eDirectory July Upgrade

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We recently released the eDirectory July Upgrade to the product to add new features, make some optimizations, and change the way a few things work, all for the better!

We added more widgets to the library to make sure clients have the site that works best for their specific online community with new options for personalization.

Here’s a rundown of the latest and greatest eDirectory has to offer in its newest release:

1. Header: 4 new header widgets, totaling 5 different header widgets available for all themes

  • Header with sticky menu
  • Header with contact phone
  • Header with social media links
  • Header with centralized logo
  • Available for all themes

2. Footer: 3 new footer widgets, totaling 5 different footer widgets

  • Footer with logo
  • Footer with newsletter widget
  • Footer with social media bar centralized
  • Available for all themes

3. Results: 2 new results list widgets, totaling 4 different results widgets

  • Results list with grid view with filters on the left
  • Results list with grid view with filters on the right
  • Available for all themes

4. New Events Calendar widget available for all themes
5. New Nearby results functionality
6. New console command to enable or disable the maintenance mode

Header Widgets

We made header widgets that were once exclusive to our Medical, Restaurant, and Wedding themes available to the default eDirectory theme so clients can take advantage of those features without having to utilize any one specific theme.

Footer Widgets

The footer has also received some TLC with some new display features with new personalization options with the logo centered, social media links, or a newsletter widget. Clients can now select the footer design that works best and toggle between them as needed.

Grid View

The latest results list now allows for a grid view, showing content in easy to scan “cards”. This widget also has variations to display the search filters on either the right or left side.

Events Calendar Widget

A new interactive events calendar widget has also been added to make it much easier for visitors to find events they interested in attending based on the monthly calendar view. A highly requested feature that we’re very happy to have released. Recurring events are an especially enhanced feature of this new widget to run events that keep visitors coming back to the site.

Nearby Results Functionality

We’re really excited about one key element of this new release, which is the nearby results functionality for an improved search experience for our online community users to better find what they are looking for. This updated functionality allows both local community site and international vendor directory owners to better tailor to what extent nearby results will be displayed. This feature can even be personalized for specific locations, so if you have certain metropolitan areas or small municipalities, you can edit the nearby search results radius for those geographies specifically, pretty cool!

New Maintenance Mode

The new maintenance mode functionality now makes it even easier to enable while simultaneously allowing the site to be locked publicly while the site owner can make edits to the site and see it all live while logged in. This makes setting up the site more intuitive for the site owner so they can see the changes they make live.

Take advantage of the eDirectory July Upgrade now!

If you’re looking to launch your online Enterprise with all the newest features available, feel free to pick the plan that works best for you and get started in just a few minutes. Have any questions or would like to get connected with your assigned account executive to make sure we’re the best solution for your project? We’d love to meet you, simply request an eDirectory demo here.

If you’re an active customer of eDirectory and would like to schedule your site for an upgrade, you can get started here by completing this short Upgrade Request form.

Thank you for being the best part of eDirectory and we look forward to growing with you!

New eDirectory Groups for our users

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Join eDirectory Groups in Facebook and LinkedIn and get connected to people like you!

eDirectory.com Communities

The new eDirectory Groups of users is a proof that webinar events at eDirectory.com have been a relative success, both for eDirectory and it’s global community of directory software clients.  As we got started we had a  few interruptions with the new webinar software and getting familiar with how it all worked, yet we see the applications for our business and the benefits for our clients, so we will be moving forward with weekly webinars after a slight maintenance period to get the next series planned and executed.  We have learned a great deal about what we can do to continue our mission of building the best directory software on the planet and we thank everyone for their participation thus far.

Of the many pieces of actionable intelligence one we were able to roll out fairly quickly was the launch of our private partner strategy groups on LinkedIn and Facebook.  We’ve already seen some directory owners interacting with each other and can see the potential for this as we continue to grow our community.  We are committed to making ourselves accessible to all of our clients worldwide, no matter where they are, and these private groups are an excellent example of our goals here at eDirectory.com.  Clients today have a myriad of resources at eDirectory like a knowledge base we constantly update, chat support, customer success agents on call, our blog, webinars, a support ticket system, and now our new private groups on social media.

