People are always in search of the best possible service or business that can cater to their needs. Businesses also need to promote themselves and reach out to potential customers in an effective way. What is the place where both these parties can meet? One such place is a business directory or yellow pages where businesses and services are listed. The online version of these is directory websites. Directory websites are immensely popular. They offer an easy and convenient way to get paid for the listing. If you want to create a directory website using WordPress, here are the best WordPress directory themes you can use to build your site.
You can try many web directory niches for your website, e.g., a job board, car dealership website, real estate, local businesses, services, tourist attractions, events, classified adverts, and other directory listings. Building a website means to consider a lot of things. However, having a good directory theme is a great start. Below you will find a sorted list of directory themes that you can use to decide a theme that can be an excellent fit for your directory website.
Free Directory Themes
There are many WordPress directory themes that are available for free. Free does not always mean lesser quality. There are a couple of themes where you would find premium-level functionality and professional design. Looking at the broad spectrum, we can notice that free themes offer limited functionality, and many premium features are missing in the package. Yet, they can be a good start if you are tight on budget. Once you start earning significant cash flow from your free directory theme, you can switch to a premium directory theme. Nonetheless, there is no harm in trying out these free directory themes. You will surely get an idea of what your ideal directory website should have once you experiment with these free WordPress directory themes.
1. Directory Starter
As the name suggests, Directory Starter is a simple theme to start your directory website quickly. This directory theme’s main feature is that you can easily create child themes as per your liking.
The theme is customizable, and you can directly edit the theme to adjust it to the look and feel of your preference. The theme is responsive and works well on all devices. Overall, this is a lightweight theme.
2. ListingHive
ListingHive is a multipurpose directory theme that you can use to create a directory website for any niche. It is customizable and adapts to your needs. Some of the use cases include a business directory, job board, real estate, classifieds – you get the idea. Virtually any type of directory and listing website can be designed using this theme.
With free extensions, you can add to the functionality of this theme. You can set up advanced filters for any listing attributes of your choice. Also, it allows users to submit listings from the front end as well. Overall, this is a powerful and multipurpose theme you should definitely try out.
3. BizDir
BizDir is a multipurpose theme that’s specifically designed for directory listing websites. This is a child theme of Customify, a very popular, fast, lightweight, and responsive theme. BizDir also uses the functionality of the triListing plugin to add the directory listing features.
With this theme, you can get started with your directory in a few clicks. You can add custom fields, accounts, and profiles. The theme features an advanced search form with filters to narrow down search results. The inclusion of reviews is another feature worth a mention. The plugin boasts of being a one-stop directory listing theme solution. Try it out to see if it can work the magic for you.
4. Robolist Lite
Robolist Lite is a stunning directory theme that offers a comprehensive set of features to make any directory listing shine. First of all, this theme effectively uses the BootStrap framework to make the website responsive. Your created directory will look great on any device.
Robolist Lite comes integrated with the WP Job Manager plugin that helps you create a powerful job listing. You can add any profession to your job listing. The theme is also great for business agencies, corporate sites, hotels, real estate, and so on. You can give extensive information about your listed items with the help of images and text. There are ample functionalities available with the help of extensions. Its pixel perfect design is definitely a plus point of this free theme.
5. Robojob Lite
If you exclusively want to create a job listing, then this theme is for you.
Robojob Lite focuses on creating a professional job board and directory. It offers some great features. The theme comes integrated with the WP Job Manager plugin. You can add any job type to your directory.
There are extensive customization options available. The theme provides front end CV/resume submission options for users. The search form is included in the banner section. Users can also apply filters while searching for a job. This is an SEO optimized plugin. It is also ready for translation.
Paid Directory Themes
There are very few options available as far as a WordPress directory theme is concerned. Directory themes require extensive functionalities. Complex functions are a part of the package. That’s why you won’t find much for free. Yet, as soon as you are ready to pay for what you want, you will see that there are a good number of premium themes to choose from.
Many premium directed themes come with pre-installed plugins that add functionalities to the theme. Customer support is definitely a criterion where premium themes fare better than free ones. Layout wise, premium themes offer more customizations. Often, premium themes have a drag and drop page builder with useful elements that make page building effective and user-friendly. The search function is where premium themes truly excel. You can search in-depth and with filters. The smooth functioning of search is an advantage with premium themes.
