Wondering how to create a business directory in WordPress? We'll show you how in this step by step tutorial. With the right tools, it's not as hard as you think!
Approximate read-time: 7 mins
Looking to create a business directory using WordPress? Business directories are a type of site that allows users to search for businesses. These could be local businesses or country-wide.
With a business directory, there are usually two audiences you need to consider. First, the people using the directory to find businesses. And second, the people who wish to list their business in your directory.
The job of attracting both types of people to your site will be difficult. That's why we are going to show you how to create your business directory the easy way: using a fantastic WordPress plugin!
The best part about this business directory builder is that the entire set up process is easy. Just follow the quick-start wizard and you're done! Creating a directory website can be really fast with the right tools.
With Formidable, you'll be able to create local directories with Google maps generated automatically with each submitted listing. Keep reading to find out what else is included!
👉 Read more: Need a WordPress custom application plugin?
Formidable Forms WordPress directory plugin
The directory solution we are going to use in today's tutorial is called Formidable Forms. It's a WordPress form builder with a 10+ year history! Formidable powers over 300,000 WordPress websites with its drag and drop form builder.
For years, many users have built directory sites using Formidable. The unique Views feature has made this possible. Views allow form data can be used to build websites automatically. So when a business owner fills out their directory submission form, Formidable Views allow their listing page & profile page to generate automatically.
Views are a powerful tool for website creation, but there is some set-up required. In the past, a Formidable directory site did require a bit of customization.
But after seeing so many successful directories built with Formidable, the new business directory plugin by Formidable has made building directory websites easy. Now you can use Formidable to build directories automatically!
What's included with the Formidable directory plugin?
With the Formidable directory plugin, you'll get everything included with Formidable Forms, plus the directory builder add-on. Swing by the directory pricing page and you'll see you can choose from two plans: Business or Elite.
Formidable Forms by itself includes a lot: every form building feature you could ask for plus all the integrations you need to build your directory site. The directory builder add-on makes building directory listings sites a simple affair.
Although this is not a free WordPress directory plugin, as the old saying goes: you get what you pay for.
Take a gander at the WordPress.org plugin directory. You'll see there are free solutions available, but none of them allow for paid listings for example. They also won't include premium features like custom fields and social media links for free in most cases.
Another thing free plugins won't include? A human plugin support team. Formidable has that and more. Let's take a closer look.
Build amazing directory websites
We mentioned earlier that Formidable's directory builder can help you build your directory site automatically. This is true no matter what type of directory you are building. However, Formidable includes three specific directory templates:
- Business directory
- Team directory
- User directory
Since we are learning how to create a business directory, let's see what's included if you choose that option. Here's what's included with a Formidable business directory:
- Embedded maps
- Reviews & ratings
- Listing owner contact
- Customizable forms & styles
- Front-end submissions
- Paid or free listings
- Multi-page listing submission form
The truth is there's actually a lot more included than that but... if we listed it all we would run out of space really quick! So rather than list all the features, we're going to show you how the installation process works.
The beautiful thing here is that building a business directory with WordPress & Formidable is as easy as clicking a few buttons! Just follow the installation wizard and that's it!
Other layout options for your business directory
Used alone, the Formidable directory plugin makes it easy for users to submit listings and display them in a grid-style directory with A-Z navigation.
If you'd prefer a table layout for your WordPress directory, then you can do this with the Posts Table Pro plugin. It works alongside the Formidable directory plugin to display your directory listings in a searchable, sortable table with filters. For larger directories, this can help people to find listings more easily.
You have full control over what information to display on the main directory page, and users can click through to a separate page for each listing.
What about WordPress directory themes?
Are there WordPress business directory themes? In a world where WordPress themes are everywhere, you better believe there are! But are they the best choice? We are biased, but we don't think so.
Here's why:
- Lack of support: WordPress themes are notoriously bad at support. This isn't a big deal if you buy a commercial theme like Astra. But with a niche business directory theme, you could be left in the dark.
- May not work with popular plugins: Plugin conflicts are common. It's better to go with a clean and stable theme as a foundation, then add plugins as you build the site. If your theme won't work with a plugin, you may be stuck. This is not true the other way around!
- Not always expandable: With a WordPress theme, you're often stuck with what you get. If it works, perfect. But even the most popular WordPress themes are only updated a couple of times per year at best. With a niche theme, that usually dips even lower.
