1,000+ Real Examples of Successful Directories

This business model still works...really well

Author

Ian H
January 20, 2025

I recently wrote about the massive potential in directory websites.

In this email, I’ll share some real examples of successful directories and how to find 1,000+ more.

But first, a quick ad break that you should definitely check out if you’re interested in building directories:

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I got a lifetime plan for Directify and have been blown away with it.

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Directify is super clean and easy to use. If you build directories (or plan to), go check it out.

The lifetime deal is currently $149, 50% off the regular price.

Alrighty, on to the successful directory examples:

Example 1: SoakOregon.com

Talk about “niching down”.

This is about as niche as you can get.

And yet… this site, a simple static directory of hot springs in Oregon, gets 18,000 monthly visitors. This number is from the site’s actual Google Analytics account, so it’s as accurate as you can get.

The owner connected their Google Analytics account to SimilarWeb, so these numbers are legit.

I first heard of this site from the YouTuber Frey Chu in this video. Frey makes some extremely helpful videos about building directories, so go subscribe if you haven’t already.

Example 2: GetRawMilk.com

Raw milk is not readily available at stores due to various laws, so for people who want to drink raw milk, this site is an invaluable resource.

According to the sponsorship page, the site gets a whopping 100,000+ visitors every month.

This is an example of great niche selection.

There’s a large and growing interest in raw milk, it’s hard to find places that sell it, and Google’s business listings are non-existent on some searches and incomplete on others.

Perfect recipe for a successful directory site!

This is a fantastic example of a successful niche business directory.

The website has 542 companies listed according to the About page.

These are companies the website owner is in direct contact with. It doesn’t say whether the companies are paying to be listed on the site, but that is a common practice for business directories.

This site gets 80,000-100,000 monthly visitors. Not bad for a site without SSL haha.

A directory of Masters in Communications programs. This just goes to show you how many potential directory niches exist.

There are 148 different masters degrees listed on Wikipedia. Each one of those could warrant its own directory like the one above.

And in case you’re wondering, yes, this site actually gets traffic. Very high value traffic:

How I found these directories (and how you can find 1,000s more)

I found all these examples in a matter of minutes by using Site Stats Database.

I filtered the “Niche” field by “Directory”, which has over 1,400 results.

I then scrolled through and just opened any that looked interesting. There are tons more I didn’t share here.

I brought back the lifetime plan for Site Stats Database for a limited time, so now’s the best time to buy access if you’ve been on the fence about it.

You can use Site Stats Database to find sites in just about any niche you can think of. You can also find “types” of sites, like directories, job boards, forums, and ecommerce stores.

Site Stats Database is incredibly powerful. You can see all the features here.

Hope you drew some inspiration from this email!

Thanks for reading,

Ian

P.S. If you want to build directories, the easiest (and cheapest) tool for the job is Directify. Long-term, it’s even cheaper than using WordPress once you factor in hosting costs, since hosting in included with Directify. The lifetime plan is currently just $149.

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