How Do I Create Online City Directories?
These days, we come across hundreds of online city directories on the Internet. Online city directories are an extremely useful resource that can aid you in finding names and contact details of local businesses, partners and clients within the local community. If you are familiar with working on the Internet, you know a little about web hosting services, and you have some basic programming skills, creating online city directories is piece of cake.
Instructions
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Building the Online City Directory
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Decide on the city you want to represent and on the submission concept you are interested in pursuing (free or paid).
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Select a domain name relevant to the city. You might find that some names have already been taken. You can perhaps choose a different name, or you can put a dash between two keywords to make the name different. If neither the .com nor the .net domain is taken, choose the .com domain, because it is always easier to recall and search.
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Select an online directory script for your city directory. The idea behind a good directory script is that it will be user friendly and intuitive for visitors who come to the site. Many online city directories use PHP Link Directory, which is a free directory script. This is good enough when budget is one of the key constraints in starting a business. There are also a few good paid directory applications.
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Create different categories and subcategories for your online city directory. This type of directory requires a lot of subcategories. You can create subcategory structures yourself, or you can outsource the process.
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Make your site original. You can always make some design modifications to the online directory script. Build custom logos and try to differentiate your site from the rest. If you have adequate web design and hosting knowledge, you can do these things yourself and save money. The other option is to outsource the project to a well-known web hosting and design firm, which can give a more professional look to the online city directory.
Promoting the Online City Directory
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Register with various online forums, and invite city-based business owners and companies to list their businesses in your directory. You can do this for free or at a minimal rate.
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Submit your directory to several free link directories that are available online. You can find such directories by doing a simple Internet search.
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Initiate a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign. (If you do not know much about this, outsource the job.) Google Adwords is one of the most successful PPC programs, but Yahoo and Bing also offer good alternatives. This will automatically drive traffic to your directory within a short time.
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Purchase banner ads placed on similar websites (other online city directories, general directories or sites related to the same city). Negotiate the monthly price with their owners in order to reduce your total advertising cost. You can also buy relevant newspaper ads of local businesses.
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Tips & Warnings
Maintain an estimated budget, and then go ahead with your plans for creating the online city directory.
Know about the basics of web hosting, designing and web marketing, even though you may outsource some of these areas.
There may be other online city directories. Watch out for strong competition.
References
- Photo Credit internet image by Alexander Kosenkov from Fotolia.com
