News Archives - eDirectory BlogeDirectory Blog

How to Build a Membership Website Easily With eDirectory

Posted on 06/21/2024

The demand for building membership websites is increasing due to their potential for recurring revenue, leading to their widespread popularity in several different niches. It’s possible to create and monetize membership websites for online education purposes, discount clubs, gaming, members only forums, workshops and more.

By definition, a membership website is an online business that provides exclusive content, services, or resources to members in return for a paid membership. These websites can cater to individuals or organizations and serve various purposes such as education or community building.

Running a successful membership site takes work, but luckily, there are some great tools out there to help you along the way (and give you access to amazing features you can use to grow your business online).

So in this article, we’ll show you exactly what a membership website is, what it does, and how you can build one (no advanced technical skills required).

Ready to explore this ultimate guide to membership websites? Let’s jump in.

What Is a Membership Website?

A membership website is a platform that offers exclusive content to members only. Usually, that content exists on the other end of a paywall.

Simply put, in exchange for signing up for the site, members can access gated content that’s not available elsewhere. Only members can access and use the information you put “behind” your membership sign-up.

Pricing for a membership site can be free, paid, or tiered. Most notably, a membership website takes advantage of the booming subscription-based model of recurring revenue.

Meaning, site owners can expect to see repeated income. Which is extra enticing since 76% of businesses now look at subscription-based pricing as a way to improve their customer relationships and retention.

Sure, numbers like this are super exciting if you’re just starting to learn how to build a membership site. However, it’s important to point out that building this kind of website is no small task. Business owners who make money online through a successful membership site put a ton of work into it.

So, let’s see how people end up making money with a successful membership site next.

How Membership Sites Make Money

It’s likely you’ve heard about people making good money from running a membership website. And you may be thinking that income is just from repeating monthly or annual fees. In reality, many successful membership sites make money using a mix of different methods.

So now you’re probably wondering…ok then, exactly how do membership sites make money?

Well, here are the main ways membership sites can earn money:

Membership Dues: Get recurring revenue month after month (or year after year) when people pay you to be a member of your site. This can be set up in tiers so the highest-priced plan should also include the most perks for your members.
Affiliate Sales: Collect revenue from sales you send to your affiliates. Insert affiliate links to partner products within your website content.
Paywalled Content: Paywalled content refers to restricted content accessible only to paying users. Paywalls are features on websites, apps, or digital libraries that restrict access to content unless a payment is made or a subscription is purchased. More on this later!
Selling Digital Products: Courses, guides, and other downloadable content that’s valuable to others can be sold on your website. You can set up an eCommerce shop or bundle these products with specific membership plans.
Selling Directory Listings: If you’re using a robust membership tool, you’ll have access to other revenue-generating features like online directories and classifieds. Selling these listings to advertisers and sponsors can be a fantastic way to generate income.

As you can see, there’s more than one way to make money using a membership site. And using a solid membership tool that offers features that support these revenue streams makes it much easier to tap into these different ways to generate income from your website.

WordPress Plugin vs Dedicated Membership Platform

When you’re learning how to build a membership site, you’ll see there are WordPress membership plugins that developers install and use to give normal website membership capabilities.

Some people look up how to build a membership website with WordPress and dive right in, trying to do everything at once and all by themselves. This could cost months of time setting up a DIY website and configuring a WordPress plugin. After it’s up and running, many people realize they simply don’t have the time or energy it takes to continue to build every feature their membership site needs.

For the average business owner, installing, setting up, and maintaining a made-from-scratch website plus a membership plugin can be very time-consuming and not beginner-friendly.

For those who plan their membership site, use a dedicated membership site tool like eDirectory, and stay committed, the possibilities for growth can be remarkable. This dedicated membership site platform offers everything you need to launch and grow a successful membership and online directory website with members-only access, banner advertisements, online recurring payments, and more.

If you’re serious about setting up a successful membership site and looking for a one-stop solution, a dedicated membership tool is the way to go.

So now that you know why people prefer dedicated membership tools over DIY solutions like WordPress membership plugins, let’s cover exactly how to build a membership website.

How to Build a Membership Website

When you’re ready to make your own membership website, follow these easy steps to get it up and running in no time.

1. Determine Your niche

When you’re first learning how to create a membership program, it can feel overwhelming. Luckily, this step is not only fun, but it will also help clear a path for where your website is headed.

The very first thing you’ll want to do to build a membership website is to pick your niche.

You may already have an online presence that you want to monetize, like a blog or podcast. In that case, you’ve already carved out your niche.

If not, some great membership website ideas can include (but are not limited to):

Niche online business directories.
Specialized gated content like stock photos, how-to’s, recipes, etc.
Local classified listings.
Event calendars for specific interests and groups.
Savings clubs (deals & offers).
Chambers of Commerce.
Churches and parishes communities.
Pet-friendly guides.
Children and Parents Association.
Courses and educational content.
Video on demand.

…and a lot more.

So, what do you know a lot about? What are you passionate about? The answers to these questions can help inspire ideas for your membership website.

2. Choose the Right Membership Tool

Next up, you’ll want to sign up for eDirectory. Using a dedicated membership tool is the best way to easily build and manage your website (plus access features that let you generate additional income.)

eDirectory offers features tailored to membership websites where you, as the site owner, can offer advantages for your listing sponsors

And unlike a WordPress membership site, eDirectory is a cloud solution that provides everything you need to build a raving online community (and without all the hassle).

After you’ve got your membership tool up and running, you’ll want to set up your payment gateways.

3. Set Up Payment Methods

Accepting secure credit card and PayPal payments over your website is a must for a successful membership site. Plus, you need a way to get paid.

So, the next step to setting up your membership website is to configure your payment methods. You’ll have many payment service provider options to choose from.

If you don’t already have one, you’ll need to set up an account with your preferred payment solution. Then, you can connect your account through your membership website.

Head to Settings > Products & Plans > Additional settings & payment gateways

Once you’ve connected your payment provider(s) details, you’ll be ready to set up and customize each membership level you offer.

4. Build Your Membership Levels

The next thing you need to do is determine the cost and features of each one of your membership levels.

Not sure what to charge? We recommended starting with a free membership level with some features included. Free members get to use your software and are a great place to find paying customers since they’re already familiar with your brand and software.

After your free level is set up, you’ll need to decide what you’ll include with each one of your paid membership levels.

You can offer different features within:

Listings
Events
Classifieds
Banners
Articles

Just remember to save the most impactful features for your highest plan so people will want to sign up.

Now it’s time to bundle your products in a killer offer, for example: combining 1 top-tier-level listing plus banners and classifieds, or just one simple listing combined with access to paywalled content. Combine and create plans any way you want, also, with different paying options such as weekly, monthly, semiannual, annual, and one-time payment, a very requested feature from our user base that’s very useful for Events, for example.

To display all these options to your sponsors with ease eDirectory comes with new widgets specifically designed to showcase the options created in the site manager. This is excellent to drive users through the advertise with us page and increase your chances of conversion.

Setup your Paywall

As mentioned above, paywalled content serves as a strategic tool for boosting membership websites by offering exclusive, high-quality material that is accessible only to paying subscribers. This model can effectively attract users by creating a perception of value and exclusivity around the content. To attract potential members, websites often provide teasers or previews of the paywalled content, showcasing the depth and quality of the material they can expect.

Additionally, leveraging social proof, such as testimonials from existing members and highlighting the benefits of the subscription, can further enhance the appeal. Offering limited-time discounts or trial periods can also be an effective strategy to convert curious visitors into committed subscribers.

To access the paywall feature, first head to the Products & Plans options under the settings menu. There, remember to set up your products first, selecting the levels and features contained in each plan. Later, go to the next section Products & Plans, Plans where you will have access to all the products you’ve created so far.

To create a plan, click on the edit button and put together a bundle that includes listings, banners, articles, classifieds, and events. You can easily activate or deactivate the paywall by toggling the switch. When activated, only members will be able to view the content, encouraging visitors to sign up on your online directory website.

This is how it will appear to users when an article, deal, offer, or listing is posted on your membership website:

5. Populate Your Listings

Now that your membership plans are built, it’s time to populate your directory listings. This is an important step because you’ll want to show leads what they can expect when they sign up as a member with you. That’s nearly impossible to do if you can’t visually explain it.

