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Choosing a niche

Directory ideas that survive contact with reality

Most directory ideas fail the same way: the list is easy to assemble, so it already exists, or it is genuinely hard to assemble and nobody has looked for it. The gap between those two is where a directory works.

Four tests a niche has to pass

Run a candidate through these before you build anything. A niche that fails the fourth can still be worth doing; one that fails the first two is not.

  1. People search for it in words

    Someone types best X for Y, or X in Amsterdam. If the only way people find these things is by asking a friend, search will not bring you traffic and the directory has no distribution.

  2. The answer is scattered

    The information exists but sits in twenty places: vendor sites, forum threads, a PDF from 2019. Assembling it is tedious. Tedious is exactly what makes a directory valuable and what makes it defensible.

  3. Entries compare on the same axes

    If every entry can be described with the same handful of fields, you get filters, comparison pages, and a reason to come back. If each one is a special case, you have a blog, not a directory.

  4. Someone benefits from being listed

    A vendor, a studio, an organiser: somebody who gains from visibility. That is who eventually pays for a better position, and it is also who keeps your data current for free.

Eighteen worked examples

Filter by industry and by who the directory serves. Each one names the niche, the reason it holds up, and the fields the listings would need.

Industry

Who it serves

18 ideas

  • TechnologyBusinesses

    Self-hosted alternatives to paid SaaS

    Every team that has just had a price rise goes looking for this list, and it is genuinely annoying to assemble: you need the licence, the resource footprint, and whether the free tier is crippled. Vendors want to be on it.

    Fields the listings would need

    Licence, replaces which product, RAM needed, single sign-on, hosted option

  • TechnologyBusinesses

    Evaluation and observability tools for AI apps

    A fast-moving category where nobody has a full picture and everyone is choosing under deadline. The tools compare on the same axes, which is what makes filters useful rather than decorative.

    Fields the listings would need

    Self-hosted or cloud, tracing, dataset support, model coverage, pricing model

  • TechnologyConsumers

    Open-licence typefaces, sorted by what they are for

    Font catalogues are enormous and sorted by name. Nobody needs a font alphabetically; they need a condensed grotesque with real small caps that they are allowed to embed in a product.

    Fields the listings would need

    Licence, classification, weights, small caps, language coverage

  • LocalConsumers

    Repair shops, by what they will actually fix

    Right-to-repair pushed the demand up and the answers are still spread across forum posts. The unit is small, local and countable, which is the easiest kind of catalogue to keep honest.

    Fields the listings would need

    Categories repaired, brands accepted, turnaround, quote fee, mail-in

  • LocalConsumers

    Package-free and refill grocers

    A category people search for by town, where opening hours and what you can actually refill change often. Frequent change is a cost when you fill a directory by hand and an advantage when an agent does it.

    Fields the listings would need

    What you can refill, container policy, opening hours, card payment, delivery

  • LocalPractitioners

    Trades with their licence and insurance shown

    The information is public and fragmented across registries. Putting the licence number and its expiry on the listing is the whole product, and it is the reason a good tradesperson wants to be in it.

    Fields the listings would need

    Trade, licence number, expiry, insurance cover, service radius

  • BusinessBusinesses

    Coworking spaces rated on whether you can take a call

    Every coworking listing says fast wifi and great community. None of them say how many phone booths there are or whether the open floor is silent, which is the only thing a remote worker needs to know.

    Fields the listings would need

    Phone booths, noise level, desk types, day rate, meeting rooms

  • BusinessBusinesses

    Grants and subsidies by sector and region

    Public money is announced in scattered PDFs with deadlines, and missing the deadline means missing the round entirely. A directory with a date field beats a search engine here.

    Fields the listings would need

    Sector, region, amount, deadline, who may apply

  • BusinessPractitioners

    Certification auditors, by standard

    A company chasing a specific certification needs an auditor accredited for that exact standard in its country. That is a two-field query nobody can run today without three phone calls.

    Fields the listings would need

    Standards covered, accreditation body, countries, lead time, remote audits

  • HealthConsumers

    Clinical trials recruiting near you

    The registries exist and are close to unreadable for the people they are meant to reach. Restating them in plain language, filtered by condition and travel distance, is a real service.

    Fields the listings would need

    Condition, phase, sites, eligibility, travel reimbursed

  • HealthConsumers

    Bakeries that are safe for a specific allergy

    Gluten-free is not the same as coeliac-safe, and the difference is a dedicated production line. Searchable demand, high stakes, and an answer that currently lives in support-group threads.

    Fields the listings would need

    Allergens excluded, separate production, certification, delivery, order notice

  • HealthPractitioners

    Therapists by modality, language and waiting time

    The two fields people actually filter on are the two nobody publishes: which language the session is in, and how long the wait is. Practitioners with free slots have every reason to keep both current.

    Fields the listings would need

    Modality, languages, waiting time, remote sessions, reimbursement

  • EducationConsumers

    Bootcamps that publish their outcomes

    Listing only the schools that publish audited placement figures turns a crowded category into a short, opinionated list. The editorial rule is the differentiator, not the catalogue.

    Fields the listings would need

    Field, format, duration, published placement rate, financing

  • EducationConsumers

    Open textbooks mapped to a curriculum

    Free textbooks exist in quantity. Finding one that matches the syllabus a teacher is actually teaching, at the right level and in the right language, does not.

    Fields the listings would need

    Subject, level, licence, language, curriculum match

  • EducationPractitioners

    Accredited continuing-education courses by profession

    Regulated professions have to log a set number of hours each year with accredited providers. The deadline is annual and the search happens under time pressure, which is excellent traffic.

    Fields the listings would need

    Profession, accrediting body, credit hours, format, renewal period

  • TravelConsumers

    Sleeper trains, route by route

    Night trains keep being reintroduced and quietly cancelled, and no operator publishes a map across borders. Enthusiast demand, poor incumbent answers, and entries that compare on identical fields.

    Fields the listings would need

    Route, operator, nights running, cabin types, bicycles carried

  • TravelConsumers

    Step-free stations and what step-free means there

    Official accessibility data is technically available and practically unusable, and getting it wrong strands somebody on a platform. A directory that records the lift, the gap and the staffed hours is worth a great deal to a small audience.

    Fields the listings would need

    Lifts, platform gap, staffed hours, accessible toilet, assistance notice

  • TravelBusinesses

    Film-friendly towns and what the permit costs

    Location scouts work through personal contacts because the public information is a phone number per council. Permit cost and turnaround are exactly the structured fields a scout would filter on.

    Fields the listings would need

    Location types, permit cost, turnaround, road closures, rebate scheme

Have one in mind?

Describe it in your AI chat. The first thing that comes back is the field structure, which is the fastest way to find out whether the niche has one.

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