CorrectAd's Directory Idea

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trigatch4

trigatch4

BuildAndEarn
Aug 23, 2006
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East Coast
www.eurekadiary.com
I have several domains that are CITY NAMES and I've been planning on doing EXACTLY what CorrectAd outlined. It's not rocket science, but a great post nonetheless.

My question is in the design/development.
  • Initially I started with wordpress, using categories for business categories and posts for individual businesses. I was going to edit each individual category#.php file to provide featured listings and whatnot. Articles about the city were going to be done using pages.... Now I'm second guessing this.
  • Should the city guide be made using a blog and the business directory simply link to a free directory script in a folder of the domain?
  • Should the entire site just be a directory?
That leads me to the question... how would YOU set up a directory site based on a local city/town? Can you recommend good directory software?

Sorry I made this a new thread but I figured it would get lost in the original... fine...... I'm a dick
 


trigatch4 said:
I have several domains that are CITY NAMES and I've been planning on doing EXACTLY what CorrectAd outlined. It's not rocket science, but a great post nonetheless.

My question is in the design/development.
  • Initially I started with wordpress, using categories for business categories and posts for individual businesses. I was going to edit each individual category#.php file to provide featured listings and whatnot. Articles about the city were going to be done using pages.... Now I'm second guessing this.
  • Should the city guide be made using a blog and the business directory simply link to a free directory script in a folder of the domain?
  • Should the entire site just be a directory?
That leads me to the question... how would YOU set up a directory site based on a local city/town? Can you recommend good directory software?

Sorry I made this a new thread but I figured it would get lost in the original... fine...... I'm a dick
Click to expand...

Here's what I've done:

I have dedicated the entire domain to the directory using a directory management script called dynaportal (dynaportal.com)

There's a million ways to set it up, but I've taken a content approach with mine, where I'll atually go out and do video reviews of the types of businesses I'm promoting.

(I got the idea from CNet while looking for video cameras)

I did this so the traffic will be more valuable, and I'll eventually be able to expect repeat orders, and offer upgrades for advertising slots, sponsorships, etc.

Right now I'm using YouTube plus a couple others for video hosting and have actually had a couple of videos bring a shitload of visitors to the website.

but bottom line: if you're going to run a directory where you plan on selling advertising, just make the whole thing about your directory, and ultimately make it about the people who are looking info up... not about your advertisers.
 
I was going to have a complete righthand sidebar dedicated to the "business directory" listing every business category while the content area was more like an area "article directory" which of course could feature articles by advertisers.

I just felt like a directory alone would seem too simple and by integrating and organizing a business directory AND area guide you would offer more to the visitor which would provide increased value to the advertiser.

The idea of a niche directory where the location isn't the niche is a little bit different... but I think organizing it and automating it are my key questions.
 
trigatch4 said:
I was going to have a complete righthand sidebar dedicated to the "business directory" listing every business category while the content area was more like an area "article directory" which of course could feature articles by advertisers.

I just felt like a directory alone would seem too simple and by integrating and organizing a business directory AND area guide you would offer more to the visitor which would provide increased value to the advertiser.

The idea of a niche directory where the location isn't the niche is a little bit different... but I think organizing it and automating it are my key questions.
Click to expand...

Well, the script I pointed out to you allows for content management too...

I mean it handles:

1. billing
2. ad serving/tracking
3. content management
4. advertiser profiles
5. advertiser management backend
6. event management
7. coupon management
8. ratings

and so on..

Ultimately, you can have your content driven by both your advertisers and your visitors.

plus, if you want to build a blog to attract readers, and repeat visitors, just theme it and link to it from within your directory.

I would definitely use a directory software for advertiser management purposes though...
 
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ballpark costs for dynaportal business directory and/or TownSource Interactive which they offer? otherwise you gotta email them all your personal info...

any other reviews or recommendations for business directory scripts and management software?
 
You know all of this won't take long to code by hand and tweaking a couple readily available scipts, the thing that would take the most is design and layout, just think about what you want from it and try to plan some things before you start working on it.

Makes things much easier.
 
Planning ahead? THAT is why you are a genius!

I like to jump into projects so fast that I start with a vague idea, and move forward, only to get bogged down by having no idea what I was originally setting out to do...

Really keeps me from having those nasty TAX problems that many if you have...

(I REALLY need to do something about this lack of focus!)
 
much as i like WP, joomla might be a better CMS for a directory, cos the info can be structured better.

WP can be used as an add-on to generate geo-specific content and push content to your directory.

-
also, i think joomla's more video clip and podcast friendly than the directory scripts out there. the built in RSS capability is nice too.

-
you might also like to scrape local/city info into ebooks and peddle them on ebay or CL to hunt for geo-specific traffic and push the traffic to your directory...
(likely as consumers, rather than advertisers_
 
andrew wee said:
also, i think joomla's more video clip and podcast friendly than the directory scripts out there. the built in RSS capability is nice too.
Click to expand...

What additional modules do you need to use Joomla as a web directory? Are there any decent directory plugins for Joomla? At the moment I am just using phpLD. Good thing about it, it has got a spider where you can scrape DMOZ listings. Good to fill your dir with content.
 
A zip code search would be very nice in a large metro area. For instance, if you key in your zip, and nothing is found, it would bring up services in the closest zip code. Does anybody know where you can get the database and/or script to drive that?
 
I've been looking for good directory softwares. Right now I'm working with this one:

Directory Script, Free Directory Software :: eSyndiCat Directory Software

It is a commercial product, but they have a free version (you have to signup on their website before you can download it). it looks pretty good and I think it does most of what we want for directory scripts, haven't figured out how to auto-populate it yet though. PM me if you want to see the sample site i have setup.
 
I've done something similar using wordpress, although my directory is industry specific rather than geographically specific and i would recommend looking into a different CMS or directory script as i've found wordpress quite limiting and at times unable to handle what i want it to do.

Great forum BTW, finally decided to make my first post.
 
CorrectAD said:
I have dedicated the entire domain to the directory using a directory management script called dynaportal (dynaportal.com)
Click to expand...

CorrectAD,

Regarding the dynaportal software, can you link to any online examples of it being used in action? I'm surprised their site doesn't link to online examples.

Also, do they let you host the script, or do they host it on their servers? If you host it, what are the requirements (PHP/ASP? mysql?)

Do you have to pay per license, or can you buy once and use on multiple sites? Any rough idea on the cost of the SW?

It doesn't look like their site answers some of these questions without having to contact them directly. I can contact them if nobody knows these answers.

Thanks,
Grant
 
Grant29 said:
CorrectAD,

Regarding the dynaportal software, can you link to any online examples of it being used in action? I'm surprised their site doesn't link to online examples.

Also, do they let you host the script, or do they host it on their servers? If you host it, what are the requirements (PHP/ASP? mysql?)

Do you have to pay per license, or can you buy once and use on multiple sites? Any rough idea on the cost of the SW?

It doesn't look like their site answers some of these questions without having to contact them directly. I can contact them if nobody knows these answers.

Thanks,
Grant
Click to expand...

I found DynaPortal after visiting this website: dentonfirst.com

Give them a call(dynaportal), they'll work out a deal with you...
 
Grant29 said:
CorrectAD,

Regarding the dynaportal software, can you link to any online examples of it being used in action? I'm surprised their site doesn't link to online examples.
Click to expand...


They do. Look at the bottom right hand part of the home page under "browse clients sites"
 
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