SEO for local business directory type site

[brfieger]

I am thinking about creating a local business directory type website that lists all local Tattoo Shops. I am familiar with both local and global SEO and how to differentiate between them, however, I am not sure how I should approach this type of website. It isn't an actual business, but I want to target local searches that are looking for tattoo shops.

In other words, when someone types in "tattoo shops" or "tattoo shops near me", or "tattoo parlors", I want the website to appear. Is this something that is manageable, or will the individual Tattoo Shop websites always show before mine since they are real local businesses with google+ pages?

[RyanPurkey]

I would look at generalized searches such as "tattoo shops (city name)" and see what kinds of sites rank well aside from the actual businesses. Several sites do make the first page for things like this, such as Yelp, Best ## shops in City Name pages, best artists, and so on. Pick some markets that are way more competitive than yours and see what kind of backlink profile they have, level of social interaction, freshness of content, and so on.  That should give you plenty to consider and help you decide whether or not to pursue it.  Cheers!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi There!

Chances are, this is going to be an uphill battle; the ability to compete successfully with the likes of Google's own location-based packs of results + organic results featuring individual business websites + powerhouse directories like Yelp is going to depend on the resources you have to put into the development and marketing of the directory.

The competition is stiff for anyone entering the directory scene these days, but if you're creating something that doesn't yet exist, the best hope would be in becoming THE authoritative source for the niche. What can you do that will add value users can't get from Google 7-packs or Yelp's reviewers? What kind of content can you create that will earn you a spot amongst these already-established players? These would be the questions I would be asking myself to determine whether I wanted to dive into this new venture.