A directory website is a website through which you can list products and services that visitors can browse. This is one of the most popular website types from which you make money. Though we may not notice at first look, we frequently visit these websites—Facebook, eBay, and Yahoo being some of the most popular directory websites.
If you have decided to create one of your own, you have to first select a directory theme, and WordPress gives you a wide variety to choose from. Let’s look into the features you need in a theme.
What Features Do WordPress Directory Themes Need?
There are numerous successful directory websites out there, and none of them got their success by accident. With the right tools at hand, establishing and maintaining a directory website is easy. One of the main things to keep in mind is that you need a suitable WordPress directory theme, and to make your choices easier, we’re listing the features that these themes should have.
Firstly, remember that the main feature of directory websites is listing products and services for your visitors, and that should be your primary goal. Imagine a scenario where your directory website is going great, visitors are interested in your sales, and you receive a pop-up telling you can’t list any more products. To avoid this, ensure that the theme you’re choosing has a powerful structure and can handle tons of listings.
You’d know from your experience that time is money. However, that doesn’t apply to businesses only, but to customers as well. If you have hundreds or thousands of products, no customer would like to wander through numerous pages to find the product they’re looking for. To make your visitors’ experience as smooth as possible, make sure that the theme you’re selecting allows you to add a search function, preferably with advanced options. That way, users can find what they’re looking for much quicker.
Another great feature that you should look for in your theme is the Reviews section. This helps your website and products be more credible and may help users identify who to work with. In many cases, that can be the difference between earning a new customer or not.
Best WordPress Directory Themes
Now that you know some of the must-have features, the next step is to select a suitable theme for you. To help you with that, we’ve shortlisted nine great WordPress directory themes along with their features.
DirectoryPRO
If you’re looking for the best WordPress directory theme, it’s hard to pick one; however, DirectoryPRO is one of the best themes out there. This theme lets you easily create an online directory portal, through which you can list categorized items of any type, such as companies, shops, or websites.
DirectoryPRO has full Gutenberg integration, which allows you to easily edit directory items. Moreover, this theme comes with numerous advanced features such as filters, through which visitors can make more advanced searches, and getting directions, to precisely lead visitors to your locations. Moreover, if you wish to gain more trust from your visitors, you can do that by adding item reviews.
Another great feature of this theme is that it supports woo-commerce payment gateways, such as PaPal and Stripe, so you can easily monetize your website.
More Info - DownloadDemoListify
Listify is an excellent combination of good looks and necessary features to help you build an eye-catching directory website. It’s easy to install, and the demo import will get your website up and running in no time.
This theme has everything you need to build a directory website. The WooCommerce Bookings plugin allows users to save a listing for later. Moreover, users can search for a listing by location or zip code, and add reviews for different products.
Furthermore, Listify also comes with three contact form plugins and an advanced search form that helps your users efficiently sort through the listing.
More Info - DownloadDemoBrikk
Brikk is a powerful directory theme suitable for directory websites such as bars, restaurants, and other similar businesses. The functionality of this theme is ideal if you want to list accommodation that visitors can book online.
The booking features of this theme are flexible, and you can incorporate them in numerous ways. You can enable hourly bookings, daily bookings, as well as bookings for more extended periods. Moreover, you can decide whether you want the bookings to be automatically accepted or be set to pending until you manually review them.
Other features of Brikk include a ready-to-use demo import, chat messaging system, and nearby listings through which users can see listings within a certain radius. Moreover, you can monetize your website by adding subscriptions packages or charging a one-time fee.
More Info - DownloadDemoListeo
True to its name, Listeo is a wp theme directory used for listing all types of products online. With a powerful page builder and ready-to-use demos, your directory website will be ready with just a few clicks.
This theme has all the features you’d want in a great directory theme. Visitors can use your website to make restaurant reservations, book hotel rooms, and much more through its built-in booking system. Moreover, you can also enable commissions if you want to set a fee for each booking made through your website.
Amongst other features, Listeo is compatible with numerous listing styles, map support, user ratings, and private messaging.
More Info - DownloadDemoListable
Listable is a professional-looking WordPress directory theme with fantastic monetization options to build a profitable directory website. You can sell listing packages, subscription-based packages, or take a fee from a service offered through your website.
A great feature of this theme is that it doesn’t force you to use all of its features. Listable is designed to adapt to your needs; that’s why you can enable only the features you plan to use. Simplicity has never been more effortless since Listable allows you to add a search form on the homepage so that visitors can start searching your listings as soon as they load the page.
Last but not least, Listing allows you to create numerous payment plans, but you can also include a free entry-level option.
More Info - DownloadDemoWorkScout
WorkScout is a WordPress theme designed exclusively for recruiters, employment agencies, and other similar businesses. Through its numerous plugins, you’ll be able to quickly and easily create a job board website.
This theme is characterized by its simplicity, which makes it easier for visitors to browse through your website. Its advanced filtering system allows users to quickly filter their search and find the job ads or resumes they’re looking for. Moreover, WorkScout has a built-in search suggestions system through which they can select from suggestions instead of manually typing a complete query.
Additionally, this theme has the WP Job Manager plugin, which helps you manage applications, resumes, and allow users to save their job searches and receive notification via email.
More Info - DownloadDemoTownHub
As the name suggests, TownHub is a WordPress theme designed to help you create and manage a directory site that deals with everything that is city-related. Its five beautifully designed homepages allow you to quickly choose the look that you wish.
This theme has a very sophisticated search bar through which you can search for places, events, restaurants, or hotels. Moreover, TownHub allows you to add a testimonials section, through which your visitors can share their thoughts on user experience.
Another great feature of this theme is that the author can answer questions about different items or features. Moreover, TownHub is translation-ready, which is more than necessary for a theme of this kind.
More Info - DownloadDemodList
No matter what kind of directory site you’re thinking of building, dList provides you with all the resources to create it. This theme comes with great features such as guest submissions, pricing plans, advanced search, and much more.
If you have many listings to scale and are concerned about memory, that is no issue with dList. This theme can scale up to millions of listings while ensuring low memory consumption and coherent execution. Furthermore, all of this can be done automatically by importing countless listings through the CSV bulk Importer.
Last but not least, if you want to monetize your website, dList’s checkout system includes Stripe integration, PayPal integration, and local bank transaction.
More Info - DownloadDemoGolo
Golo is a theme that is mainly designed for travel-focused listings. Through this directory theme, WordPress allows you to create travel-related content, city guides, and much more.
It doesn’t take much to see that this theme’s templates are simple yet elegant, and they offer a variety of options to choose from. Whether you want to build a workplace listing, city travel guide, or business listing—Golo can do it all. Moreover, this theme supports three booking types: appointment booking, inquiry form, and affiliate booking.
Finally, through advanced filters and smart search, users can search for listings, cities, restaurants, and much more with great ease.
More Info - DownloadDemoOnce you’ve decided to build your directory site, you’ll have to choose a great theme for it. Most of the time, users get stuck choosing between quality and design. Luckily for you, all of the themes mentioned above offer the best of both worlds and no matter which one you choose, your directory website will be top-notch.