phpLD version 5 has several features that make it easy for you to setup a directory business built around business directory listings.

One of the most important strategies to understand with business directories is the importance of NAP (Name Address Phone). Businesses who are hoping to rank well in search engines for local searches on places like Google Maps want to increase the incidence of their NAP on the web. Having a matching NAP across many directories has been shown to improve local search result rankings. Built into phpLD is the Business Listing Link Type. Simply turn this on under Link Types in admin and you can start accepting submissions to your directory for local businesses.

As for a nice presentation, phpLD has some great widgets that you can display on your homepage or categories to provide a nice presentation of the business listings in your directory. The Vector Map widget uses vector maps of the United States, Europe or the World where you can assign categories or other link locations to parts of the map, so for example if someone clicks on a state, they go to a category in your directory of business directory listings for that state.

Another great phpLD widget is the Google Maps widget where you can show multiple business listings on a google map on your homepage or a category page. If the user clicks on the map on one of the business listing icons, they can click on a link and be taken to the business listing detail page where they can learn more about the business, get the NAP information or visit the business’ website, though for business listings a URL is not required.