September 11, 2011
Sheffield Business Directory
Sheffield Business Directory : Launched
Web Directories like the Sheffield Business Directory for specific areas of the globe, or city portal directories are used daily online by thousands of users. The business models for various of these directory style web sites differ, but the core concept of delivering relative information about the area is the same. We wanted to develop a wordpress directory that we could use as a core city portal model. Developing additional sections to this directory that can be ”plugged” in to the original site is our long term goal with this project. As all the listings, sub sections and add ons will remain free it is still an open question if the project will be supported by users or not.
The SERP for the various keyword searches is what will ultimately determine the level of user interactivity. The keyword SHEFFIELD is well used online, with sub searches for various venues and business listings make up a generous proportion of this. Spreading the sections wide, and using listings to add related content to specific sections we can easily monitor, improve and ”drive” the site for various sections to a high SERP ranking.
Sheffield Business Directory : Site Structure
The site is currently ”live” with the following sections:
- Sheffield Business Directory : Business Directory : This section is a map based web directory for the greater Sheffield area to list any related business link. Free. For businesses located in Sheffield and surrounding areas. Selecting a category, will add a pin to the map where the business is located. The ”click” connects you to the business details, including a streetview window of the listed address. Users that add their own business listings can ”drag” the pin to their exact location in the submit process. ACTION REQUIRED : At the moment I still have to manually add some data to the site. The site has some unresolved issues with the Google Bots, and whilst we wait for this to be resolved I will continue to add relevant categories and links.
- Sheffield Business Directory : Venue Directory : Similar to the Business section, but more focused on venues in and around the Sheffield area. ACTION REQUIRED : Data. The biggest evil to manually add, but the greatest results are achieved exactly by this process.
- Sheffield Business Directory : SEO SUR : The section on sites we use to ”drive” the site in the search engines. Selectively spreading the update and category results to increase SERP. Repetitive, boring with great results. ACTION REQUIRED : Content. Stay with the process of updating the website, adding data and adding value. Relevant content in relation to the search query results.
Currently in development we have some additional sections to the site:
- Sheffield Business Directory : Training : Sheffield based training delivery. The concept to create a frame where trainers can ”save” and list their training courses. Selecting new dates, new venues or changing some details should not be over complicated. We provide this easy CMS approach for trainers in the Sheffield catchment area. CURRENTLY the site is very close to finished. We aim to make this section ”live” by the end of 2011.
- Sheffield Business Directory : Property : Adding a property aspect to the directory. Sales, leases or rooms for hire. Any accommodation related listings for Sheffield. Free. The site will allow for property listings on a 30 day basis. Users will have to ”log in” and reactivate the listing if the property needs to stay listed. This way we ensure the content stays relative and up to date. CURRENTLY the project is still in design and layout stage. We have most of the functionality sorted. Most likely to go live early 2012.
- Sheffield Business Directory : Jobs : In planning. We will add a similar section relating to jobs in the Sheffield area later in 2012. Early days yet.
Sheffield Business Directory : Site Concept
Using some ”clone technology” for WordPress we can easily replicate any of the web directories we have made. We can use the same technology to reproduce websites and layouts of websites we have made in minutes. Once the data is removed, it is a great way of quickly having a base to develop a new project from. Using the Sheffield Business Directory domain as a base, a core if you like, we will add a number of city portal related functional sections to the site.
As these can easily be replicated on different domains, for different cities, we will measure the success of the site as far as SERP, traffic, AdSense and PR is concerned, and then make an assessment of the ”concept” as a business model. The domain name and hosting costs for these type of sites is sub £50 p.a. Creating a website, directory style maps for instance, takes hours only. Adding the data, especially automated, allows the opportunity to get some revenue return. The Sheffield project will give us some realistic response and data to research the opportunity.
Sheffield Business Directory : Social Comments
Having integrated a social comment function for the Sheffield project, we wait for the site to get indexed and see what effect this approach has on the site. Login from the page you are viewing with your facebook account, and then leave any comments or views about any of the business listings in the site. Hopefully this will reduce SPAM comments, and as there is yet no automated way of commenting using facebook, the comments and opinions should at least be relative to the content listed. The only issue as such is the lack of SEO benefit from using this comment approach. On the flip side however, can comments left this way improve the traffic from the social cloud?
Sheffield Business Directory : Visit the Project
You can view the Sheffield Business Directory project here.
