New Release: eDirectory v11.5

Posted on

eDirectory v11.5, released in early November 2018, is our most recent platform upgrade, filled with great new features and some performance improvements.

 

What’s new on eDirectory v11.5?

This release brings 15 new front-end and back-end items as it follows:

1. New fully customizable Cards widgets available for all themes.

  • Previous widgets such as “Featured listings”, “Popular events”, among others, were replaced by cards widgets.
  • Each widget can be fully customized, including:
    • Ability to change the widget title and the label of the “view more” link;
    • Ability to select the module that will be displayed on the widget;
    • Show items from a specific level, categories or location;
    • Ability to choose the order criteria;
    • Ability to pick items individually.
  • Layout for the widget “5 featured listings” updated and available for all modules.
recent deals widget

Define the content and display rules for your new widget…

… or handpick the items you want to be featured in your new widget!

2. New widget “Video Gallery” available for all themes.

3. Two new lead generation forms widgets available for all themes.

  • a. Lead form with static background image
  • b. Lead form with background slider

4. New layout for the article detail widget, including the ability to upload the author image and description available for all themes. See an example here.

5. New layout for the blog detail widget available for all themes.

6. New widget “Recent Articles in two columns” for the Article home page.

7. New widget “2 columns recent posts” for the Blog home page.

8. Added ability for the site manager change the labels of each location level.

location labels

9. New interface to manage the navigation menus and links for slides, including easier flow to link menus to custom pages, internal or external URLs.

10. Added new field to include a summary description for videos on the listings, events and classifieds form.

11. The layout of the Default theme rehashed to standardize spacings, margins and navigation structure, including the responsive version.

12. Added ability for the site manager to change the placeholders of the search box widgets.

13. Support to PHP 7.1.

14. New Gulp file to manage, compile and minimize less/sass files on development mode.

15. New layout for the “site unavailable” screen.

Other changes on eDirectory v11.5

  • Structured markup data on articles and blog detail pages updated to include the tags author and publisher
  • Facebook moderation tool updated to allow the site manager to moderate Facebook comments directly from the directory
  • Form to submit new reviews simplified when the user is already logged in
  • PHPMailer fully replaced by SwiftMailer

Read the full list of 100+ enhancements of eDirectory v11.5 here.

Upgrade to the latest version of eDirectory today!

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 or contact your account executive.

For new clients looking to launch their online Enterprise with all you see here and much more, please request a demo here, or call us directly at +1-800-630-4694, or send an email to sales@eDirectory.com.

How to comply with the European General Data Protection Act (GDPR)

Posted on

The General Data Protection Act (GDPR) is considered to be the most significant piece of European data protection legislation to be introduced in the European Union (EU) in 20 years and will replace the 1995 Data Protection Directive. The GDPR enhances EU individuals’ privacy rights and places significantly enhanced obligations on organizations handling data.

The new regulation goes into effect on May 25, 2018.

The GDPR regulates the processing of a data subject’s personal data in the European Union including its collection, storage and transfer or use. The GDPR gives data subjects more rights and control over their data by regulating how you should handle and store any personal data they collect.

Every website that collects, stores and handle European citizen’s data will have to comply. But what does that mean?

Basically, you’ll have to update your privacy policy and place a cookie consent disclaimer in your website.

How to (re)write my Privacy Policy?

As every online directory is unique, there’s not a standard template to copy. Besides the information you already have there, the privacy notice should address the following to sufficiently inform the data subject:

  • Who is collecting the data?
  • What data is being collected?
  • What is the legal basis for processing the data?
  • Will the data be shared with any third parties?
  • How will the information be used?
  • How long will the data be stored for?
  • What rights does the data subject have?
  • How can the data subject raise a complaint?

The best tools we find to help our users are Terms Feed and Iubenda. The final text will depend on how many tools you have installed in your site like Google Analytics, CRMs, Facebook Pixels, Hotjar, LiveChat, etc.

 Data Controller and Data Processor

One thing that you have to highlight in your new Privacy Policy is who handles data.

A Data Controller represents the entity that determines the purposes, conditions and means of the processing of personal data: the Directory owner (you)

If you host your online directory with us so we are the Data Processor. If you host anywhere else, your or the hosting provider is your Data Processor.

Be sure to use the right Data Processor when updating your Privacy Policy.

 How to place a cookie consent disclaimer in my online directory?

One way is to use paid tools like OneTrust.com, Cookiebot.com and others. But there are open source options like Cookie Consent by Insites and Silktide. Just place their scripts using Google Tag Manager.

To learn how to install the Cookie Consent Disclaimer by Insites, read this article here.

Alternatively, you can embed one of the numerous 3rd party widgets, or if you have the owned license you can develop custom code.

Contact eDirectory support at support.edirectory.com if you have questions or problems.

Read more:

*We take great care in providing information to you, but please be aware of the fact that this blog post can not be considered a substitute for professional legal advice.

Launch your site with the best Business Directory Script

Posted on

Launch your site with the best Business Directory Script

What is the best business directory script to start a project?

When working on a new idea, it can be daunting to navigate the internet and find the best solution for your needs. Particularly when you enter WordPress territory, where there are so many plugins, and both free and paid themes to choose from, you are almost certain to waste time trying out options that are not professional.