So, you’ll need to create some listings, by hand or by importing them.

During this step, you’ll want to customize your listing layout to match your membership website. There are many configuration options, so pick the one you like the most and keep populating your listings.

6. Create Members-Only Content

The next step to build a membership website is to create members-only content. The psychological phenomenon known as FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) can really drive sales, so locking gated content behind a paywall can be a great business decision.

This can look different for everyone since no one membership website is the same.

You may be an expert at succulent care and have tons of helpful guides already published. Compiling this content into an organized course or workbook is a great way to source members-only content for your website.

If you don’t already have a blog, or if it aligns better with your business model, these are some popular ways to create some members-only content:

Business Directory: From local business directories to niche hobbyist groups, people are willing to pay to access listings specific to what they’re interested in.
Classified Ads: If you’re using classifieds on your site, only letting paid members post ads is a great way to earn new recurring subscriptions. Just make sure to populate your ads just like you’ve populated your listings in the previous step.
Event Calendar: Only allow members to post to a public event calendar. Alternatively, set it up so only members can view the events.
Offer Services: Access to coaching calls, pre-recorded webinars, or courses.
Offer Goods: Creatives can give members access to things like custom social media graphic templates or stylized stock images.

…and anything else you can think of that may have value to someone. But to start, these are excellent sources of members-only content you can create quickly and easily.

7. Promote Your Membership Site

Next, you need to promote and market your membership website.

This is an extremely important step because, after all that hard work, you want to make sure people are coming to your website.

Head to the Blog Module in eDirectory and start writing posts around keywords related to your membership website and your intended audience. Find out your ideal customer, what they need, and how they search for it.

The easy-to-use and SEO-optimized Blog Module lets you create, monitor, and optimize your content in just a few clicks.

And if you’re planning on making money through affiliate sales, you’ll also find an option to seamlessly insert your links within your content.

On top of SEO blogging, you might also want to consider these popular website promotion methods:

Pay-per-Click Advertising (PPC): Pay for Google Ads advertising on specific, related keywords.
Take Advantage of Social: Create (and stick to) a social media posting schedule.
Email Marketing: Build an email list by collecting addresses on your site then promoting to those leads (great for returning traffic and high conversions).
Word of Mouth: In this digital world, website owners often forget how impactful telling other people about your membership site can be. This is especially important for online communities that are locally based, like a business directory.

There are a lot of ways to promote your membership site, but these are all very popular places to start. For more, make sure to head over to our article on how to market an online directory where we’ve laid out some detailed tips for powerful website promotion.

8. Keep Improving Your Membership Site

For any business to succeed, you’ll need to make sure to continually improve. If you notice something isn’t working right on your site, jump in and fix it. If you get feedback from an advertiser about a feature request, see if you can provide it. Make the customer experience pleasant and you’ll likely see members who stay subscribed for the long haul.

The great thing about easy-to-use membership website platforms is that whenever you see an area for improvement, you can jump right into your site and change it. And if you’re not sure how, reach out to us for help.

With eDirectory, you get access to a helpful support team ready to help you make your membership website a success.

Create a Membership Site with eDirectory

Now that you know how to build a membership website, your next step is to launch yours using eDirectory. This feature-rich tool lets you build and manage a customized membership directory to meet your business goals and drive growth.

With eDirectory, your membership site can:

- Collect Member Dues: Generate recurring revenue from membership fees.
- Let Members Login: Display an easy-to-use login area for your members to access and manage their own account information.
- Sell Listings: Allow people and/or businesses to create listings, and automatically turn them into member profiles.
- Featured Listings: Sell featured directory spots with a repeating revenue model.
- Integrate with Social Media: Display your Twitter feed on your website, plus encourage members to share your brand across popular social platforms.
- Use Classified Ads: Offer your members different capabilities inside of classified listings based on membership levels, driving sales to your higher plans.
- Social Media Integration: Connect with social media platforms for more exposure with social sharing links and a website Twitter feed.
- Grow with Content: Access the Blog Module to create and manage SEO-optimized content that brings you the right kind of traffic.
- Earn Money from Ads: Easily Insert Google Ads into banner space on your site or even sell the space to members with a powerful Banner Ad System.
- List Events: Encourage a sense of community among members by letting them create recurring or one-time event listings, complete with a Google Maps integration.
  …and more.

So if you want to build a successful membership website that’s easy to manage and gives you access to the power of online directories, eDirectory is a fantastic choice.

Asking yourself how can you create a membership website for free? Don’t wait, sign up for a free eDirectory demo today.

Webinar: The Online Directory Business Model

Posted on 06/05/2024

If you are considering starting an internet business but you are not sure if an online directory is a viable option for you, we’ve prepared a presentation to explain the do’s and don’ts of this tried and tested approach on understanding the online directory business model.

The purpose of online business directories is to assist people in making informed purchases. For example, a guide for restaurants in a certain region, or a wedding business-related online directory with suppliers, locations, service providers, or any other niche you could think of.

This type of website has been in use since the nineties, if you think of well-known listings-based websites such as Craigslist or Yelp, you are talking about online business directories. These types of websites take their value propositions from two main factors: offering curated content in the form of listings of products or services, articles, or events for their audience while taking advantage of user-generated content in the form of reviews.

As the online business directory website gains more and more traction in search engines like Google, it is likely that more sponsors will join the website and more users will consume products and services. This is a vital part of the monetization methods where the online directory owner can offer banner ad spaces, membership levels, and other ways of making the website profitable.

So stay tuned and join us for this week’s presentation, also, don’t forget to check the related material listed below.

Webinar: The Online Directory Business Model

USEFUL LINKS AND TOOLS MENTIONED IN THE WEBINAR:

*We are not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected to the tools and sites mentioned in the webinar.

This session was recorded on May 29th, 2024.

Don’t forget to register for eDirectory’s next Webinar.
Do you want to know what eDirectory can do for you? Sign up for a free guided Demo here.

Want more tips? Shoot us a note at marketing@eDirectory.com.

How to create an event guide in 2024

Posted on 01/10/2024

To create an event guide, it is essential to map all the relevant information about an event so that your website can be a bridge of access between the producers and the users/visitors of the events.

An Events Guide is extremely relevant to the current post-pandemic context.

The global health crisis significantly affected the event segment, and many believed that it would not be able to sustain itself. However, as in many other segments, event organizers had to rethink how they offer their services and transform the business into something more suited to the modern world.

Currently, forecasts for this segment are very satisfactory and promising, as pointed out by a report by Statista, which indicates that the event ticket sales niche is projected to reach US$72.31 billion in 2022. The report further showed that the event ticket sales segment is expected to deliver revenue growth of 14.4% in 2023.

Thus, investing in this segment can be a very profitable and sustainable way to develop an online business.

Read on and learn how to create and monetize a professional and efficient event guide!

What is an event guide?

As the name suggests, an event guide is a platform developed to create interactions between organizers and visitors/users by promoting events in different niches and segments.

An event guide works as an exhibition showcase, where organizers and advertisers can offer their events more comprehensively, reaching a large number of interested consumers.

An event website simplifies the process of purchasing tickets, registering, and accessing events.

This business is an excellent way to monetize online, as it offers many opportunities and formats to grow steadily in your niche.

What are the possible niches for an event guide?

Creating an event guide gives you the opportunity to monetize different niche activities with many different services.

You can create an event guide focusing on just one niche or one that covers several segments. Either option offers benefits to the website’s creator as well as event organizers.

If you have a niche event website, you will be able to target a specific segment and become a leader in this market.

As you are targeting multiple niches, you will be able to reach a larger audience and promote a wider range of events.

Some niches to explore are:
Music, festivals, and entertainment;
Religious events;
Regional and agricultural fairs;
Sporting and fitness events;
Gastronomic events;
Technology events;
Professional and work-related events, etc.

How to create an event guide professionally

Creating a professional event guide is easy if you have the right tools. eDirectory is specialized software for creating classifieds websites, business directories, and of course, event guides.

To create your event guide using eDirectory, you need to follow a few simple steps. See below!

1. Choose the niche that fits your strategy

A niche is the starting point for all classified websites, including event guides, as it is through choosing a niche that you can begin to develop your marketing and monetization strategies.

