Transcript
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Explains why directories were once dismissed, why they are coming back now, and who this video is for. The speaker also previews the three main reasons directories are becoming valuable again.
10 years ago, if you told an SEO person you were building a directory, they'd probably laughed at you.They'd be like, why?Why are you doing this?Directories were like gone.They're dead.They're thin.They were spammy.And Google largely stopped caring about directories.That was then.Now they're coming back.Why are directories coming back?Because three things have changed and it all has to do with AI.And in this video, I'm going to show you why the directories died to begin with, right?What has changed and why I think the next year is going to be the best window right now to build one.And here's why you should listen to me on this and not just someone guessing about it, right?Inside my community, the Rank Expand Academy, which is 1,000 members strong plus probably much more by the time you watch this video, we built a full system for these directories and the data for the entire directory costs less
than a dollar.Crazy.And one of our members rebuilt his directory the same way and went from 166 indexed pages to 100 excuse me, 887 in about 30 days.And then the leads started to come in.So here's the structure for the video.Let's keep it rolling.First, why did directories die in the first place?Second, the three things that changed, right?That's AI.And I'll tell you specifically why AI.And the third is why I think now is the window where you should actually build one.Now this video is for you if you do local SEO and you need a better way to find clients.This is a big opportunity.Another good use case is if you build microsites.We talk about them a lot here and you want something that kind of helps boost them like a force multiplier.Great use case.Or, right?
If you just want an online asset that makes money from the businesses in it and not from like ad clicks, this could be for you.So if you're hoping for passive ad money, this isn't for you and I'm going to explain that why later in the video.
Breaks down why directories faded out: they were thin, expensive to build, and difficult to maintain. Then it shows how AI has made them cheaper, faster, and easier to scale.
But in the first place, step one of this video, why did directories die?Because most of them, and this is the problem, were phone books, simply put.It was a name and a phone number and an address and that was it.It was thousands of pages that said the same thing as every other directory on the internet.It sucked, right?Think about it Google's side.Why would you rank a page for a plumber like that when the same name and number is on 50 other websites?There's nothing new on it.So around the early, you know, 2010s, Google got a lot better at spotting thin copy pages, and a lot of those directories just faded out.They worked for a time, but they just faded out.The ones that survived had three problems, right?A good directory back then that survived had three big problems.
Number one, they were really expensive to build.You needed a developer, a stack, plugins, all these things, and somebody typing in listings by hand.Do you remember there was a time and place where we actually wrote websites out by hand like with our keyboard?Like that that happened.Crazy to think.It's only been three years.And then number two, the pages were thin, right?Because you had people typing it, they were thin because words cost money.Every listing was just like contact info because writing something real about thousands of these businesses would take literal years.Now three, they were slow and hard to change.And that's been the case for a long time.Have you ever used a plugin directory thing on WordPress?Terrible, slow, heavy, a nightmare.It crashes.So most people looked at directories and said it's not worth it.And they they were largely right back then.
Then AI has pretty much knocked down all three of those walls.So change one, obvious.Building them got cheap, very cheap with AI.The data for a whole state, because we focus on states, um every reviewed business in it now costs under a dollar to a few dollars, right?Ours was 89 cents.Then the writing, on our test run, the AI wrote each business's details for about 4 cents a listing.Um hosting it is free, right?Because we use static HTML.We don't use WordPress.We don't have plugins.It's not a slow website.It's blazing fast.And then the domain is about 10 bucks a year.So the cost is super affordable.So someone that used to take a developer, something that used to take a developer, you know, years of of bugging and debugging and in huge budget, takes Claude a subscription and like a few dollars on top of it.
Huge difference.
Explains how AI can create richer, more useful directory pages with real business data and local context. It also covers why AI search systems increasingly quote list-style pages and directories.
Now, change number two is the pages are not thin anymore.Big difference.This is the big one.This is the big one.The old directories were thin because nobody could afford to write about thousands of them.Now, AI can read each individual business, its own website, everything on the website and pull out what actually matters, such as like does this roofer do storm repair or do they offer financing?Do they do commercial work?So, every business gets those answers plus a short description that's actually about them.And every city page gets real local writing about that town plus a list of questions people in that town actually ask.So, instead of a phone book, it's a tool.It's useful, right?It's new data.Google craves new data and you can actually compare businesses with our type of directories, right?That's the difference Google can see and it's the thing that killed the older directories and it's making it viable again.