We hope to see both clients and those interested in launching an online directory website with eDirectory get all the information needed to have the best experience possible with our platform., and we are confident these new strategy groups will play a significant role in this goal.  We will strive to take every piece of feedback we receive and based on it’s ability to be adopted throughout the platform, have it added to the MOD Store, and to or enact a fundamental change in the logic of the directory software system. Nothing is off the table!

There are some exciting new optimizations and functionalities coming up on the next development cycle of the eDirectory.com directory software solution and some of those even came from our recent community events!  We believe this is only the beginning of bringing our powerful community participants closer together online to power more “meaningful communities” for all our members and users to be a part of, one site at a time!

We invite you to please join us in either our Facebook group found here or our LinkedIn group located here. Please feel free to get started with joining the groups, introducing yourself, inviting friends and family looking to launch for the $200 in Referral credits you’ll each receive, and getting ready to learn more and earn more with other online entrepreneurs and community leaders!

Please keep the great ideas coming and we look forward to seeing our online communities grow, the same as we hope to see those of our clients’ online communities growing as well.  Thank you for being the best part of eDirectory.com and we look forward to seeing what you build with our powerful directory software, cheers!

 

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Webinar Wednesdays is BACK!

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Webinar Wednesdays is BACK!

webinar wednesdays

So we’re almost half-way through 2017 here (already, sheesh!) and the time certainly has gone by quickly at eDirectory.com. Looking a few years back we pioneered “Webinar Wednesdays” and it was a huge success since it allowed us to LEARN more from our online directory website clients. This was what we believed to be the most important benefit of conducting online directory software tutorials LIVE, so we could see in real-time any issues our clients were having, or what directory features they were most excited about, or what the newest upgrades entailed for their specific online communities.

As many things go in business, you tend to lose sight of what is important when you are given exciting new ventures to embark on. We’ve been busy making foundational upgrades to the entire directory software system, operational enhancements to provide better quality customer service, and we’ve also added loads of new videos to make sure clients have a better experience with this powerful (although easy to use) directory website solution. So now that we’ve spent the last year making waves with our development team with the last 3 upgrades, we are READY to re-release our weekly webinar program to our international community.

We are more than thrilled to be hosting our weekly FREE webinars for active customers as well as those looking to launch with eDirectory and wanting to see how it all works before getting started. In doing so, we’ll be alternating topics each week until we find a few our community would like to have recurring, so we’re open to any and all feedback as we kick things off here.

We curated 4 topics to begin our NEW weekly webinar series, you can see those here below:

Introducing the New Page Editor

We’ll cover the widget-based front-end and how easy it is to bring your unique vision to life on your online directory website. Drag, drop, save, and share!
Wednesday, May 24th
10am PDT – Pacific
1pm EDT – Eastern
6pm BST – Europe
REGISTER HERE

The newest platform upgrade at eDirectory.com, and why clients LOVE it!

We’ll present all the powerful new features recently made available on the directory website platform and take questions from active customers and those looking to launch their online Enterprise with eDirectory.
Wednesday, May 31st
10am PDT – Pacific
1pm EDT – Eastern
6pm BST – Europe
REGISTER HERE

Question and Answer Community Forum (+ Product Updates)

We’ll start with some recent product updates and then open up the floor for a learning session by taking live inquiries.
Wednesday, June 7th
10am PDT – Pacific
1pm EDT – Eastern
6pm BST – Europe
REGISTER HERE

10 Tips to Creating Successful, Revenue-Generating Online Directories

We’ll cover tips and strategies to create the most opportunities for success with your online directory website.
Wednesday, June 14th
10am PDT – Pacific
1pm EDT – Eastern
6pm BST – Europe
REGISTER HERE

All of our community webinars are held on a first-come, first-served bases. Upon signing up, you’ll receive a calendar invitation and some reminders before the show begins.

If you have any recommendations about webinar topics,
we’d love to hear from you. Would you like more information about our community webinars or private training sessions? If so, please send an email to marketing@ eDirectory.com.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to meet the team and see if eDirectory.com is the right choice for your online directory business! Register now for for your favorite topic(s) and be sure to stay in touch with eDirectory.com for company and product updates at FACEBOOK, TWITTER, LINKEDIN, GOOGLE+, and YOUTUBE.