1. DirectoryPro
DirectoryPro is a premium directory theme that has received quite a number of updates over the past few years. It is a popular theme with more than 14,000 active installations. The theme uses OpenStreetMap to display map elements. The theme is already translated into 28 languages.
This theme provides three layout options – Half Layout, Full Width Collapsed Layout, and Standard Full Width Layout. 3D Google Map is supported. The theme is fully responsive and works well on all screen sizes. You get a drag and drop page builder that includes more than 30 useful elements such as Directory Items, Taxonomy List, Posts, Promotion, Events, Job Offers, Services, Portfolio, FAQs, Testimonials, Members, among others. The plugin includes the Slider Revolution plugin to help you add a responsive slider to your website.
Google fonts, Google Rich Snippets, Front end registration for guests, Advertising spaces, Google Analytics & Google Maps integration are some of the features included with the theme.
The theme is available on ThemeForest for a Regular license at $69.
2. Listify
Listify is surely one of the most popular premium WordPress directory themes out there. It has more than 17k sales. Listify boldly claims to be the only WordPress directory theme you will ever need to create any kind of directory.
Listify starts with a few add-ons that add to the theme’s functionality. The free add-ons include Favorites, Labels, Statistics, Reviews, Registration, Contact Listing, and Predefined Regions. The paid ones include Products, Claim Listing, Extended Location, Add-ons bundle, etc.
Listify supports geolocation to allow users to see deals related to their location. The theme offers extensive ways to earn from the website: charging users to claim a listing on your website, offer paid listings, monthly subscriptions, advertising, reservations, and many more.
This theme is available on ThemeForest for $69.
3. ListingPro
With more than 17.7K sales, ListingPro is a strong contender to be the most useful directory theme for WordPress. There are many features this plugin supports as add-ons or with the help of a plugin.
You can import listings in bulk. The theme provides prime spots to get benefitted from Google Adsense. Social login is supported with the help of a plugin. The theme includes three payment gateways: Stripe, PayPal, and 2Checkout.
The search function works well with the auto location, instant suggestions, broad, and exact match modes. You can create custom listings using the drag and drop form builder. The user rating system is a major enhancement that allows category based multi-criteria ratings. Emojis and reactions are supported in the rating system.
Overall, you can say that this is a feature-rich theme with a different approach to creating a directory website.
4. Jobify
If you are creating a job board, you should definitely check out Jobify – a theme specially designed for job listings. This theme has everything you need to create a professional job board.
You get lots of predesigned page templates to start with. You also get support for the WP Job Manager plugin. Searching for jobs and employers is fast and easy – thanks to the enhanced search functionality and filtering modes. You can also search for jobs by location. You get the control of the website layout as the homepage is completely customizable. The theme is mobile-friendly and completely responsive.
Subscription or a one-time fee can be used as a payment method for creating a job listing.
The theme is available on ThemeForest for $69.
5. MyListing
MyListing is another directory theme that promises to be a one-stop solution for all types of directory and listing websites. The theme offers unlimited listing types. You can configure the listing page for each type of listing.
The powerful search feature is worth a mention. You can search by geolocation with Google Maps and Mapbox support. Proximity and other filters can be applied to search terms. Filters are also customizable.
The theme offers a dashboard to each user, which is unique to them. It shows listing statistics, promotions, and bookmarks and a way to manage and edit the listings. The theme comes with the Elementor page builder to create pages with drag and drop. There are many plugins that are supported by this theme.
More than 11k users have purchased this theme. It is available on ThemeForest for $59.
6. Listable
Listable is perhaps a bit costlier directory and listing theme when you compare others on this list. The theme does have an offering that stands on its own. The theme has been sold to more than 8k users and enjoys an average rating of 4.42 out of 5.
The theme offers extra functionality in the form of free plugins – keeping itself free from unnecessary distractions. You can use the plugins or extensions as you need. With WooCommerce support, you can monetize in a number of ways; charge for each submission, add subscription, paid listings, etc.
The theme offers beautifully designed style presets to help you get inspired about creating your unique website with lots of customization. The layout control is easy, and you can move sections around just like widgets.
The theme costs $85 on ThemeForest.
So this is the free tour we took you on for some of the most popular WordPress directory themes. Both the paid as well as free themes have their advantages. We hope this article inspires you to get started with your WordPress directory site. If you need high-performance hosting for your site, we are here for you. Feel free to reach out to us through the comment section. If you have any questions regarding WordPress, please contact our team of WordPress express. We are happy to help you.