If you already have an online presence for your business, such as a website, social networks, or a blog with an established theme, take advantage of the identity in your event guide. If you haven’t defined your niche yet, consider choosing a subject that you have an affinity for or are interested in exploring. Believe me, this identification will make your work to populate your site with new events much more pleasant and fluid.

Bet on specific niches because, despite having a smaller audience, the tendency is for this audience to be more engaged with events of their interest. If you go for a bigger niche, try to target your reach to your region or city, and gradually expand the reach of your event guide as demand from advertisers grows.

2. Sign up for eDirectory to start your project

Creating an event guide from scratch is no simple task, and if you want to opt for WordPress events themes, for example, you will end up realizing that the offer of plugins is, at the same time, wide in quantity and limited in quality.

As it is a free platform, we are given the perception that is possible to build a robust and functional website, which will expand over the years at zero cost. This perception is far from being accurate, as you still must include domain purchasing and hosting expenses in your planning, in addition to themes and plugins that are usually paid on a recurring basis (monthly or yearly).

With a platform designed to create classifieds websites and events guides such as eDirectory, you have a ready-to-use solution at an affordable price with plans that include hosting and unlimited listings. In addition, eDirectory is a scalable and robust solution that will grow with your business.

Have access to an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, complete control panel to add and edit new events, moderate reviews, add add-ons, descriptions, your advertisers can add external links such as websites and social networks, security certificate included, and many more features.

After the initial setup with eDirectory, you can now choose which payment methods your advertisers can choose when paying for plans and ads.

3. Define payment methods

Creating a simple, low-friction checkout experience is essential for an effective monetization strategy. Making it easy for your customers to pay for monthly subscriptions and other additional services is important for your event guide to generate recurring revenue.

eDirectory comes with support for the largest digital payment methods on the market, such as Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.Net. On top of that, you can enable recurring payments with the click of a button. To set up one or more payment methods, access the control panel and select the Payment Methods option:

4. Manage features and pricing for each level

Next, you must define what will be the values and resources available at each subscription level of your event guide. With the eDirectory control panel, you give your advertisers power over every function of the event guide, from the most basic functions like email, phone, and description settings, to advanced options like including youtube videos, Facebook pages, and including a URL to another site.

If you still don’t know where to start, we suggest having a free basic plan so that your advertisers can familiarize themselves with your events guide and, from there, learn about the advantages of the other plans and move on to an event subscription.

Just remember to save the most important features for your most important plan so advertisers will want to sign up.

Need to change some option or value for one of the plans, just go back to the payment options and adjust your membership level offers whenever you need to as your business grows.

Whatever is your business plan to create your event guide, eDirectory delivers the tools so you don’t miss any opportunities.

5. Create categories and subcategories for your event guide

One of the most powerful features of an online event guide or an online business directory is its categories and subcategories. Essential for the organization and sectorization of a website and for indexing and ranking in search engines (SEO).

Inside eDirectory, you, as the event guide manager, define how many categories your site will have, being able to expand according to the needs of your niche. Aggregate subcategories to segment your event guide and allow your advertisers to find the option that best fits their events.

6. Create a new event

And finally, the most important part: how to create an event. Through the control panel, advertisers can easily create and edit events within minutes.

Set event name, date, location, add photos and videos, opening hours, links to external websites (purchase tickets), map, social media feed (Facebook and Twitter), and more.

Advertisers have control over SEO settings such as description, title, and keywords. With eDirectory it is also possible to obtain reports on leads and the performance of each event created, making it easier for advertisers to analyze information.

Next, we’ll show you how to monetize your event guide.

How to monetize your event guide?

You can monetize your event guide with eDirectory in a variety of ways, ensuring a recurring source of earnings. Check out how to do this:

Creating plans for your events: You can create up to three subscription plans (basic, intermediate, and premium, for example) and offer users various options and price ranges.
Banners and classifieds: another form of monetization is to sell advertising spaces with banners so that advertisers can advertise.
Offer additional services: by creating an event guide, you can also offer additional services such as design, video, and digital marketing. The classifieds section can be used to advertise event-related products such as musical instruments, accessories, etc.

Benefits of eDirectory for creating an event guide

You may have already realized that creating an event guide can be very beneficial for entrepreneurs looking to build a profitable online business.

By using eDirectory you create your website with several useful tools for advertisers and users, such as:

a. Recurring events – create and display

The advertiser will have access to the recurring event’s configuration, where they can create a list of events that occur frequently, for example, annual, monthly, biweekly, or weekly.

b. Monetization from free to premium events

As mentioned before, you will be able to create plans for your events, thus establishing various monetization possibilities.

It is possible to create from free events to premium events. In addition, you can also monetize classifieds and more with eDirectory.

c. Widgets for displaying events (featured/recurring)

Use widgets to highlight your events and reach more users and visitors. This is a great way to create relevant content and keep your users engaged on your page.

d. Multiple categories

eDirectory also allows you to position your event in multiple categories, which greatly increases the likelihood of your event being found in searches by your site’s users. Advertisers see this option as a big differentiator, which certainly makes their event guide more competitive.

Wrapping up

See how an event guide can be beneficial if you want to build a profitable online business? Now you know the best tool to make you achieve the success you want.

Ready to create an event guide professionally and efficiently? So, don’t hesitate to test out eDirectory in a free guided demo right now to get the best and richest experience in creating event guides and classified portals.

How to Build a Real Estate Website with eDirectory

Posted on 07/17/2023

Building a real estate website with eDirectory is a quick and simple task. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the process and the dos and don’ts of this type of online directory that will attract more visitors, generate leads, and help you establish a strong online presence in the real estate industry.

We will give you access to a fully-featured, well-designed, and SEO-ready real estate website. Excellent for both brokers and real estate/property agencies looking on How to Build a Real Estate Website. Let’s dive into it.

1. THE IMPORTANCE OF A WELL-DESIGNED REAL ESTATE WEBSITE

A well-designed and user-friendly website significantly impacts the success of a real estate business in several ways.

A positive user experience encourages visitors to stay longer on the website, explore different listings, and engage with its features. This increases the chances of potential buyers or renters finding the perfect property and converting it into leads or clients for your advertisers.

The eDirectory’s design, for both desktop and mobile devices, ensures that users can easily find what they’re looking for, whether it’s property listings, filters, contact information, or other essential features. This reduces frustration and enhances overall user satisfaction.

2. OPTIMIZE CATEGORIES’ STRUCTURE AND WEBSITE NAVIGATION

With eDirectory you can build a well-structured real estate website with optimized categories and intuitive navigation. It is essential for both users and search engines. Here are some key tips to optimize your real estate website.

2.1 Clear and Logical Hierarchy for Categories

Ensure that your real estate website’s pages and content are arranged in a coherent hierarchy. Utilize categories and subcategories to establish an organized architecture that facilitates effortless navigation and discovery of property listings and general information.

With eDirectory, you have the flexibility to create unlimited categories and subcategories, allowing you to organize your website exactly as you desire.

Each Property Listing in an eDirectory real estate website can be associated with up to 10 Categories and Sub-categories, making it easier for the potential buyer/renter to search, filter and find what they are looking for.

2.2 User-Friendly Navigation

In addition to organizing your website’s content effectively, it is crucial to prioritize user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) in the context of a real estate website. A user-friendly navigation menu plays a vital role in enhancing UX/UI. By implementing a clear and intuitive navigation system, visitors can effortlessly explore your website, leading to higher engagement and improved satisfaction.

The eDirectory software allows site owners to adjust the navigation menu and the links on the footer according to the website’s objectives.

3. SHOWCASE PROPERTY LISTINGS EFFECTIVELY

An essential aspect of a real estate website is showcasing property listings in an appealing and user-friendly manner. Remember that the listing detail page is the place that connects the user to the property, so trying to answer possible questions in advance is a good strategy.

Here’s how you can do it:

3.1 Detailed Property Descriptions

Take full advantage of the eDirectory’s exclusive Listing Template Editor. With this feature you can create custom fields for each property category in your real estate website, helping your advertisers to showcase the best they have while creating rich and unique pages – perfect for users and search engines.

Highlight the key features, amenities, and unique selling points of each property type. The richer your description gets, the better it will engage with the visitors.