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Unleash your creativity: eDirectory Software v11.2

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Hello, hello! We here with eDirectory.com, global leader in online directory software, are VERY proud to share with all of you the details in our newest release, version 11.2… SO, let’s get started!

For your convenience we organized the release details into 3 main categories with an example for each:

  • DESIGN: featuring the NEW widget-based Front-End Page Editor
  • SUPPORT: Latin America is now fully-supported here at eDirectory.com
  • FUNCTIONALITY: the NEW custom content editor and ElasticSearch

DESIGN

Without a doubt, the most powerful element of this upgrade is built around the new front-end page editor, with over 30 pages pre-defined for you to edit, as well as the ability to re-arrange the elements on page to your preference, edit features within those modules, over 100 widget-combinations to choose from, and even the option to add your own widgets…. hey, you can even build new new pages altogether with this widget-based system.. No need to know any coding, simply drag, drop, save, and enjoy! Making it even easier to have the site that works best for you and make any changes needed along the way.

We’ve also made enhancements to the default themes that each have unique layouts of their own. We refreshed the color palettes across the board to be more consistent, and updated the default logo and background image placements to make sure you have the site that best represents your brand online with more options to make changes on the fly. The default footer was also edited to better fit everything together for you. Now, let’s move on to the Support category of the recent upgrade.

SUPPORT

Although the eDirectory platform has been available for many years in 7 different languages, we are VERY happy to be rolling out the FULL support for our Latin American clients with our new website about the best online directory software in Spanish. Now our new and existing clients in Latin America have all the information they’ll need to make the best decision for their online directory technology partner, along with Pre-Sales and Support staff now fluent in Spanish, over 60 knowledge base articles, and a new Welcome Video series now in production. We can’t want to see what our clients in Latin America build with their new directory websites! Now let’s take a look at some new functionalities!

FUNCTIONALITY

Starting with our new custom content editor, you’ll be able to add custom content as needed, and in a variety of locations with the new widget-based system. Simply click to add a custom widget, add your content, and publish to live… all within your site manager and in 3 easy steps. The site manager can now also bulk insert categories to make organizing your members a breeze… simply open up the dialog box upon clicking on categories to get started adding not only your top-level categories, but your sub-level categories, all the way to 5 sub-levels of categories.

Members and users can search recurring events to find out what’s going on in their area or industry every Wednesday night for example… concerts, mixers, conferences, seminars, classes, you name it! The Classifieds engine also got upgraded so publishers of classifieds can now add a video and PDF file to their classified ads, whether those are classifieds for products, cars, properties, boats, businesses, and even personal ads. NEXT, the API for the integrated and proprietary mobile application is now running version 2 to support the recent enhancements, so be to sure to re-publish your app to get the latest and greatest! And Finally… ElasticSearch, used to power some of the most robust websites on the planet such as Facebook, Netflix, Etsy, Foursquare, and eDirectory.com was upgraded for better search relevancy and user experience.

What else is new?

In addition to all these amazing new features in design, support, and functionaltiy…. we’ve also made over 60 system improvements and optimizations to continue adding value to the eDirectory platform so that our clients have a system that stays parallel with industry advancements both now and in the future.

So, what can you expect next?

Well this upgrade is very important for us here at eDirectory.com and our clients since it has also laid the foundation for our future upgrades as we will be expanding upon the integrated mobile app frontier, pushing the limits on client-side custom content capabilities, and adding an entirely new module system that will make adding your favorite MODS a breeze… and any other valuable enhancements as recommended by you, our awesome global community.

Well this about wraps up our coverage of the March 2017 Version11.2 Upgrade. Read here the full list of enhancements of v11.2.

For active clients looking to take advantage of the latest and greatest eDirectory.com has to offer, simply fill out the Upgrade request form found here, contact your account executive, or create a new support ticket or start a chat on our website.