For these reasons, we think it's better to go with a solid and stable theme, then add a few plugins to create your own custom solution. Remember, a plugin developer's main focus is creating a plugin that works with all themes.
Luckily, playing well with WordPress themes is something Formidable is renowned for. There's even a case where one of our users built a patient management system for a Cambodian hospital during his residency. He built the system in 2017 using Formidable... and it's still functioning today as of 2020... with no updates!
Getting started with your business directory listings site
To get started with the best WordPress business directory builder, all we need to do is follow these few steps:
- Install and activate the Formidable directory plugin
- Install and activate the directory add-on
- Follow the business directory setup wizard
- Check the autogenerated forms & pages
1. Install and activate the Formidable directory plugin
This part is pretty easy. To get started, head to our directory plugin pricing page and purchase the plugin. When you buy a Formidable directory plugin subscription, you get Formidable Forms + the directory add-on.
Usually, this process is as simple as installing any WordPress plugin, but in case you hit a snag, check out this guide. Of course, you can always connect with our support team if things aren't going as planned!
And by the way, our plugin has a 100% risk-free, money-back guarantee. Try Formidable for 14 days, and if you don't like it, we'll refund all your money. No questions asked!
2. Install and activate the directory add-on
By now you might be on a screen that shows the following image at the top:
If you are there, perfect! Keep following the wizard through and you'll be doing great.
If you aren't there, that's okay. In the WordPress admin, click on Formidable → Add-ons and then find the one labeled Directory. Install and activate that one.
3. Follow the business directory setup wizard
After that, you should be taken to the installation wizard directly. If you aren't, you can go to Formidable → Global Settings → Directory to find the same options we are covering below.
To build the forms, views, and pages you need for a business directory listings site, click on the Business Directory option. You can then choose your page titles for your listing submission page and your directory listing page.
4. Check the autogenerated forms & pages
Finally, you can check your autogenerated pages before publishing them. When they are creating with the wizard, they are saved as drafts by default.
Click on the View Page button to be taken to your business directory listing page.
You might want to check out the other autogenerated page too - the listings submission page.
What's next?
So there you have it. Just by following the installation guide, you end up with the main components you need to build a business directory listing site:
- Page & form for users to submit new listings
- Automatically populated main listings page
- Automatically generated business profile pages for each listing
Of course, you'll still need to create quite a bit of content surrounding these elements, but the fact that this much of the work is done automatically is awesome. Without this, you'd need to be a pretty good coder to get the job done.
What's next for your new web directory? The sky is the limit! It all depends on the kind of site you want to build. If you want to monetize, for example, you could take things to the next level with featured listings.
To set those up, you'd just need to add a checkbox to your listing submission form. And by the way, the shortcode you may have noticed on your automatically generated pages? Those can be placed anywhere you want on your site.
The customization options are endless! In the coming months, we'll surely be expanding with more directory focused content, so be sure to keep it locked to the Formidable blog for more tips on creating the best directory site imaginable.
Ready to build your business directory? Try Formidable risk-free for 14-days with our 100% money-back guarantee. Get started with the Formidable Directory.
Steve,
Thanks for posting this tutorial.
However, I think it would be great if you dig a little bit more into details and make it more advanced. For example, I miss a Payment step if directory site is paid. And how to allow users to edit their entries while in paid period without prompting users to pay again (I don't believe people will submit once and forget. They might want to fine tune, etc. How to prevent double payment when people update entries during paid period?)
If you put more details like this one, I think it will be really helpful to your customers.
Good luck,
George
Love the tutorial, I hope to see many more coming in the future. While this is a great overview of the capabilities of formidable, I'd love to see more explanatory steps of how to design the view and the detail pages with screenshots and code.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks! This post was intended to be more of an overview, but more posts in the future will detail out how to customize and style a view.
One great thing about our demos, is that you can see all the code used to create them by clicking the "view code for this page" link. Or you can even download the xml file and import all the forms and views needed to replicate the demo on your own site.
Nice demo. It would be great to see the next page (actually same page dust next data) change via Ajax rather than the whole page. I actually thought your demo went on further until I realised it was the next rows of data.
I see your point. I have changed my views to only show 5 entries without pagination to prevent this confusion.