3.2 High-Quality Design

Visual content significantly impacts users’ perception of a property, and professional-quality visuals can make a substantial difference in attracting potential buyers and renters.

The eDirectory’s exclusive Listing Template Editor also allows you to create a unique design for the Listing Detail Page. From the header to the content, there’s a lot you can create for your real estate website.

You can create unlimited tabs to distribute the content (fields) whether it is text, icons, image gallery, and videos.

4. CRAFT ENGAGING AND SEO-OPTIMIZED CONTENT

To get your site ranked in Google, Bing, and other search engines, you need content, and content is king in the world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Your real estate website should have high-quality, informative, and keyword-rich content that resonates with your target audience.

With eDirectory you can easily optimize all of your pages and content: locations, categories, blog posts, listings, and more.

Focus on conducting thorough keyword research, identifying relevant search terms, and strategically incorporating them into your content. This way you can increase your chances of having maximum exposure and outranking competitors.

Moreover, the eDirectory Real Estate website is coded within the Schema.org parameters. Explaining in broad terms Schema.org is a collaborative project by major search engines like Google and Microsoft, providing a common language for organizing data on web pages.

By using Schema.org markup, websites can make it easier for search engines to understand their content, which improves search engine optimization (SEO) and boosts visibility in search results. For real estate websites, using the correct Schema.org type, known as RealEstateListing, is essential. It helps search engines recognize and categorize real estate listings effectively, displaying important details like property information and prices directly in search results.

5. FACILITATE OPERATIONS

Managing a real estate website can be a daunting task so you should be looking for a platform that allows for a good level of business automation and user-generated content management.

eDirectory allows advertisers to create, manage, pay, and publish content on their own, through the Advertiser Dashboard.

The payment gateway integrations associated with recurring payments and billing reminder emails make it easy to collect online payments. If an item is due or not renewed, it will be automatically suspended from your site. You don’t have to lift a finger.

You can also approve the listing before them goes live to ensure the quality of the content. It all saves you valuable time and effort.

6. ADDITIONAL MONETIZATION

To outrank other real estate websites in your target market, it’s vital to implement effective local SEO strategies. Identify and optimize your website for relevant local keywords. Include location-specific terms in your content, meta tags, headings, and URLs to improve your visibility in local search results.

Add the country, states or provinces, cities, and neighborhoods that your real estate directory will encompass.

Monetizing a real estate website should not be complicated. A good software like eDirectory will allow you to create different listing levels with different features in each such as custom fields, videos, number of images, etc.

Besides property listings, you can also monetize your eDirectory real estate website by selling events, articles, service classifieds, and banner ads.

7. use the right platform to Build a Real Estate Website

By following the strategies outlined in this guide, you can build a highly effective real estate website ready to outrank competitors and attract more quality traffic. Remember to focus on delivering exceptional user experience, and valuable content, and implementing proven SEO techniques to achieve long-term success in the online real estate market.

Launch your real estate website today with eDirectory

If you own a real estate agency or are an independent broker, the eDirectory Real Estate Website is the ideal solution for your business. eDirectory is a complete platform ready to generate recurring revenue and offer value to advertisers and visitors. Take a free guided demo of eDirectory and learn how it can help you build your online business in the real estate market.

Webinar: Leveraging the eDirectory Mobile App Feature

Posted on 07/14/2023

eDirectory, as the sole platform in the market offering a native mobile app builder, empowers site owners like you to effortlessly create, customize, and publish your online directory website on both Google Play and the App Store. Here are the key features of the eDirectory Mobile app integrated builder:

Fully Native Apps: Your apps will be fully native, bearing your brand and residing in your app store account.
Unified Data and Management Interface: Manage your app and web content using the same intuitive interface.
Extensive Customization: Customize your app in multiple ways to align with your unique requirements.
Dynamic Layout Updates: Publish changes to your app’s layout on the fly, ensuring flexibility and adaptability.
Self-Submission or eDirectory Submission Service: Choose to self-submit your app or utilize eDirectory’s submission service for a seamless process.

By embracing a mobile app, you ensure that your online directory holds a prominent position on your users’ cellphone home screens, offering the following advantages of native apps:

Brand Visibility: Your app icon will reside on your users’ home screens, maximizing brand exposure.
Reduced Bounce Rate: Unlike web-based experiences, users are less likely to navigate away from your app.
Seamless Interface: Native apps provide a smooth and optimized user interface for enhanced user experience.
GPS-based Location Accuracy: Leverage GPS functionality for accurate location-based services within your app.
Notifications: Engage with your users through push notifications, delivering timely updates and messages.
Additional Monetization Opportunities: Native apps open doors to additional revenue streams for your online directory.

By leveraging these features and benefits, eDirectory empowers you to create a comprehensive mobile presence that ensures your online directory remains at the forefront of your users’ attention and offers a superior user experience.

Webinar: Creating Sponsorship Opportunities for Online Directories

*We are not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected to the tools and sites mentioned in the webinar.

USEFUL LINKS AND TOOLS MENTIONED IN THE WEBINAR

This session was recorded on July 12th, 2023.

Don’t forget to register for eDirectory’s next Webinar.
Join our closed Facebook Group for tips and news

Want more tips? Shoot us a note at marketing@eDirectory.com.

Generate more leads for your Online Business Directory

Posted on 01/26/2023

If you are the owner of an online business directory or a classified ads portal and you still don’t use a lead generation strategy in your business, you may be missing out on sales opportunities. Lead generation is vital for any business looking to attract new users and consumers to their products and services.

Typically, this strategy involves the implementation of digital marketing campaigns, which include the production of content aimed at attracting potential customers and visitors.

There are ways to boost those results by driving more leads to your website and converting them into advertisers, but you must ensure your website is running smoothly and has all the tools you need to capture these visitors’ information, like forms and pop-ups (newsletters, discount offerings) and rich content marketing material in general.

This article delves into more detail about how to do this effectively. So, keep reading to learn how to generate leads through an online business directory!

First of all: what are leads?

It is crucial to understand what a lead is before discussing the strategy itself, in order to put the strategy into practice and achieve the desired results.

Leads are people who have shown genuine interest in a niche or business topic after searching online. Users provide some information about themselves in exchange for valuable content, information, or something else that adds value to their search.

This information can be the name, phone number, e-mail, or any other data required by the company in exchange for this rich material, which can be an e-book, access to an exclusive webinar, a free trial for some service, a video course, a spreadsheet, etc.

Having this exchange opens up a new business opportunity for the company, which puts them into its sales funnel. A sales funnel consists of a few steps that a user takes until actually purchasing a product or service.

Thus, a lead management strategy is essential if you want to qualify users and convert them into customers in the future. This is because they represent the beginning of the journey that this customer must take to reach the goal of buying the product or service.

So why generate leads with an online business directory?

Developing a lead generation and management strategy through the creation of organic content requires a good understanding of the target audience and buyer persona on the part of the company. This means that it is necessary to understand precisely who the ideal potential customer is and what the company can offer them to convert them into subscribers.

When you have an online business directory, lead generation is made easier since the companies listed on the website are already well segmented with crucial information like location, company size, niche, etc., and even more detailed information that is not easily achieved.

On the other hand, an advertiser that uses the right strategies to stand out in a classifieds portal can attract many more users and convert them into customers.

And remember that, as an online directory owner, you must, of course, generate leads for your business as well as for your sponsor’s businesses, as this is how you keep your user base engaged for as long as possible, while you earn the revenue on their ongoing subscriptions as well selling leads for them.

How to generate leads for your online directory

There are several ways of putting this strategy into practice. We’ve compiled a list of the most relevant ones for owners of online business directories.

Some of them are Digital Marketing strategies such as paid traffic (see Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Facebook Ads), and the production of organic content for blogs or local advertisements in your neighborhood or city.

On Pay Per Click campaigns (or PPC), be aware that you will need some familiarity with tools such as Google Ads, and that you need to invest money on these platforms in order to appear on sites like Google and social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter.

In order to succeed and maximize your ROI (return on investment), it is crucial to understand who your target audience is so that your brand is seen by as many people as possible.

Another good strategy is to team up with local marketing and sales agencies to endorse your product, offer discounts on yearly plans, and special campaigns on social media. Take advantage of bigger portals or profiles that you believe you could benefit from and leverage their audience.