For new clients looking to launch their online Enterprise with all you see here and much much more, please fill out the request a demo form on our eDirectory.com so we can match you up with your assigned account executive, you can also call us directly at +1-800-630-4694, or send an email to Sales@eDirectory.com

We look forward to seeing what you build with eDirectory.com. Thank you and make it a great day!

eDirectory.com new Mobile App Builder

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eDirectory.com is thrilled to release the latest version of the mobile app builder. With a completely revamped design, powerful features, and a sleek interface – this new app release will add tremendous value to your online directory enterprise.

eDirectory.com Mobile App Builder: a brief overview of what’s new

  • TRUE push notifications
  • beautifully-redesigned homescreen
  • expanded color palette for branding
  • App-specific analytics
  • Google Firebase
  • Expanded search features and filters
  • Voice commands

Download it now [it's free]: Apple Store | Google Play

Send Push Notifications

Engage your app users with TRUE push notifications. eDirectory mobile app builder will now integrate with Google Firebase to offer an easy way to create, schedule and manage the use of push notifications. Send messages to all subscribers or segment your tailored messages to specific users to drive activity and retention. Increase your revenue potential by offering paid push notifications to your members for maximum exposure.

New beautifully-redesigned homescreen

New features include a beautifully-redesigned homescreen will now serve as the main app welcome screen. Publishers will be able to manage the module listings display and add some flare with slider images, optional summaries, and special links. These sliders create a great new opportunity to offer your members premium exposure on the homescreen for value-adding opportunities.

Expanded color palette

Another great new feature is the expanded color palette designed to better match your branding. Each module may also be color coded which will easily distinguish which section of the app you are using including listings, deals, events, articles or blog creating a more intuitive app navigation. Create some distinction among your features with brand-building color schemes.

Google Firebase Analytics

eDirectory has integrated with Google Firebase – a super-charged mobile platform which expands the usage and functionality. With Google Firebase Analytics – app publishers will now have the ability view app-specific analytics and to drill down on app usage for detailed behavioral reporting. Demographic segmentation, including age, gender, and location are available right out-of-the-box. With this powerful new integration, the foundation has also been set for continual optimization and new feature releases.

Search by voice

New expanded search capabilities include additional filters, search history as well as auto suggest. Search-by-voice is an awesome new feature which makes it incredibly easy and convenient for mobile users to search simply by speaking their request. All search functionality is now supported by Elasticsearch – a powerful program also used in eDirectory’s web based platform searches.

We’ve also added a ‘log in with Google’ feature which will make it so easy for Google users to sign in using their Google account credentials.

We are proud to announce all the hard work we’ve done to bring our valued customers the latest and greatest so they can continue to grow their online revenue goals! We look forward to seeing what you build with the newest version of the eDirectory.com Mobile App Builder.

Already a customer?
If you’re an existing eDirectory client, and would like to take advantage of what’s new, please contact your account executive for next steps or complete the Upgrade Request form found here. For clients running the latest version, the new App Builder is LIVE. Simply build, publish and submit to iOS and Android. We also can help submit.

New at eDirectory.com?
If you’d like to learn more about launching your online Enterprise with eDirectory.com, simply click now “Try Free Demo” or call 1-800-630-4694 and your assigned account executive will be more than happy to make sure we’re a good fit for your project.

Thank you and happy hunting!

More Income: offer multiple Ads and Classifieds to your listings

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More Income: offer multiple Ads and Classifieds to your listings

Increase your income by offering multiple banner advertisements or adding classified ads to your listing levels and plans creating high value plans for your members. This is a great way to upsell premium plans that includes these additional opportunities for members to maximize exposure and branding across your website. (now available in v 11.1)

Revenue-Generating Online Directories

Banner Ads

When getting started with a new website, publishers can use the banner ad space to place affiliate links, sell your own products/services or add google Adsense to generate revenue. Website publishers can also sell banner ads at 80% off to get started, upgrade members for free so they can add offers which will allow you to then charge them for leads. eDirectory has all the banner tools that you’ll need to turn a profit from your advertisers.

