Thursday, 25 February 2021

Best WordPress Directory Plugins

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A functional online directory plugin will help you deliver business or personal information by location or category for internal or external use. 

Whether you want to build a glossary of names and terms for your employees or a comprehensive business index, a good directory plugin for your WordPress website will help you do just that. 

Directory plugins serve a simple purpose: to create a user-friendly database with up-to-date details for both your customers and internal team. Your plugin of choice will give you access to this information along with pictures, location information, and contact details. 

As there are many directory plugin options out there, I’m here to make it easier for you by narrowing it down to the top five best directory plugins for your WordPress website—so you won’t have trouble finding the right one for you. 

The Top 5 Options for Directory Plugins 

#1 – Business Directory – The Best for Extensive Directory Categories 

If you’re looking for a wide variety of directory categories to choose from, the Business Directory plugin is an excellent option. 

This plugin allows you to easily build the directory you want by seamlessly pairing it with any WordPress website. 

It doesn’t matter what type of directory you wish to build because the Business Directory plugin has it all. The plugin covers the basic local business directories as well as employee, member, restaurant, medical, tour and travel, hotel, software review sites, and book review site directories. 

Along with its extensive category list, Business Directory offers a simple installation process that WordPress users can rely on. 

With its easy directory templates, you can change the style and layouts to suit your preferences. This plugin also lets you have full-field control to create your own custom fields for simple list navigation.  

Some other helpful features include: 

  • Free and paid submissions for extra traffic or revenue 
  • Mobile-friendly listings 
  • Google maps 
  • PayPal and Stripe integration 
  • Full image support 
  • Rating module 

Business Directory offers three pricing plans, including: 

  • Basic: $199 per year for one site, unlimited listings, and one year of support 
  • Pro: $399 per year for up to five sites with all basic features and priority support (most popular)
  • Elite: $599 per year for unlimited sites with all pro features and all directory themes

These pricing plans may be quite expensive for some, so I recommend the Business Directory plugin for those who need a diverse range of categories for their directory. All pricing plans come with a 14-day money-back guarantee. Try it today.

#2 – GeoDirectory – The Best Customizable Directory Plugin for WordPress

Customization is important for directory plugins, which is where GeoDirectory comes in. GeoDirectory is an excellent option for website owners who are looking for ultimate flexibility and customization options. 

With its incredible compatibility, this plugin works with any WordPress theme and allows you to easily customize your page the same way you do for your actual website and theme. GeoDirectory also lets you customize 40+ widgets, shortcodes, and blocks, and all features are available in any format. 

This plugin offers an intuitive drag-and-drop tool that helps you organize and reorder listing pages while easily adding customized tabs, fields, and content. 

Custom fields also come with a fully customizable and unique badge system that you can include in your listings. These badges include terms such as new, featured, and recently updated. You can also add badges with counts, video icons, and social links. 

By using GeoDirectory, your WordPress website will benefit from multiple advanced features, including: 

  • Add business hours to any listing 
  • Ratings and reviews 
  • Developer-friendly system  
  • Pre-built templates 
  • Advanced integrations 

As one of the most comprehensive directory plugins on the web, GeoDirectory offers four different pricing plans: 

  • Four Months: $99 paid every four months 
  • Six Months: $129 paid every six months 
  • One Year: $199 paid every 12 months (most popular) 
  • Lifetime: $995 paid once 

Every plan includes all products, add-ons, and premium support for the corresponding period. If recurring subscriptions aren’t your thing, GeoDirectory offers single four, six, and 12-month plans. A 30-day money-back guarantee covers all plans, except for the Lifetime tier. Learn more.

#3 – Connections Business Directory – The Best Free WordPress Directory Plugin

With its high-quality and supportive features, Connections Business Directory is a great free option for those looking for a starter plugin. With over 900,000 downloads, this plugin will help you seamlessly integrate your customized directory with your WordPress website. 

The Connections Business Directory system and database have been carefully crafted for maximum compatibility with WordPress, so your installation experience is smooth and simple—especially for website owners with little technical knowledge. 

The plugin is also completely scalable and gives you the option to manage hundreds of entries within your directory. 

Another outstanding feature of Connections Business Directory is the robust templates. For a free plugin, it offers you a decent range of templates to get you started—with a template pro package available for an additional cost. 

Apart from it being free, which is a huge bonus, Connections Business Directory has prominent features, such as: 

  • 30+ languages are translation ready 
  • Many free and premium extensions 
  • Repeatable fields 
  • Free support forum 
  • Developer-friendly with open APIs 

As you can install Connections Business Directory for free, they don’t have any pricing plans. However, you can purchase premium add-ons and extensions for an affordable price. Some of the most popular add-ons include the Widget Pack for $9.99 and the Custom Category Order for $4.99.

Template bundles include: 

  • Extension Pro Pack: $29.99 for one site 
  • Template Pro Pack: $59.99 for one site 
  • Pro Pack: $74.99 for one site

Although these prices are very affordable, it’s also important to create a budget not to overspend on the extras. In that case, you may find a different directory plugin with additional features for around the same price.

