A business directory website for the outsourcing sector
An outsourcing sector client launched a moderated business directory website of business process outsourcing companies operating in South Africa, searchable by category and province, with listings and approvals managed without a developer.
The short version
- Challenge
No single, curated place to find and compare South African outsourcing providers.
- Approach
A moderated directory with structured profiles, provincial search and listing tiers.
- Result
Live with 42 company profiles at launch and an approval workflow the owner controls.
- Sector
- Business process outsourcing and global business services
- Region
- South Africa, national
- Delivered
- Moderated directory platform on WordPress
What needed solving
International and local buyers looking to outsource to South Africa had no single, curated place to find and compare providers.
A useful directory had to be trusted, so unvetted or spam listings could not appear. It had to be searchable by service category and location, and it needed a commercial model that could sustain it.
How we did it
How we approached the work, step by step.
A structured data model
Every company is a structured profile, organised by service category and by location down to all nine provinces.
Moderation built in
Companies submit their own listings, which wait for review and only go live once approved.
Listing tiers
The directory supports free and premium listings, with premium profiles shown first, so the owner can introduce paid placement when ready.
Search and filter
Visitors narrow results by category and location instead of scrolling a long list.
Built to hand over
The directory's core structure is independent of the theme, and the owner received a full administrator manual.
What the business has now
The directory is live on its own domain, launching with 42 published company profiles. Buyers can search by category and province, companies can apply to be listed, and the owner controls what is published.
Buyers stop using a directory the first time they hit a spam listing or a company that no longer trades. Approval before publishing guards against that, and structured fields let Google and AI assistants compare providers like for like.
Questions, answered
Can WordPress run a business directory?
Yes. With custom content types, structured fields and filtering, WordPress can run a fully searchable, moderated directory that the owner manages from the dashboard.
How do you keep spam out of a business directory?
New submissions are saved for review and only published after approval, so nothing reaches the public directory without a person checking it first.
How can a directory website make money?
Through listing tiers. Premium listings receive priority placement, while a free tier keeps the directory comprehensive.
What should a business directory listing include?
The company name, a short description, its service categories, location, contact details, website and logo. Keeping every listing in the same structured fields is what lets buyers compare providers like for like.
Can businesses submit their own directory listings?
Yes. Companies submit their listing through a form on the website, and the directory owner reviews and approves it before it goes live, which keeps admin low without giving up control of quality.
Have a similar challenge?
Tell us what your business needs and we will come back to you the same working day with the right approach.