By allowing your best customers to take advantage of the opportunity to proudly fly their banner ad atop the category they best represent, adds credibility and brand exposure reserved for premium members. This will quickly prompt your member’s competitors to also want to gain access to premium real estate on your website and sign up for paid advertising.

Displayed banners ads can be created to link to outside URLs such as your member’s website or link to internal listings, deals, classifieds or events in the directory website. eDirectory’s built in banner ad manager makes it super easy to upload banner ad images, manage and track click-through traffic. Banners can be images, flash, or even script from a third-party banner system.

Classified Ads

Another awesome built-in tool is the Classified Ad module. This allows members to advertise jobs, show items for sale or customize the Classifieds Module to display whatever is best for your community and includes descriptions, photos, pricing and contact information. Whether it’s advertisements or sales, it’s a one-stop shop for getting your Classifieds on your directory. Let your site customers sell anything they wish in the an expertly categorized, well-organized, and beautifully presented Classifieds section

A link to the classified ad will also be displayed in the member’s listings, same goes for the classified listing linking back to the member’s.

By offering these additional ads it’s not only beneficial for your members, but also helps site publishers to further populate their website with quality content.

Creating The Plans

Offer at least three and up to four plans displaying tiered pricing plans that are easy to compare and the pricing page that is easy to understand. Create a perceived appearance that by upgrading to a premium plan that includes banner and classified ads, they are able to receive far more value for their advertising dollar.

Creating listings and levels is easy in the eDirectory site manager dashboard which allows up to 4 listing levels and will display what is included (and what is not) great for displaying that all important comparison chart.

directory website advertisingCreate packages and promo codes to further customize your plans and pricing with value-add incentives.

So get started adding multiple banner ad and classifieds with your listings and start and watch your website start to rapidly develop into a thriving community.

(Stripe) How to get new Members Offering Trials

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Stripe – How to get new Members Offering Trials

Stripe is one of the most powerful payment processors on the planet and was added as a payment gateway option for our global user base during the newest v11.1 release. What clients love about Stripe is that it processes payments in over 100 different currencies, allows our clients to manage all of their own finances within the site manager, and also provides for free trials… which are a great marketing tool for growing your online community.

advertise-trial

Once you have set up your Stripe account in the eDirectory dashboard, you will be able to set up your free trial options in your levels and plans. Set number of days, weeks or months under free trial giving members enough time to use the system, and begin to reap the benefits of becoming a member of your community.

But I want to monetize my site. Why would I want to offer free trials?

By offering free trials – this helps to quickly populate your new directory website with member listings and content. A more populated website with quality content will help build credibility, add value and begin to drive traffic to your site. By populating your site with useful information and displaying an active, popular website, this will help to boost user engagement which naturally leads to paid membership subscriptions and website monetization opportunities.

Once your site becomes established, you can then begin to monetize (link to monetizing your website blog) your website and reap the sweet rewards of your investment and hard work.

The most important steps to achieving your online revenue goals all start with growing your online directory community. Seeing is believing! With free trials, members can see how it all works, how easy it will be to add great content and get new leads for business.

You can even offer special upgrade deals to convert them into paying customers. Once they see how you curate your brand, content, and marketing, they will be more so enticed to stick around and grow with you!

3 Benefits of offering Free Trial Sign Ups:

1. Start Free and Encourage Paid Upgrade at a Later Date

By offering a free trial, sign up new members or allow for on-site sign ups via eDirectory’s built in self-service sign up system. Once trial members are given the opportunity to ‘test out’ the functionality of your directory, view the site report activity and see the number of leads coming in or coupons being redeemed, it’s hard to argue the value of the listing and much easier to close the sale or even upsell to a larger plan.

2. Free Trials help to Populate Your Directory With Quality Listings

When new browsers visit your directory and place a search for data, they expect to find results. Having your free members create listings and contribute content will show that your directory is active and successful. This is also where the FOMO (fear of missing out) factor comes in to play. If a business owner sees their competitor listed on your directory, they too will want to be listed and become a member of your community to remain competitive.

3. Free Members Create Quality Content and Add Value to Your Website

You want your directory to have the inherent appearance of a healthy and thriving website community – a site that provides educational and helpful information. Each member of your community will have the opportunity to add this type of content via listings, articles, events and blog postings. This is not only helpful to visitors, but it’s also great for SEO.

