Guide
How to monetize a directory website
This guide covers the common ways a directory website makes money and which of them DirectoryDuck has tools for. The rest are things you would set up and bill for on your own.
Updated
How do directory websites make money?
Directory websites commonly make money by selling featured spots to the businesses they list, and some add ads, affiliate links or lead fees; on DirectoryDuck's Starter plan ($39/mo) you can feature up to 10 listings per directory, at a price you set and collect yourself.
Of these, DirectoryDuck provides the featured-listing tools, and its inquiry form collects the leads a lead fee is charged for. Ads, sponsorships, affiliate links, lead fees and paid listings are arrangements you make yourself, outside DirectoryDuck. All of them depend on the directory being useful to the people it is for. Publishing listings does not itself guarantee visitors, advertisers or income.
Sell featured listings
A featured listing is a paid placement: a business pays you, and its listing shows first. A business is likelier to pay for one when a single new customer is worth a lot to it, as with a contractor, a clinic or a software company.
In DirectoryDuck, featured listings are on Starter and up. You open a published listing in the dashboard and pick the day it stays featured through. Until then it shows first, with a Featured badge, on the hosted page, in the embed and in the listings widget, and comes first in the API; after that day it goes back to its usual place by itself. Up to 10 listings per directory can be featured at a time.
You set the price, sell the spot to the business and collect the payment yourself; DirectoryDuck takes no payment from the business. Before you offer a spot, decide what it includes, how long it runs and how you will bill for it, so the business knows what it is buying. The local business directory page walks through selling one.
The free ROI calculator does the arithmetic: how many spots at your own price cover your plan's price. It works on the numbers you enter and is not a forecast.
Collect inquiries and pass on the leads
Some directories earn from what visitors ask for: a visitor requests a quote or a booking, and the directory passes the request to a business. DirectoryDuck's inquiry form covers the first half, on every plan. A visitor fills it in on a listing's page in the full-directory embed, in the inquiry form widget on any page of your site, or in a form you build on the public API, and the inquiry lands in your dashboard, linked to the listing when the form names a published one.
The inquiry comes to you, not to the business. You can forward it, or charge the business a fee for each lead you send. A lead fee is an arrangement between you and the business: DirectoryDuck does not bill per lead or track which leads were paid for. If you pass inquiries on, say so on your directory, so visitors know who will read their message.
Ways to earn that you run outside DirectoryDuck
These are common on directory websites, but none of them is a DirectoryDuck feature. You set them up, sell them and bill for them yourself.
Ads and sponsorships
A brand pays to be seen by your visitors: a banner, a sponsored section or a mention in your newsletter. DirectoryDuck has no ad slots and no ad network, and the hosted page carries no ads. If you embed the directory on your own website, the rest of that site is yours, so ads and sponsorships go there or in a newsletter you send.
Affiliate links
If your directory lists products or software, some of those companies run affiliate programs that pay a commission when someone you refer buys. You join each program and place its links on your own site; DirectoryDuck does not track affiliate clicks or commissions. Tell readers when a link earns you a commission.
Paid listings and paid claims
Some directories charge a business to be listed at all, or to claim its listing. DirectoryDuck has no checkout for businesses, and businesses cannot add themselves. A claim costs the business nothing: it confirms its email address, and you approve the claim. If you charge to be listed, you invoice the business and then add or publish its listing yourself, within your plan's listing limit.
What DirectoryDuck does not do
- No payments from the businesses you list. DirectoryDuck charges only for what you buy from it: your plan, any credit packs and the build service if you choose it. It does not process payments for your advertisers, invoice the businesses you list or take a share of what you charge them.
- No ads. There are no ad slots, no ad network and no ads on the hosted page.
- No member logins or dues. The businesses you list do not get accounts, and there are no paid memberships.
- No lead billing or affiliate tracking. Inquiries reach you; what you charge for passing them on, and any affiliate commission, is tracked outside DirectoryDuck.
- No visitors by itself. A new directory has no search rankings and no audience yet. DirectoryDuck does not promise rankings, traffic or income.
Which plan you need to earn this way
Prices are in US dollars. Paid plans are available now, billed monthly or yearly.
- Free ($0): inquiries through the embed, the inquiry form widget and the API, on one directory with 100 listings. No featured listings.
- Starter ($39/mo): featured listings, up to 10 per directory, and your own domain, on one directory with 500 listings.
- Growth ($99/mo): the same across 5 directories, with 2,000 listings each and an own domain per directory.
- Pro ($249/mo): unlimited directories and listings, and you can remove the DirectoryDuck branding.
The full limits and the credit packs are on pricing.
Before you build one
It helps to pick a niche where businesses already pay to win customers. If you have not built your directory yet, how to build a directory website covers the decisions to make before you sign up: the niche, the name, where the listings come from, hosting and your own domain.
Questions about making money from a directory
- Can I make money from a directory on the Free plan?
- Partly. Featured listings start on Starter at $39/mo, so on Free no listing can be pinned first with a Featured badge. Free ($0) still includes one directory with 100 listings, the embed, the inquiry form widget and the public API, so you can collect inquiries and run your own ads or affiliate links on the site where you embed the directory.
- How much should I charge for a featured listing?
- There is no standard price, and DirectoryDuck does not set one: you choose it. Start from what one new customer is worth to the businesses you list and how many visitors your directory sends them, and ask a few of them before you fix a price. The free ROI calculator shows how many featured spots at your price cover your DirectoryDuck plan; it is arithmetic on your numbers, not a forecast.
- How do I collect payment from the businesses I feature?
- Yourself, with whatever you already use to bill clients, such as an invoice or a payment link from your own payment provider. DirectoryDuck takes no payment from the businesses you list and does not send them invoices. Once you are paid, open the listing in the dashboard and pick the day it stays featured through; it shows first, with a Featured badge, until then.
- Does DirectoryDuck take a commission on what I sell?
- No. DirectoryDuck takes no commission on what you sell. It charges only for what you buy from it: your plan, any credit packs and the build service if you choose it. None of the money you charge for featured spots, leads, ads or anything else passes through it.
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