Now, one rule matters a lot here though.Every number on the page has to come from real data.Now, change number three is AI loves lists.So, AI search, they love lists.Think about it.When people ask AI tools for a local recommendation, which is happening more and more and more, the AI has to get its answer from somewhere.Where the heck is it going to get its answer?The AI, GBT, whatever it is, has to get it from somewhere.So, BrightLocal looked at, here's a good study, 800 local searches in Chat GBT and guess what?Directories made up 15% of the sources it pulled from.And it was things like best of style of websites and best ofs can be directories.You can make it in that manner.And things like Yelp and Google and Facebook um Google Maps weren't even on the list for those AI pools.
So, directories are hyper powerful and it's the same on Google side.One study from the summer found list pages, which are directory pages largely, make up about 18% of the citations in Google's AI overviews.So, the format that used to be the cheapest, the spamiest thing on the internet now are one of the formats AI answers likes to quote.And that's huge.People are scratching their head.How am I going to be viable in AI nowadays?How am I going to rank on ChatGPT and in Google?Well, if you build an AI directory, guess what?You can largely dictate and push and move the rankings in your town.That's why we call it a force multiplier.So wrapping that all together in a nice bow, here it is.They're cheap to build.The pages can be good now instead of thin crap, and AI search is quoting the lists.
That's huge.
Covers the business model behind modern directories, including premium listings, featured placements, and using directories to open doors with clients. It also connects directories to rank-and-rent and other lead-generation assets.
Force multiplier.Now let's talk about how you can make money with these things.A lot of people are zigging where is zagging.A lot of people still think directories are no good.Okay, fine.I think directories are good, and the money is different than what most people are expecting, and it's not ads.Let's get that one out in the open.It's not display ads.A one state directory because we do hyper specific directories isn't going to get the traffic ad networks want, right?Think about it.Ad networks want what?Like 25,000 visitors a month minimum.Some of them want 250,000 visitors a month.You can get AdSense.You can do those things, but it's not worth it.Where is the money?The money comes from the businesses that are in it.So think of premium listings which are around, I don't know, call it $97 a month.
Think of featured spots um on a city page around, you know, $29.I don't know.You can you can price it however you want.But the biggest opportunity for people is those who have online skills who build a directory and now have a warm foot in the door with clients, potential clients that is.You can call, let's say, you know, we can use this pool directory as an example.Now you can call any pool builder in the state of Florida and say, I own the biggest pool directory in the state of Florida.And guess what?We picked yours for Orlando.We've seen what you've done.Your Google reviews are great.We're going to give you a free listing um for the next month.And then that starts the conversation, right?That's where the big money is.So that's that's one way and that's SEO work.
It's huge for cash flow.If you want to ramp up really fast on cash flow, that right there is huge.Now it can also be a force multiplier.If you already own, let's say, a pool website, you own a pool company, well, why not have, why not own the biggest pool directory in Florida and and have the advantage of making the website say whatever you want.Do you feel me?I'm not trying to, you know, put too many words to that, but if you own the website, you own the asset, you have control.That's a big thing.Now, on top of that, same goes for microsites, which are AI rank and rent websites at scale.Call it what you want.They're just AI websites that pool in leads and we resell those leads to contractors.It's been around for 20 plus years, but now we do it at scale.
A lot of A lot of the reasons that AI directories work now are the same reasons why AI rank and rent works, and they go hand in hand.It's like yin and yang.One is a force multiplier and one is more surgical.It's pretty darn cool.
Promotes the Rank Expand Academy and the directory blueprint inside it. The speaker closes by describing the community, trial offer, and support available to members.
Now, if you want the whole system, it's inside the Rank Expand Academy.It's the biggest SEO community, the best SEO community online in my opinion.That's opinion based.I have some bias.I get that, but it's 1,000 plus members strong, all working together, helping each other.It's pretty awesome.So, the directory blueprint gives you the steps from picking your trade to getting paid and a and a thread full of people building these things.It's a vibrant community.It's growing super fast, super fast.So, there's a free trial, 7-day free trial, and then there's a 90-day money-back guarantee.So, there's no risk to you.Come check it out.I'm in there daily, you know, talking, helping, doing audits.I do audits on people's websites based upon real data.But anyways, thanks for watching this one.