With eDirectory, you can create blog articles and produce strategic content or open a space for paid ads through banners. The more strategic and optimized your planning is, the more qualified leads you will generate.

Generating leads for your advertisers (sponsors)

The key to keeping your online business directory, membership website, or classified ads site financially healthy is via recurring revenue. This is a business model that benefits greatly from this type of monetization because it works on monthly or yearly subscription plans.

But your advertisers can benefit from it too since an online directory with great quantity and excellent quality traffic is a source of incoming leads to its sponsors. That means that the visitors of these kinds of websites are already far ahead in their buying journey since they are looking for suppliers or services to solve a specific need.

Be sure to offer the tools your sponsors need to collect these leads and they will see great value on your website. Keep them wanting more by investing in good content and traffic campaigns for your online directory.

Ways to generate leads for advertisers are:

When the advertiser creates a lead form on their listing and a visitor fills in their name and email, becoming a lead.
When the advertiser creates a direct contact button or another form of direct communication, such as a phone number in the ad, and the visitor clicks on it, a lead is generated.

These features allow the online business directory owner to collect leads and offer them to advertisers in the way that makes the most sense for the business guide owner’s strategy.

Generate additional revenue by selling leads to advertisers

With eDirectory, you can use the Advanced Lead Distribution plugin to generate an additional revenue stream by selling qualified leads to your advertisers. With eDirectory, you can create different levels for your advertisers depending on the subscription level.

This way, you will be able to set the specific amount of free leads your customers will be able to receive and distribute them accordingly. So, to get more leads, advertisers will be able to buy extra leads and you will get additional income by offering this feature to your subscribers.

The Advanced Lead Distribution plugin helps streamline this process and qualify leads for advertisers, who can then convert more users into customers.

Reach leads targeted to your niche

Content Marketing is a powerful strategy when it comes to an online business guide. Sites of this type, combined with Content Marketing strategies, are essential for ranking in search engines such as Google and, consequently, for capturing leads targeted to your niche.

Through the production of strategic pieces in different content formats, it is possible to help search engines to find and target your commercial guide site more easily. Some ways to do this are through blog articles, keyword usage, videos, optimization plugins, etc.

Indexing and optimizing your page is one of the ways to reach targeted leads in your niche and turn them into advertisers in the future.

eDirectory provides the tools necessary to make this happen and maximize lead generation results.

Generate leads through good user reviews

Another way to improve this process is by getting good reviews. By gaining positive reviews, it is natural for advertisers to generate more qualified leads, as they build trust and credibility in the company’s work.

In addition, advertisers with good ratings may be better ranked in the online business guide, increasing reach and consequently generating more leads.

This strategy mainly provides for good content planning, which aims to rank relevant keywords that will attract potential customers to the company.

In addition to, of course, good services offered that bring social proof and credibility to companies. The page that details the advertiser (company) also has a resource to improve lead capture: lead generation resources.

This tool made available by the eDirectory software offers the option to add quick forms on the advertiser’s detail page, taking the user into direct contact with the business in which he has an interest. Moreover, you can offer the advertiser the option to be able to reply to reviews, creating more engagement with their audience.

Prepare your online business guide to generate leads

When using eDirectory, you will have an integrated platform that has lead generation and management tools such as:

Create custom lead forms directly from the site manager;
Use data analysis tools (such as Google Analytics);
Use plugins to generate additional revenue by selling leads to advertisers;
Develop a Content Marketing strategy to rank the commercial guide in search engines, among other resources.
It’s easy to use eDirectory for lead generation purposes, and you can request a free demo directly through our website.

Wrapping Up

Generating leads through an online business directory is a must to make your website profitable and attract new customers, and sell their products and services to customers more aligned with the business.

So, investing in dedicated software for creating online directories that offer the best of both worlds – a place that collects qualified leads and a selection of companies that want to advertise their quality services to potential customers – is critical.

Lead generation is one of the first steps in the user’s buying journey and, the more qualified that lead is, the more chances of conversion (and possibly sales) the business will have. Therefore, using the right resources is essential to provide satisfactory results and enhance online commercial guide management strategies.

eDirectory is that tool, a fully integrated platform that has the resources you need to leverage lead generation with an online business directory with ease.

Creating a Digital Chamber of Commerce

Posted on 10/24/2022

Creating a digital presence for your chamber of commerce is essential to propagate and disseminate the association’s activities, as well as attract new members and increase current participants’ online presence.

In addition to offering goods and services to the community, chambers of commerce play a crucial role in communities of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, providing ideas and solutions for improvement, based on the demands of the members themselves.

However, how can your chamber of commerce expand the reach of its services and solutions?

To stand out in the marketplace in today’s increasingly connected world, chambers of commerce must consider ways to attract new members, offer benefits that are aligned with members’ reality, and create a more integrated community by incorporating these factors into their operations.

Chambers of commerce benefit from these actions because they help municipalities maintain an up-to-date database of businesses, which contributes to creating new companies locally and moving the economy forward.

Building an online business directory website for your chamber of commerce is a great way to reach these goals, as we explain in this article.

Additionally, we have selected the best tools and resources to add to your website, how to make it even more valuable to current and potential members, and how to actually create a functional and interactive site.

Keep reading this detailed guide to learn more about how to digitize your chamber of commerce and all you need to know!

Why go digital with your chamber of commerce?

For businesses and chambers of commerce, having an online presence isn’t merely a recommendation anymore, it’s a necessity.

Having a digital presence increases your chances of being found and of enhancing your results significantly if you know how to position yourself online, and chambers of commerce are not any different.

Digitalization offers you the opportunity to enhance the solutions you provide and allow your association members to integrate more effectively.

So, creating an online business directory for your chamber of commerce is an opportunity to give your members a chance to showcase their businesses, reach new customers, and have a more optimized space for interactions, discussions, and product promotions. In addition, it’s a great offering for businesses and professionals who don’t yet have the resources to establish a strong online presence (like ranking well on Google).

Providing a digital platform benefits all parties involved: associations, companies, and society. An online directory is beneficial to chambers of commerce since it automatically collects monthly fees from advertisers. Members benefit from the exposure, search engine rankings, and interaction like messaging, offers, and lead registration and society benefits from a niche portal that is verified.

How to make your site more valuable to current and potential members?

It is equally relevant to consider what this change might mean to your community members or potential advertisers now that you know the benefits of digitization.

After all, they also need to weigh these benefits before they decide to join, right?

So, to make this space even more valuable to members and to attract more people, you need to offer solutions to the real demands of this group.

As an example, if a potential member seeks your chamber of commerce because they are experiencing specific difficulties in their business, offering support materials such as eBooks and training, valuable content, and a community that shows them they are not alone in their journey will help them feel more connected and make their decision to join your association easier.

So thinking strategically about tools to help your community is what you need to do to make your chamber of commerce website relevant.

9 must-have resources for chambers of commerce websites

In addition to adding value to users and potential members, using resources that facilitate navigation, content consumption, promotion of services, and interactions between the community on the site is essential.

1. Build a custom website for your audience

One of the most important aspects when building a trade guide for trade associations is to think about customizing it according to the needs of your audience.

This will be a community space. Therefore, feeling welcomed within the virtual environment is crucial to keeping members engaged and retaining them. Thus, thinking about a personalized identity aligned with the interests of your audience is fundamental.

Set the location of your business guide to facilitate searches for companies and services at different levels (city, region, neighborhood) and customize display information to satisfy users’ search interests.

Segment your trade association members for easy identification when launching promotions and marketing campaigns. Offer free and premium profiles for new members to sign up for your trade association’s ad portal, each with its own features.

2. Consider a responsive website

The responsiveness of a website determines how a user can interact with your chamber of commerce site on any device: mobile, tablet, or computer. Visitors and members are guaranteed to have the best visual and user experience when your site is responsive.

In order to increase conversions and retain users, your chamber of commerce website should be responsive and optimized. The eDirectory platform allows chambers of commerce and associations to create online directories and classified websites that are responsive to all devices. You can also build an iPhone and Android app for your website so users and members can access it anywhere.

3. Have an exclusive “members only” area for your users

A members-only area is another key feature of your chamber of commerce’s website. From there, members can edit and add information about their services, post photos, videos, blog articles, and interact with visitors and collect leads.