Outside of that scenario, you will find other options that are not an all-in-one solution in terms of suiting any niche you may need. If you would like to build a new online business such as a restaurant guide or a fitness & wellness online directory, you could do both with a professional look with eDirectory.

Let’s show you what are the main strengths of eDirectory.

And what makes eDirectory the best business directory script?

In a few words, the complete package! 

eDirectory is the most complete directory script out there, fully-featured from top to bottom, beautifully designed, and ready to generate a recurring revenue stream.

Built using technology platforms that power many of the largest sites on the internet. In addition to the core technology, we have optimized our code and configurations for speed and reliability.

The eDirectory setup is fast and easy. You can import listing data from a spreadsheet, and click to edit navigation and other site layout items via the widget-based page editor. Launch your site in minutes and manage your content with ease.

edirectory widget page editor

All versions come with the following modules: Listings, Deals, Classifieds, Articles, Events, Blog, and Banners. It also comes with a User Profile, Advertiser Dashboard, and 10+ Payment Gateways to make it easier to monetize your online directory.

And to complete that full package, you still get the only online directory app builder in the market with native support for iOS and Android. Know more about the integrated app builder.

Built with SEO in mind, you can focus on content, and rest assured your site will rank well in the SERPs.

eDirectory Tech Stack

  • PHP
  • JQuery JavaScript
  • {Less} CSS
  • Bootstrap
  • Symphony
  • ElasticSearch
  • MySQL Database

The out-of-the-box features our clients love

  • Claimable Listings
  • Coupon Codes creator
  • Social Login
  • Email notifications
  • Bookmarking System
  • SEO Center
  • Photo Galeries
  • Video embedding
  • Page editor
  • See all Features!

Edirectory Free guided demo

Perfect for beginners. Fantastic for experienced developers!

eDirectory has an intuitive interface to help our customers to create and manage their directory websites with ease, taking advantage of our Cloud subscriptions: don’t worry about installation and hosting, we’ve got you covered.

Skilled developers can self-host our directory script accessing the source code to perform any modification in design and features.

What you can build with eDirectory in just a few clicks:

  • Lead-gen directory websites
  • Buyer’s Guides
  • Local, National, and International Business Directories
  • Membership sites
  • Yellow Pages sites
  • Classifieds Portals
  • Restaurant Guides
  • Review Sites
  • and many more, unleash your creativity!

edirectory restaurant theme

Take a Guided Tour of eDirectory










eDirectory Facebook Group

New Release: eDirectory Software v11.3

Posted on

Our best release ever: Meet eDirectory Software v11.3!

What’s New in eDirectory v11.3

1. New import tool

  • Support for Excel files
  • Flexible template with columns matching functionality
  • CSV separator selection
  • Support to import up to 20 categories per listing
  • Improved help messages
  • Performance improvements

2. New buttons added to HTML editor to allow users to change the font, size, and colors of custom contents

3. Widget Featured Categories enabled for themes Default, Wedding, and Restaurant

4. Widget Recent Articles enabled for themes Default, Wedding, and Restaurant

5. Widget Browse by Category and Location plus Square Banner enabled for themes Default, Wedding, and Restaurant

6. Widget Recent Reviews enabled for themes Default, Wedding, and Restaurant

7. Widget 5-featured listings enabled for themes Default, Wedding, and Doctor

8. Widget Browse by Locations plus Square Banners enabled for themes Default, Wedding, and Doctor

9. Widget Popular deals plus Wide Skyscraper banner enabled for themes Default, Wedding, and Doctor

10. Widget 5-Recent Articles enabled for themes Default, Wedding, and Doctor

11. Widget 6-Featured Listings + 2 Square Banners enabled for themes Default, Restaurant, and Doctor

12. Widget Recent posts enabled for themes Default, Restaurant, and Doctor

13. Added option for site manager to edit the background image of the following widgets

  • Faq Header
  • Search Box Blog Detail
  • Sitemap Header
  • Sign up Text
  • Search Bar
  • Search Box for Reviews page
  • Search Box Module Detail
  • Search Box

14. Added option to replicate changes to other pages on the widget “Events Calendar”

15. Added ability for site manager to change the content of invoices header and footer

Read the full list of +130 enhancements of v11.3 here.

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 or contact your account executive.

For new clients looking to launch their online Enterprise with all you see here and much more, please request a demo here, or call us directly at +1-800-630-4694, or send an email to Sales@eDirectory.com.

eDirectory July Upgrade

Posted on

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 Facebook Group for our users

Posted on

Join eDirectory Group on Facebook and get connected to people like you!

eDirectory.com Communities

The new eDirectory Facebook Group of users is proof that webinar events at eDirectory.com have been a relative success, both for eDirectory and its 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 group on 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 its 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 our Facebook group found here. Please feel free to get started with joining the groups, introducing yourself, inviting friends and family to get 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!

 

Take a Guided Tour of eDirectory









Webinar Wednesdays is BACK!

Posted on

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

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

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

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

All of our community webinars are held on 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 your favorite topic(s) and be sure to stay in touch with eDirectory.com for company and product updates at FACEBOOK, TWITTER, LINKEDIN, and YOUTUBE.

Take a Guided Tour of eDirectory









Unleash your creativity: eDirectory Software v11.2

Posted on

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 functionality…. 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 directory App Builder

Posted on

eDirectory.com is thrilled to release the latest version of the directory 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 Directory 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.

directory app builder

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 directory 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

Posted on

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.