#4 – Advanced Classifieds and Directory Pro – The Best WordPress Plugin with Multifunctional Features

Create a powerful business directory using the Advanced Classifieds and Directory Pro (ACADP) plugin. With its unique unlimited features, you can build an advanced directory from scratch with little to no effort. 

Even though this plugin offers customizable settings and layouts for an easy view of your listings, the multifunctional widgets are by far the best feature to take advantage of. 

ACADP has a wide variety of WordPress-compatible widgets that offer a more convenient way for you to add and manage content on your website without complex code, making it a perfect tool for beginners. 

ACADP specifically designs the widgets to showcase listing-related information and tools for easy navigation. The widgets include ACADP search/filter, categories, locations, listings, listing address, listing contact, and listing video. 

Your website will easily support these widgets and all users need to do is hover and click on the widget they need for extra information. 

Being quite a comprehensive plugin, you will benefit from many features, including: 

  • Advertiser and user panel functions 
  • Backend management 
  • Email notifications 
  • Bookmark tools with advanced search and filtering 
  • Unlimited listings, categories, locations, and custom fields

ACADP has two pricing plans you can pay for monthly, yearly, or with a one-time life fee, which includes: 

  • Starter: Free and includes one site with unlimited listings, categories, locations, and custom fields plus email templates.
  • Professional: $9.99 per month, $95.98 per year, or $289.99 lifetime and includes one site with all starter features and payment gateways.

ACADP offers between three and five sites on the Professional plan, but you will have to pay additional costs according to how many sites you want. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee for all plans and a 20% discount on the lifetime plan. 

#5 – Name Directory – The Best Directory Plugin for an Online Glossary Builder

Name Directory is another free plugin, however, it’s a little different from the other options on this list as it isn’t a standard business index plugin. If you are a beginner looking for a more basic database that can build online glossaries for your WordPress website, Name Directory is an excellent option. 

With a similar control panel view to the WordPress administration panel, you will have a simple time adding to, navigating, and managing your online glossaries through Name Directory. You can add multiple directories with this plugin with simple shortcodes to copy and paste into the database. 

Every online glossary you build also has a few customization options to alter the directory’s layout and functionality. 

Even though this is a basic directory, there are still a wide variety of configuration options you can choose from to help maintain your online glossaries. 

Some of these include the option to show/hide title, description, and search function, select the number of columns to display, enter the subject of the directory, and limit the number of words in your description with a ‘read more’ link. 

Because it is an entirely free plugin, there are limited features, but Name Directory includes: 

  • An in-depth support forum with the developers 
  • Import CSV files 
  • Customization for listings 
  • Language support 

Name Directory is free to download and install. However, the developer team offers paid customization for anyone looking at a more extensive plugin at a low price. 

What I Looked at To Find The Best Directory Plugin for WordPress

Now that you know my top five recommendations for the best directory plugin for WordPress, it’s time for you to look for the right product for your website. 

To make it easier for you, I narrowed down the top three criteria that helped me find the best options above. All you have to do is weigh up these criteria against your personal needs to find the perfect plugin for you. 

Not every plugin will have all three criteria, but it’s important to find a plugin with at least one or two of these for you to use your website to its maximum potential. 

Customization for Listings 

Being able to customize your old and new listings is paramount to the success of your business index. 

Having a flexible and customizable plugin like GeoDirectory will make sure your listings are up-to-date for your users. 

Not being able to customize your directory will heavily impact your business due to lack of functionality, so it’s imperative to find a plugin that offers at least some customizing options. 

Rating and Review System

A rating and review system is paramount for letting your users express their opinions about your listed businesses. 

Just like the Business Directory Plugin that offers a rating module, it helps to bring more inclusivity to your website by allowing users to rate businesses on a scale of one to five. 

Plus, ratings and reviews help users decide on the most trusted service, and you can risk losing business without it. 

Bookmarking Tools 

A plugin that offers any sort of bookmarking tool will help transform your website. 

ACADP is one of the directory plugins that have this tool alongside advanced searching and filtering features. 

This tool will allow your users to bookmark individual listings for future reference, making it incredibly convenient while saving time. 

Your business index won’t completely suffer without it, but it’s a handy tool that will increase consistent traffic for your website.

Conclusion 

Finding the best directory plugin for your WordPress website depends on a few factors like customization, a rating and review systems, and bookmarking tools, among other features. 

Looking for these elements is a great place to start, as it will ensure you get the maximum support from your desired plugin. 

I’d recommend the GeoDirectory and Business Directory Plugin to anyone looking for extensive and highly customizable directory plugins for your WordPress website. 

GeoDirectory is the most customizable option on the list, with excellent WordPress compatibility and an intuitive interface. As a developer-friendly system, anyone can transform and customize the pre-existing databases to suit your every need. 

Business Directory Plugin is also great for extensive categories. If you have multiple niches and locations you wish to cater to, this plugin has it all in terms of options. It’s also mobile-friendly and has great payment integration options if you want to earn as you go. 

That being said, the other three directory plugins are excellent options that highly suit beginners. 

Here’s a quick recap:

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