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[J-B]

What are the most important parts of the site to build first?

Geo Domain demographics

1.   Population 1,000,000 +
2.   Businesses 90,000 +

My question is which part of building a new geo domain from scratch should you concentrate on first? What are going to be the best revenue streams that should be focused on?

 I have conflicting opinions on this question. Some say concentrate on restaurants and social networking development and some say a business directory, while others say concentrate on free classifieds to gather traffic to the site.

Right now my plan is to start developing it via original content and link building. The domain is currently parked as I have just aquired. It does receive a good amount of traffic and has a good PR ranking.

I believe it should be a directory of local business listings as these would be the easiest to sell enhanced listings to IMO.

Thanks

JB

[Michael Castello]

Good question. From PalmSprings.com to Acapulco.com the best immediate verticals are Hotels, Real Estate, Dining, Attractions for a start. Depending on the city a site like PalmSprings.com golf, art and beauty would also rank. Jobs and Employment also generate revenue from affiliates like EmploymentGuide.com and Calendar of Events can generate through Ticket Network Direct. A place like Acapulco and Laguna Beach will also generate wedding and meeting planners. If I would pick two to start with in any geo with traffic I would go with Hotels first and Real Estate second. Local business listings would be very time consuming and not pay near as much but they would be helpful to the visitor. Try not to spend too much at the beginning. Make the content and then move your visitors to your potential clients. Good luck.

[George Pickering]

Selling Enhanced Listings to local businesses is not easy. The Yellow Page companies, Lawyers.com, TheKnot.com have a sales force with feet on the street in each market for a reason.

The Lead Generation companies (Leads.com, Servicemagic.com, Respond.com, Reply.com) have large telesales teams.

Concentrating on a couple categories (as Michael suggests) makes more sense.

[J-B]

Michael,

Hotels, Real Estate, Dining, Attractions...

These actually make the most sense since the 2nd biggest economic factor for my area is tourism. In my case, just to start getting some revenue would it be wise to go after these businesses for banner advertisements or page listings and links?

George,

I agree that the lead generating companies have an advantage with their sales teams. This is actually something I have thought about. Right now I believe we are in a transition stage for print and online media.

More dollars are being moved online locally. Businesses do not know how to get their advertising dollars into the local internet market. With the credibility of the local name I have seen businesses instantly identify with the vision of how they can advertise locally. It is starting to make sense to them.

Cheers

[George Pickering]

There are companies like Leads.com that will help companies get online. For a couple hundred each month, you get a Yellow Page ad, they manage your PPC campaigns.....bringing clicks and leads to local businesses while removing the headaches of learning how to write a good text ad or manage bids.

I remember a few years ago, there were very few cosmetic surgeons on-line. I could bid "New York Cosmetic Surgeons" for $.10 and I was the only bidder. This was 2003, not 1996. Now, cosmetic surgeons are finally online in mass and that same keyword would cost several dollars.

Each local vertical is getting online at its own pace. Travel, Real Estate, Wedding, Financial started, followed by Health and others. Some categories like Home Improvement are just starting the real push online. Many contractors still don't have a website.

[Michael Castello]

J-B, If you have good traffic running through your site, try moving those visitors over to an advertising hotel. If you get one hotel telling you they make $$$ in the first two weeks you are on your way. They will tell others and you can tell their competitors. They will know who you are and it starts becoming political, meaning you start getting power. If you live in the area, that is a huge advantage. Once you get face time and make money for you city's businesses you essentially block your competition. Banner ads for us have not been as profitable.

We make a HTB (high traffic billboard) for each of our customers. That is a page that we make for the advertiser that keeps a similar format and adds content to the site. Try to keep the visitors inclusive. If you have 20 hotels all with your HTB's then the visitor can scan the hotels with all of the formatted content which helps with less eye fatigue and more page views. If you get the time look at PalmSprings.com or LagunaBeach.com and you can see the simple logic in play. Hope this helps.

[J-B]

Great Info,

While building the site with original content I can easily integrate these types of pages.

Thanks