A “members only” area creates the feeling of belonging to the group, much like a club for selected companies. eDirectory provides businesses and service providers with a control panel that allows them to display information, offers, and services in a well-organized and optimized manner.

4. Have a “Join our chamber of commerce” sign-in button

Having a button that allows them to join a members-only area is also helpful. Placing these buttons strategically on the site will allow users to easily join the association when they browse the platform.

The ability to automate the entry of new members is essential to the growth of your chamber of commerce in a digital environment. It offers a “sign up” button to make it easy for new users to sign up, as well as payment automation, email reminders, tools, and call-to-actions.

5. Valuable content is key to attracting new members

By creating valuable content in a niche, you create authority, and relevance, create a sense of community and attract new users to your website organically. This is because people are truly interested in what you have to say, and this is no different for chamber of commerce’s websites.

For generating organic traffic to your portal, content marketing strategies remain relevant. Searches on Google are geared toward topics that people are interested in, and if your chamber website matches the keywords, it may appear in the first results.

Online business directories are excellent for search engine rankings. This is because the richer your association website is in ads, events, classifieds, and text articles, the more often it will appear in the top spots.

So, this is a helpful strategy to keep in mind when building your website, and remember: invest in quality and relevant content for your current and future members.

Featured webinar: generate more revenue with agency services

6. Create a welcoming environment for new members

It is easier to adapt to a new community if you feel welcome from the beginning. It might seem like a small detail, but it can have a tremendous impact on member retention.

When new members register on your chamber of commerce website, consider creating a welcome space for them in a featured area; the new member should receive an automatic welcome email that contains relevant information and content that can be of assistance during this first interaction.

Make sure to add welcome videos, and articles on the basics of “how to start”, and consider creating a knowledge base area in your chamber of commerce website with short articles and a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section.

7. Add a featured members section

It is possible to create a desire in new users to register on your website by taking advantage of certain mental triggers. Highlighting members on your portal ends up encouraging other companies and service providers to join so that they can also promote their activities.

Therefore, make sure to include a section on your chamber of commerce website to increase exposure to the most valuable members in different categories. Create contests in your community to determine people’s choices in every category and also, the editor’s choice with highly rated members from your city.

8. Create a FAQ page on your trade association’s website

Your page users will likely have some questions about membership before joining, right?

This can be easily remedied through an FAQ page, that is, a page with the most frequently asked questions related to the trade association, answered objectively and directly, and made available to the user easily.

9. Invest time in good design and a great user experience

In addition to all the elements mentioned above, having a beautifully designed website that aligns with the association’s goals, and high-quality images that value the city or region and the association’s work is crucial.

People are easily attracted to appealing visual elements, and having this notion is key to ensuring a successful website. Add images that show positive aspects of your city/region and value the work of the trade association, consider offering professional image production to your members as a way to increase the chamber of commerce revenue.

Create a legacy for your community

And finally, by digitizing your chamber of commerce, your earnings will go beyond new members and revenue generation but the legacy for your city will be enormous, as a great repository with the best services, restaurants, leisure options, and shops, all organized and updated, that is, a lively commercial guide full of new activities.

Creating an ad portal for your trade association

Now you know the main aspects of creating a website for your chamber of commerce in a functional, responsive, and truly member-oriented way.

So, finding a complete platform that offers you everything you need to create your website optimized, scalable, and monetizable is essential.

eDirectory offers you all this on a single platform. With our solution you can:

Create a scalable website, starting with a small space and becoming an advertiser for thousands of users and visitors.
Monetize in a variety of ways: add a periodic subscription session, members area, advertise, add a classifieds and events area, etc.
Develop a space to provide different types of content such as blogs, ads, classifieds, events, offers, and more.
Create an exclusive area for members, where they can access and manage their accounts completely autonomously, optimizing your time and theirs.
Moderate the content made available on the site, ensuring the quality of the information shared.
Add resources to member pages and edit them as you wish, customizing them in a variety of ways.

Wrapping up

Did you realize the importance of creating a website for your chamber of commerce?

Being digital is an increasingly urgent business need, and trade associations are included in that list.

Now you know how to best optimize your services with eDirectory and create a responsive, functional, monetizable, customizable, and fully thought-out website for your audience.

The time has come to think about offering more quality services and scaling your business once and for all.

To learn more about the eDirectory solution and get a free demo, click here to learn more!

How to Create a Buyer’s Guide Website?

Posted on 08/05/2022

How to Create a Buyer’s Guide Website?

Buyers’ guide websites are essential for providing information plus reviews for customers to make informed decisions prior to the purchase. The objective of this category of online business directory is to provide detailed information about products, software, and services.

A good buyer’s guide should also include reviews from real customers who have purchased the product, providing a basis for other users to make an informed decision based on their experiences.

As a result, the added information will help users find the products they want and increase the conversions on your buyer’s guide website.

When a customer searches for a specific product, they want to know why one product fits their needs better than another. Think about choosing software for web development. There are some tools you know you need. However, through a buyers’ guide, you might find that the software of interest requires even more features. The added information about the product will show how your product can solve your users’ problems.

Throughout this article, you will learn how to create a killer buyer’s guide website and the best platform to start your project. Let’s get started!

Topics covered in this article

What is a buyer’s guide website?
Why is creating a Buyer’s Guide website so Important?
Popular types of buyer’s guide websites
Create a Buyer’s Guide Website with eDirectory
Conclusion

What is a Buyer’s Guide Website?

You may be asking yourself what is a buyer’s guide. A buyer’s guide is designed to streamline purchasing by supplying all the necessary data about a determined product, service, or company. Customers should be able to access a clear message about a product with a simple click.

The purpose of a buyer’s guide website should be to increase the user’s confidence before making a purchase. It doesn’t matter if you are simply showcasing products and services or if you are also promoting your own affiliate links. The most important thing here is to provide trustful content, especially through user reviews.

Why is creating a Buyer’s Guide website so Important?

In this topic, we will cover four points to explain the importance of creating a buyer’s guide website. As mentioned above, we learned that educated customers become well-reasoned customers. These users are not just browsers; they are people who want to get the best product facts. Buying guides are essential as they help consumers with valuable content and maximum sales potential. They should include product specifications, and customer reviews to help customers make an informed decision.

Keep your Audience Well Informed

Imagine you are looking to purchase a new smartphone, a laptop, or even a new marketing software for your company. Where do you start your search? Probably going to Google to find the reviews and opinions from people who actually have purchased and used the product you’re looking for.

The same goes for everyone else searching for any kind of product on the web, and here’s where creating a buyer’s guide website can be very interesting. Focus on your area of activity and offer comprehensive reviews based on user-generated content. People tend to trust other people’s experiences.

Remember: social proof drives sales and well-informed customers and around 90% of online shoppers read at least one review before making a purchase.

It’s great for SEO

When shoppers decide what to buy, they will look at search engines like Google and Bing, or even Amazon. All of these websites index and rank content (products) differently. However, all algorithms value original content, and customer reviews feed the search engine website which can be translated to a better ranking of your buyer’s guide website to surface among the results on the SERP (search engine results page).

source: https://www.yotpo.com/blog/reviews-seo

Sixty-three percent of all shopping starts online. If your optimized guide’s visibility increases for particular search terms, you can drive more traffic to your site. For that to happen you will need to work on content first, be sure to go after sponsors that will advertise on your buying guide website, make sure to include all the products that are relevant to your niche, and take advantage of keyword tools such as SEMrush, Ubersuggest or Google Keyword Planner to understand what are the search terms used by shoppers when looking for product reviews and make sure to incorporate these keywords to the results page and product pages of your buyer’s guide website.

For example, Shopper Approved and G2 rank highly on search engines for gathering user-generated content in the form of reviews, demonstrating how reviews are a powerful form of customer content that boosts organic traffic.

Increase your conversions

Through SEO or paid ads, your buying guide website is likely to gain traffic as well as rank higher in search engine results. Once you’ve generated enough traffic, you need to convert that traffic into leads. This is what we’ll call conversions.

Your audience’s purchasing patterns can vary as new trends emerge. You may uncover new customer groups as you research your buyer’s guide. Remain flexible and acclimate to the facts you discover. It’ll help you create more compelling content that drives sales.