So, if you are an existing client and would like the Stripe feature added to your site, simply request an upgrade here, contact your account executive, or chat with us anytime as www.eDirectory.com ! Thank you and happy hunting with free trials for your site!

Creates a dialogue – once the free trial has been created, it will create a dialogue between you and your members… you can reach out to collect any feedback or make them a special offer. Once the free trial is over, it also creates the same dialogue allowing directory owners to have a meaningful conversation or learn more about their customer needs.

If you’re an active client and would like Stripe added to your site, please click the upgrade request form link to get that started, contact your assigned account executive or create a support ticket. New clients may request a demo call or pick the plan that works best for you and then select LAUNCH right from the pricing page.

eDirectory vs WordPress Themes

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eDirectory vs WordPress Themes

5 reasons why eDirectory crushes WORDPRESS

As you begin to plan and research creating and building a profitable online directory, you will find that there are a few options for you and may wonder – ‘what is the best solution for me?’

If you are contemplating using WordPress themes and plug-ins, there are some pros and cons to consider.

yoga-screen

If you are new to using WordPress, there may be a bit of a learning curve. Although getting started with WordPress has a relatively low cost as an open source code, to build on the website it begins to add up and create a lot of moving parts. Many of the reliable WordPress themes are offered at a premium price – same is to be said for plug-ins.

eDirectory.com is a platform specifically designed for building and managing an online directory. The skilled development team has thought through all of the details needed to build a fully-functional website. Every feature that a directory website would need are built into the platform and eDirectory offers several modern and attractive themes to help get you started.

Here are the 5 key reasons to consider eDirectory over WordPress Themes:

1. Support

With eDirectory, you have a TEAM of over 50 techs, reps, and trainers to make sure you have the greatest opportunities for success – whether that means squashing a bug, scheduling a training session, or getting some help with how it all works…. No need to chase down a developer or have staff on payroll for basic maintenance or consultation. You have your account executive, support team, project managers, and trainers all ready to assist you.

2. Product

With WordPress, you may end up with a sort of frankenstein website with lots of controlled moving parts by various 3rd party developers that may or may not keep current with the constant security updates of an open-source platform like WordPress, meaning you could go weeks with broken items on page with no sign of help in sight. So in the end, just to make things work, you may bog down your site and find yourself trying to piece things together with bandaids, duct tape and hot glue.

3. Scalability

Many people launch with WordPress for the low sticker price, but once your clients start gaining traction with WordPress and eventually grow out of it, clients experience high-switching costs to a platform better-suited for growth and scalability like eDirectory.com…. Many clients experience extended delays and issues with migrating data, service interruptions, customer dissatisfaction from a broken site, and overall growing pains that can easily be avoided by launching with eDirectory from the get-go… SO for clients with serious revenue goals and long-term growth plans, and less headaches so they can focus on activities that add value rather than operational development, clients choose eDirectory.

4. Credibility

Visitors can spot a WordPress site from a mile away. There’s nothing special about a $99 theme that makes your brand look credible. With eDirectory.com, our clients LOVE the integrated app builder, all the essentials under one roof like payment processing, hosting, and member management…. And your online community will appreciate all of the features you’re able to provide with our fully-integrated online directory solution to provide a one-stop shop for growing your revenue goals. When people see you have an unbranded, mobile app, they know you’ve invested and are serious

5. Growth & Custom Development

As your online community grows and you start to receive actionable feedback, you might find there are features or functionalities unique to your community that you need to keep growing and adding value to your brand. With WordPress, you may encounter the same frankenstein scenario that makes it more difficult to keep it all together without a fulltime developer at an average hourly rate of $100 per hour. We have an entire DEPARTMENT of custom development services to add what’s most important to your expansion plans

eDirectory offers a stable, secure hosted solution so you can rest assured your investment is in good hands. With so many built-in features and functionality, the website need not get ‘bloated’ with additional plug-ins and scripts therefore leading to faster load times.

