Brian G. King is regarded as the world’s leading authority on directory software.
He created his first directory in 1998, a flat tree structure hardcoded in html. This was followed by a database driven, ASP (Active Server Pages) directory, followed by another database base driven, PHP and MySQL platform that has been continually developed over 20 years.
His company Ripefruit has developed bespoke software and published directories since 2000, launching 14+ directories in 5 niche verticals.
What advice do you give to budding publishers?
“They must have experience in the target industry. They don’t need to know about software or publishing but a clear understanding of the marketplace is imperative.”
“Build it and they will come” simply does not apply to anything on the internet let alone a web directory.”
When considering whether to create a web directory, he offers these tips
- Structure: Category / Subcategories < get the structure right from the start
- Location: Country / Regions < consider the areas to target (local, state, country)
- Marketing: Traffic Generation < what forms of marketing will be used
- Revenue: < what forms of revenue: Listing, Affiliation, Classifieds, Advertising
- Research: < Understand the marketplace
Brian is not only extremely knowledgeable, he’s extremely interesting and fun to talk to.
Paul Myers [Websyte Corporation]