Take Advantage of User-Generated Content (UGC)

One of the top benefits of user-generated content is that it serves as excellent social proof. Seeing content from real customers increases the advertiser’s credibility and brings their brand’s promises into perspective. In addition, people trust user-generated content over most other types of review content. Therefore, incorporating user-generated content will enhance the trustworthiness of your buyer’s guide website.

Consumers have different reasons for wanting to try a product, and UGC can play an important role in this decision. Numbers are very clear about the impact UGC has on them, more specifically, UGC increases conversion rates 85% better than other content types.

A recent study from Harvard Business School found out that the more stars a brand or product has on Yelp, there is a boost of 5% to 9% in sales and lead generation. eDirectory is prepared to receive UGC in the form of reviews and stars that will be displayed for other users to read and make informed decisions.

source: www.edirectory.com

Popular types of buyer’s guide websites

Here are a few buyer’s guide websites you could take as inspiration for your own project.

Capterra
The Capterra online marketplace acts as an intermediary between technology buyers and suppliers within the software industry. Here, users can read other users’ opinions on a vast variety of software and online products to make an informed purchase decision. This is a classic buyer’s guide website that relies on UGC to take inspiration.
Software Advice
In more than 300 market categories, Software Advice provides consulting, research, and user analysis services on software applications. Similar to what we see on Capterra, but with Business intelligence, marketing automation, CRM, HR, and construction are a few of them.
Glass Door
In addition to being a web-based review company for job boards, Glass Door is another kind of review website, where you don’t actually buy anything, but rather, get the opinions of actual employees about companies, jobs, salaries, and other work-related matters. Just to illustrate what types of buyer’s guide websites you can build with eDirectory.

Create a Buyer’s Guide Website with eDirectory

Now that you understand how effective a good buyer’s guide website can be, it’s time to choose the right platform to build your own. eDirectory is a software where you can easily build classified ads sites, online directories, events guides, and, of course, buyer’s guides and review websites.

With eDirectory, you can take your idea from scratch to the finished product easily. With its intuitive drag-and-drop page editor, you can quickly create pages and insert widgets for anything you need. Your sponsors will benefit from eDirectory’s powerful categories and subcategories, as well as flexible listing templates that let you completely customize the layout and features of the listing for each level of subscribers.

Quick steps to create a buyer’s guide website with eDirectory

Sign up and create your account in eDirectory

First things first, go to edirectory.com and sign up for a free guided demo. As your first contact with the platform, you will have access to the site manager back panel. For a complete understanding of what eDirectory can do for you to create a great buyer’s guide, we recommend you try the demo first!

Here you’ll manage your buyer’s guide, create listings, moderate reviews, create categories, design new and existing pages, etc.

Select your target location

You can set up your buyer’s guide websites in any location you’d like, no matter if they’re local, regional or national. When offering local deals or classifieds, as well as for SEO purposes, this is quite important. Make sure you select your time zone and the language in which you want your dashboard and website to be displayed.

Adding categories and subcategories

Depending on the niche of your Buyer’s Guide website, you will have different categories. If your business is focused on food and restaurants, it is most likely that your website will have categories related to it. Creating categories in eDirectory is quick and easy, you will find the categories feature inside Content > Listings, and then click on categories. Create as many categories as you need with up to 9 subcategories.

Import your first products or business

Now that you’ve created your categories, you can import your products or services. In the initial stages of your buyer’s guide website, you can either register all items individually (which can be a time-consuming task) or use bulk imports to expedite the process.

On the Content tab, click the Import option and then click Listings. You can upload your CSV or XLS spreadsheet file and follow the instructions. This will only take a few seconds, as you’ll be asked to match the fields on your spreadsheet and that’s it.

Connect your domain name and spread the word

Lastly, don’t forget to set up your new domain name using your favorite platform, and don’t worry about the SSL certificate and hosting, as it comes included in every eDirectory plan. If you want to self-host your buyer’s guide in another service, go ahead as this is also an option.

Don’t forget to set up the Google services like Maps, Analytics, and Tag Manager.

Once your buyer’s guide is live, is time to promote it and spread the word about your service. Remember that Google loves good and unique content, and buyer’s guides are an excellent source of UGC, so leverage this strategy. Go after partnerships with local brands or suppliers, offer them exposure or free premium subscriptions for a couple of months, investing in paid advertising on social media and PPC (pay per click) campaigns. You’ll very likely drive way more traffic and attract new sponsors.

Wrapping up

The purpose of this article was to demonstrate what could be accomplished with a buyer’s guide website. Additionally, it allows users to generate content, making it a reliable source of information for people to make informed decisions. This makes it not only a great business model for recurring revenues but also one that encourages user-generated content.

Your buyer’s guide website can cater to any niche, not only tech products and services. There are review-based websites for everything, like jobs, food and restaurants, cars, games, apps, events, lawyers, dentists, and doctors. It truly fits every industry.

If you want to create a powerful and easy-to-manage buyer’s guide website, Directory is your best choice. Don’t wait, sign up for a free eDirectory demo today.

Meet the new eDirectory Marketplace Widget

Posted on 04/27/2022

We are thrilled to announce a killer feature that changes the game for the online business directory community: the eDirectory Marketplace Widget. Publishers now have a perfect tool to showcase and sell their products or services directly from your directory with the click of a button, making your online directory a much more attractive option for new and existing sponsors.

This feature has been developed over several months by the eDirectory product team to be useful and easy to manage. You can maximize your online directory by offering more value to sponsors looking to sell online to a wider audience.

The Marketplace Widget is a brand new addition to eDirectory’s most recent release, and we’ll explore how to utilize it in detail in this article. Let’s get started.

Make it possible for your advertisers to sell products and services

Marketplaces have become some of the biggest and most valuable companies in the world. It is expected that B2B eCommerce site sales will reach nearly $1.77 trillion in 2022*¹, an increase of 12% over the past year as online business trends continue to influence everyday B2B operations.

Globally, 40% of all online spending post-pandemic*³ occurs on marketplaces, a number that is predicted to increase in 2022 as the world reopens. With the new eDirectory Marketplace Widget, your advertisers can offer their goods and services directly to their audience through your website.

Easily add a direct payment link (from any payment gateway) to the “Buy Now” button and that’s it! The sponsor can make sales and receive the payment instantly. They can also use the custom buttons to book services (book now, make an appointment, etc), which is something we will explore in more detail in the next topic.

We have a detailed article on how to use the eDirectory marketplace widget to its full potential.

Offer services and book appointments from your online directory

If your advertisers aren’t selling physical or digital products, but are instead providing services like classes, consultations, or any activity that requires an appointment, they can use the products and services widget in conjunction with their favorite booking tool (such as Calendly or YouCanBookMe) to drive leads directly to their landing pages.

In niches such as Wellness & Health, where sponsors can offer services such as yoga classes, individual boxing lessons, nutritionist consultations per hour, and personal training sessions, this can be a very valuable feature for listing owners.

For other consultancy or coaching-related niches, the “Book Now” button is also a differential that adds value to your online directory and could attract new clients, as these professionals work mostly on an appointment basis. Consider upgrading your eDirectory to v13.1 to take advantage of these and more features.

For Restaurant and Food Services

The eDirectory Marketplace Widget is also a killer feature for the restaurant and food niches because now your sponsors can create special offers that can be purchased or booked on the spot!

For instance, the demand for personal chefs has grown significantly since June 2020, according to Fanny Suen Hiu-yan, founder of MobiChef, a Hong Kong startup that provides private chefs for hire*². Listing owners can then create unique offers combining products and services to uncover new revenue streams, such as adding a “Chef at home” service with a “Book Now” button linking your favorite booking app, letting the customer choose their own time and date.

In addition, a reservation service can be added so clients can book tables directly from a listing, thereby avoiding needless phone calls. Restaurants can also sell pre-cooked meals, wine bottles, condiments, and more.

Mix and match calls to actions

It is possible to redirect clients not only to shopping links (like PayPal or Stripe) and booking links (Calendly) but also to custom pages, messaging applications, CRM applications, and so forth.

Take this Golf club example, players can schedule 1 on 1 lessons via text message directly to the club’s reception by clicking the Golf Lessons button. The offer appears on the listing and can be visited by the audience.