Thanks for this! I have a spreadsheet of information to upload to my database - is it possible to do this in one go rather than filling in the form over and over?
Thanks!
Beth
you can import entries from a csv file using the import/export tool. Please post in our helpdesk if you need more help with this.
Thank you!
Can the view performm and display the result of a calculation? For example, the first entry shows that the number of classes a student has remaining is 20, then the second shows that they have 19. I really need this. Thanks.
Sorry for the delay in responding to this. Yes, you could do this in a couple ways. Please contact us in our help desk for help getting this implemented.
I should add that this is for my teaching business. I give private lessons and want students to be able to track how many classes they have taken out of their package.
Hey guys!
Keep up the awesome job with Formidable! Heard about the upcoming add ons 🙂 Would be a great thing to have. The site needs a redesign and prices should go up 🙂 Looking forward to see Formidable around for the long run
Thanks so much! We are working on a site redesign and some big new features and initiatives for our developer community.
Hello,
I tried to build a small directory, it works. Just one thing, its possible to upload a logo-file and show it on the listing page? Up to now I just see the URL to the picture after upload with the form, how I can show the picture?
thanks, Peter
Yes, this can be done. Please contact us in our HelpDesk for help getting this implemented.
Hello,
I would like to build a business directory maybe with the help of formidablepro. Because I can not find complete solution.
Can you tell me a live site where someone is running a business directory with formidablepro (up and running)?
Something like this: https://www.estheticon.com/surgeons
Thank you so much for your support.
I can't think of a customer's site with a directory right now, but have you seen our demos page? The job listing demo and star rating demo might help you see the plugin in action.
We are working on a new marketplace where solutions like the one you linked to above can be built and sold, but that marketplace isn't quite ready.
Additionally, we do offer a full 30 day refund. So you should have time to check out the plugin and make sure it does what you are hoping.
Thanks a lot for your answer.
So you say that the directory website which I posted in my first posting can be replicated with formidable pro?
Do you know a developer who is very familiar with this plugin and who could create a directory with the help of formidable pro?
Are the outputs (views) responsive? Or does this depend on the theme that I use?
Thank you very much.
Yes, this can be done with Formidable. Responsiveness will depend mostly on the theme, and the code used to build the View.
Hi Steve,
thanks for your answer. Another thing that I would like to do with formidable pro is to create review system (star rating). Customer should rate their experience that they had with our service.
Is there a way to make this system support schema.org microformat, so that google will show the ratings in the SERPs together with our website?
Does formidble pro support with schema.org, if not how can make it work with schema.org (for reviews)
thank you so much for your time
best
Mathias
I am seriously thinking of buying Formidable forms, but I am not sure where to address my question...I have tried the following forms software:
GRAVITY
CONTACT 7
VISUAL FORM BUILDER
BREEZING FORMS
NINJA
FORM MAKER
and some others...
Yours seems to have everything I need, except....
The contact us, does not have an option for sales questions. I have downloaded the "free" version, but that does not answer my question because my question is with an add on.
The question is, if I use the Mail Chimp add on, am I able to create professional auto-responder emails, because the email function that the software gives us is pretty ugly looking ... not professional at all. Most of the other softwares have this problem too.
This is the thing that most of these forms software seem to be missing...
Deborah S Nelson
What would be the best way to add geolocation to the directory list? So that a visitor could search for and display a specific location and see all listed service providers nearby on a map?
Is there a demo of the business directory?
Hi John, we are working on that as we speak - we will be releasing the business directory demo next week! Stay tuned 🙂
Any update on this? I'm having a hard time finding a demo as well. Your "Business Directory" demo here https://formidableforms.com/demos/ links here: https://formidableforms.com/demos/directory/. There isn't a demo there.
Thanks!
Sorry about that! Here’s a demo: https://sandbox.formidableforms.com/business-directory-demo/
Another vote for profile schema to be added to the profile pages. That's going to be a critical component for what I am working on.
Is it possible to create a directory that can be sorted by KIND of business? Like the old Yellow Pages? Looking up plumbers or painters or developers would show all the businesses that do those things. RIght now, I've got to search, but might miss a valid busienssifi use the wrong search term.
Thanks
Yes, this sounds like a good use case for Formidable Forms + Views