By choosing eDirectory as your directory platform, you can be up and running AND generating revenue quickly and easily.

To help you get started, contact an account executive to discuss your needs and ask about our onboarding plans to help you get jump on your new venture!

Benefits of Creating a Niche Directory

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Benefits of Creating a Niche Website Directory

Building a niche directory can prove to be a very profitable venture indeed! With dedicated focus, a niche website is easier to launch and quick to attract paying advertisers, build community members and become profitable faster than other types of directories.

A niche website can be based on a specific subject, industry or region. The secret behind this business model is knowledge of your niche and an understanding of your target advertisers and readers. Your website content needs to be viewed as useful to attract readership and your advertising plans need to create a solution to a perceived problem or challenge your advertisers may be facing.

Niche Directory Market Size

Rather than casting a huge national or global net trying to encompass anyone and everyone, niche websites allow you to focus your energies on one particular market and subject and do it well!

  • Start out small – walk before you run and allow yourself to make your mistakes when you’re small so that you can get organized for success as you eventually grow
  • Focus on a smaller market that will give you more precise targeting options and better chances to achieve greater ROI on your investments
  • Create important partnerships early on that will create more opportunities down the road

Niche Directory Identity

It’s very difficult to be all things to all people. Honing in on your brand voice and identity unique to your niche is key early on.

  • Position yourself as an expert here becoming a key resource to a select group
  • Once your identity has been realized, this will help make generating content more consistent
  • Building on authority breeds trust which will help with growing your credibility

Niche Directory Location

If you can, start in one specific location or region and then begin to expand your reach once you have a good handle on your new business and better understand the needs of your community.

  • Master your back yard first – prove the concept where it is easiest to relate, travel, or be more proactive
  • Niche prospects will be in a more definable location across the web as well, as subscribers and consumers of industry or trade publications, geographic areas, or online groups or communities are in one “place” since it is a niche, it is easier to get yourself noticed

By building a niche directory website, you become a one-stop shop for bringing your community together and growing your online directory revenue goals. Focus on adding value, curating your niche community, and listening to their feedback as it will help you reach your goals more quickly.

How To Leverage Your Community to Create Content for You

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Content is King! Keep in mind that directory websites are unique from other types of online enterprises. With online directory websites clients have an amazing opportunity to leverage the power of dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of members (depending on your target market) to achieve their recurring online revenue goals.

EventsContent

At eDirectory.com, we help clients leverage this powerful concept to create recurring revenue that grows with time, knowing that each new member represents more opportunity for growth.

Given the exponential power of social media, globalization, and multiple revenue streams, eDirectory.com will show you to turn this latent opportunity into active and passive revenue, so long as you understand how to leverage your community to create content for you with these 3 simple steps:

Offer incentives for clients to share valuable content

  • Feature them on your social media after sharing content
  • Give free banner ads or months of service for contributions
  • Upgrade their listing to your premium membership level for free and turn value-adding clients into brand ambassadors

Stay in touch with your community to create more opportunities

  • Send out newsletters with the integrated email system to encourage activity
  • Create online groups and communities on popular social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+. Share what you see here to other platforms to grow your presence and attract industry-specific contributors
  • Create a referral program that invites your first members to mention your site

Be active in monitoring what your competitors and prospects are doing

  • Your community exists outside of your directory site, so stay in touch with what is going on in your industry or target market to be at the forefront. The more people you attract with authenticity the faster you will achieve critical mass and have numerous members adding content to your site
  •  Talk to your prospects about how they would best like to participate. Identify patterns and try to replicate this across your various methods of outreach. The more people you attract with similar needs, the faster you find your niche and get more clients onboarded that will help you grow by adding and sharing.
  • Early on, make your key goal to have your members and visitors “share”. A conservative measure of unique active social media accounts can have hundreds of followers, if you get shares you create the opportunity of impressions across thousands of possiblevisitors and members. The more times your community members “share” items across social media, the more likely you are to achieve your idea of “critical mass” with your online directory revenue goals.

Tapping into your community of experts to add content to your website creates lasting relationships, offers additional exposure for your advertisers and adds value to your website. Reach out today and start adding valuable content to your website.