The Power Of A Niche Directory Domain

Lets revisit one of the projects I am working on.  Remember the domain DataCenterDirectory.com?  The domain name that I registered several years ago has now been developed into a niche directory site.  As some of you know I have an IT based background and have worked as a Systems Administrator for several years.

During my experience as a Systems Administrator I found that there were barely any resources indexing data centers in the United States and across the world.  I decided to register the domain name and I am certainly glad I did.  Advance several years forward and you will now see that I have setup a small directory site for the domain name.  As with most directories they are quite difficult to get started.

I gave it the old Jason push and started to compile a list of data centers in my local area.  After entering a few entries I focused my efforts on a few other sites.  Lets just say the directory sat on a back burner for a bit.  Then out of nowhere I received an email on April 7th, 2010.  The email titled:

An entry in Data Center Directory on datacenterdirectory.com has been added.

I can not describe how this feels!  My niche directory domain has not been indexed by google for several different terms.  People are finding the site and are now taking the time to enter there data center information into the resource.  I have received a couple of entries up to this point.  So what’s next you might ask?

I have an entire plan drawn out.  Since I am in the lead generation business I will eventually create a lead gen module for the site.  This will allow for people seeking data center services to be connected with those offer such a service.  I am in the process of setting up a phone number for the directory.

After the number is setup I plan to call users who have submitted listings to the site.  This will open the lines of communication to upsell them on text / banner advertising, premier listing, lead generation, press releases etc.  I will also design fliers which will be mailed out to the users thanking them for there directory submission.  The post card flier will be equipped with a survey asking them to double check there listing.  It will also ask how they heard about the service and if they are interested in advertising on the site.

Some of what I said is repetitive.  My goal is to eventually turn the site into a pay per listing service.  First I need to develop a solid index of data centers across the United States and eventually look into indexing data centers around the world.  This will take quite some time to build.  Until this has been completed my immediate avenues to generate revenue will consist of directly contacting companies that have taken the time to submit entries into the directory.  I will also create a plan to connect with those companies which have either been entered into the system by me or have been identified as good candidates for the site.

The few entries I have received so far have showed me that the site is headed in the right direction.  Since people are starting to utilize the site and Google has indexed the site for such great key terms it is now time for me to focus a bit more effort on it.  In the next few months, I will turn this site into a nice revenue stream.  I can’t wait to reveal the numbers once this happens!