The directory playbook I wish I had

When I launched my directory, I made the classic mistake.

I thought: “If the product is useful, people will just show up.”

They… did at my scale but it paid me $0.

Directories look simple from the outside.

• Visibility (Traffic)

• Backlinks (SEO)

• Social proof via scores and rankings

I started by ranking sites by their monthly views, inspired by trustmrr.com, but about views/traffic : trustviews.io (yes I copied from it)

The first idea: charge for detailed analytics.

On paper, it made sense.

In practice, it failed.

Analytics only get valuable when you you go in details and are cheap. I was cheap but not detailed.

So I shifted.

Instead of selling analytics, I turned Trustviews into a “classical” directory business model with ad slots on the side.

Zero meaningful clicks.

So for now, I’ve filled most of the space with affiliate links, and I’m leaving 3 out of 10 slots open.

Those will be for actual sponsors later, when the traffic justifies it.

Then, I talked to someone running multiple successful directories and making money out of it.

He told me everything I was doing wrong. So I’ll turn my directory into something I did not truly understood at first : paid listing.

To me it’s just slowing down growth, as less people would come in. But here is the trick :

• If you want a dofollow backlink, you pay. (= I earn money & you win SEO & visibility)

• If you don’t want to pay, you can still get listed, but you install the badge on your landing page to get that dofollow backlink. (= I earn SEO & you get visibility).

That one idea changed how I think about directories. Because indeed it’s all about what everyone get and it’s quite healthy if you ask me.

This is the other lesson:

Most monetization ideas only work once you have real traction.

Until then, they’re just decoration.

To make Trustviews actually unique, I’m leaning into something different.

A weekly newsletter.

Not a “here are 10 tools” list.

More like:

• How these projects get consistent views

• Why traffic spikes happen

• What strategies caused them

• Interviews with founders behind the listings

The goal is to make the directory feel alive.

Not just a wall of logos, but a community and a learning engine.

If I do this right, Trustviews becomes more than a place to dump your link.

It becomes a place where:

• You understand how people actually got attention

• Your project gets ongoing visibility, not a one-time launch

• Readers learn distribution by watching real examples

A few lessons from this whole experiment so far:

1. A directory without a clear edge is just another list.

2. Monetization has to line up with what founders actually value: backlinks, traffic, and proof they can show.

3. Turning a directory into a media product newsletter, interviews, insights might be the real moat.

This is all still in motion.

I’m earning nothing, but learning a lot, and adjusting as I go.

None of this is theory.

It’s just what I’ve tried, what failed (no actual fail), and what seems to be working.

If you run a directory, buy listings, or have ideas on better models, I’d love to hear them.

Reply and tell me what you’ve seen work.