce products.

With directory sites, you need just enough data organized in the right manner to make them successful. Promotion will be required as these sites have a hard time staying on search engines due to competition and information saturation. I would strongly suggest a content-directory hybrid for anyone wishing to go this route in development.

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