And If your advertisers want to get serious about tracking their conversions through the Products and Services widget, they can use Google Tag Manager or Google Analytics to track any URL or form submission on your online directory in order to take full control of your KPIs.

What kind of buying links can be used with the eDirectory Marketplace Widget?

This widget allows the use of any type of external link! Whether from PayPal, Stripe, Amazon Pay, or WePay among others. It’s also possible to link offers directly to a store on Shopify, Magento, Open Cart, and drive the lead to a sales funnel, hence using the listing owner inventory and shipping options.

Leads can also be sent to a landing page with a custom form, and thus have more control to drive the prospects to a CRM app such as Hubspot, Mailchimp, Pipedrive, GetResponse, and so on.

Wrapping up

The Products and Services Widget is a great tool that empowers listing owners that don’t have an online store to sell products and services directly to customers. If properly used, this can change the way your advertisers use your online directory.

As a great value offer, you can include this widget only in the top-level listings of your online directory to attract more sponsors.

In this article we covered:

An introduction to the new eDirectory Marketplace Widget (products and services)
Selling physical and digital products
Offering services and booking appointments
Restaurant and Food usage
Mix different types of links
What types of links can be used

Read the full list of enhancements of eDirectory v13.1 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 or contact your account executive.

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

References:

It’s out: New eDirectory v13.1

Posted on 04/08/2022

Meet the New eDirectory v13.1

We are proud to announce a major release: eDirectory v13.1. It is filled with new features and new technology. It reflects the constant evolution of the most complete directory software.

According to Arca Solutions’ CEO, James Chubb, this new eDirectory version comes from a new set of internal processes for faster release cycles. It means more product features are being added with even more quality.

This release gives more flexibility and functionality, making it easier to launch and monetize directory-based websites.

The new eDirectory Mobile App

The star of the new release is the new generation of the eDirectory Apps. Formerly built using two different platforms (one for Android and one for iOS), the new eDirectory app is created with Flutter, an open-source framework developed by Google in 2015. It delivers native performance and visual consistency on different platforms.

Fernando Nascimento, product manager of eDirectory, says that web and app formats are now closer and the plan is to get them even closer in terms of design, features, and functionalities.

There’s no doubt the new eDirectory App brings more flexibility but it also brings more opportunities for customization, to meet specific needs. ”The new version is built on the open-source Flutter platform, where the single code base can generate native iPhone and Android apps. Going forward this will dramatically increase the velocity of the app development, as well as make app customization much more affordable”, says James.

eDirectory App - Listing Stories Example

What’s new on eDirectory v13.1

Besides the new eDirectory App, the web version brings improvements and new features across all modules. As we have a blog post dedicated to the new eDirectory App, let’s see here the highlights for the web version!

New Widgets for the Listing Detail Page

Marketplace Widget

This feature allows listing publishers to create lists of products and services that
will be shown as a catalog on the listing detail page, and an external purchase link can be added so the end-user can purchase the offered item. Learn how to add this feature to your eDirectory site.

Header Widgets

A total of 5 new header widgets for design enhancements and to create fine-tuned templates for each category.

Thin Header
Centralized Header (3 different versions)
Header with Gallery (up to 8 images)

eDirectory - Centralized header (type 3)

eDirectroy - Insert Header Widget detail

Contact Us Widget

The contact information is displayed on the default header widget but now it can be displayed anywhere on the listing detail page. It includes address, phone, an additional phone, website, and email.

Badges Widget

Similar to the Contact Information, Badges were displayed only on the default header but now can be added anywhere on the listing detail page.

Browse by Category Widget

Site managers can now select from which module the categories will be selected on any
of the “Browse by category” widgets. It creates more options to highlight the best content of your project, improving user engagement.

Twitter Feed Widget

With the sunset of the Advanced Social Media Plugin, the Twitter feed is now available for all new installations. Available for Listings and Events modules. LinkedIn clickable URL can now be added to the listing page.

eDirectory - Listing twitter feed detail

Deals Module

Advertisers are now able to upload their own QR code, which will be displayed on the redeemed coupon, making it easier the deal validation. Fixed prices are now optional, allowing advertisers to create generic coupons such as “All products with 50% off”. Advertisers will be able to define if redeem codes will be generated randomly for each deal redeem or define a unique, customized coupon code that will be presented for all visitors who redeem that deal. Lastly, the Site Manager will be able to disable the display of the time left to redeem and the deals left counter. See how to use QR Code on deals.

General Settings – Maps and Banner Ads by level

Site managers can now choose which levels will display Google maps and Banner Ads on the detail page. Available for listings, events, and classifieds It allows to create or highlight the benefits of the premium plans.

Theme Layout Updates

New layout for themes Doctors, Wedding, and Restaurant. Improved default color palette for contrast and usability.

Claimable Listings export

New option to export claimable listings on the Mailing list section. Claimable listing is a powerful built-in feature so you can reach out to your potential advertisers, starting a conversation to engage and sell. This new export feature creates a faster way to pull this data and feed your preferred email marketing platform.

Read the full list of enhancements of eDirectory v13.1 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 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, call us directly at +1-800-630-4694, or send an email to sales@eDirectory.com.

eDirectory Blog

What Is a Membership Website?

How Membership Sites Make Money

WordPress Plugin vs Dedicated Membership Platform

How to Build a Membership Website

1. Determine Your niche

2. Choose the Right Membership Tool

3. Set Up Payment Methods

4. Build Your Membership Levels

Setup your Paywall

5. Populate Your Listings

6. Create Members-Only Content

7. Promote Your Membership Site

8. Keep Improving Your Membership Site

Create a Membership Site with eDirectory

Webinar: The Online Directory Business Model

USEFUL LINKS AND TOOLS MENTIONED IN THE WEBINAR:

What is an event guide?

What are the possible niches for an event guide?

How to create an event guide professionally

1. Choose the niche that fits your strategy

2. Sign up for eDirectory to start your project

3. Define payment methods

4. Manage features and pricing for each level

5. Create categories and subcategories for your event guide

How to monetize your event guide?

Benefits of eDirectory for creating an event guide

a. Recurring events – create and display

b. Monetization from free to premium events

c. Widgets for displaying events (featured/recurring)

d. Multiple categories

Wrapping up

1. THE IMPORTANCE OF A WELL-DESIGNED REAL ESTATE WEBSITE

2. OPTIMIZE CATEGORIES’ STRUCTURE AND WEBSITE NAVIGATION

2.1 Clear and Logical Hierarchy for Categories

2.2 User-Friendly Navigation

3. SHOWCASE PROPERTY LISTINGS EFFECTIVELY

3.1 Detailed Property Descriptions

3.2 High-Quality Design

4. CRAFT ENGAGING AND SEO-OPTIMIZED CONTENT

5. FACILITATE OPERATIONS

6. ADDITIONAL MONETIZATION

7. use the right platform to Build a Real Estate Website

Webinar: Creating Sponsorship Opportunities for Online Directories

USEFUL LINKS AND TOOLS MENTIONED IN THE WEBINAR

First of all: what are leads?

So why generate leads with an online business directory?

How to generate leads for your online directory

Generating leads for your advertisers (sponsors)

Generate additional revenue by selling leads to advertisers

Reach leads targeted to your niche

Generate leads through good user reviews

Prepare your online business guide to generate leads

Wrapping Up

Why go digital with your chamber of commerce?

How to make your site more valuable to current and potential members?

9 must-have resources for chambers of commerce websites

1. Build a custom website for your audience

2. Consider a responsive website

3. Have an exclusive “members only” area for your users

4. Have a “Join our chamber of commerce” sign-in button

5. Valuable content is key to attracting new members

Featured webinar: generate more revenue with agency services

6. Create a welcoming environment for new members

7. Add a featured members section

8. Create a FAQ page on your trade association’s website

9. Invest time in good design and a great user experience

Create a legacy for your community

Wrapping up

Topics covered in this article

What is a Buyer’s Guide Website?

Why is creating a Buyer’s Guide website so Important?

Keep your Audience Well Informed

It’s great for SEO

Increase your conversions

Popular types of buyer’s guide websites

Quick steps to create a buyer’s guide website with eDirectory

Sign up and create your account in eDirectory

Select your target location

Adding categories and subcategories