Business directory software people trust.
Launch a local business directory like a Yelp for your town or trade. Yclas gives you business pages with opening hours and an Open now filter, owners who claim and manage their listing, reviews with replies, photos and awards, quote requests matched to nearby businesses, and paid placements, deals and banners to earn from.
Free for 15 days · No credit card · Free listings for businesses, paid extras for you
A directory for any place, or any trade.
Turn a site into a directory, or run listings and businesses side by side. The directory parts work alongside classifieds, so a town site can have both.
A business directory, page by page.
Real screenshots of Front Range Local, a demo directory made with Yclas. The businesses and reviews are made up; the pages are the real thing.
A proper page for every business.
Every business gets its address, phone, website, social links, services with prices, photos and a map. Opening hours show an "Open now" or "Closed" badge, special hours cover holidays, and visitors can search for what is open right now.
- Special hours for up to 30 dates, and hours past midnight handled properly.
- Attributes people filter on: wheelchair accessible, parking, free Wi-Fi, accepts cards, and women-, veteran- or family-owned, as the business declares.
- Branches: up to 20 locations per business, each with its own address, phone, hours and pin on the map.
- LocalBusiness structured data with address, coordinates, phone and opening hours, so search engines understand each page.
Fill the directory, then let owners take over.
Import businesses in bulk, then let each owner claim their page with an email at their own website's domain. Unclaimed pages move to them straight away; disputed ones go to your queue with a record of who decided and when.
- Import from a CSV file, or from Google Places with your own key: up to 60 results per search, skipping closed businesses and ones you already have.
- A six-digit code by email, valid for 30 minutes, with limits against abuse.
- Emails at every step: to the new manager, the previous owner and your team.
- Licensed and Insured badges for businesses whose documents your team has checked, valid for a year.
Google Places import uses the site owner's own Google key and is billed by Google; it does not import photos.
Reviews with replies, photos, criteria and awards.
Customers rate businesses and the best rise to the top. Businesses reply in public, reviewers add photos, and you choose up to five criteria per category, such as quality, price and service, each rated on its own.
- Review invitations by email or a printable QR poster for the counter, with limits so nobody is pestered.
- A review badge businesses can put on their own website, linking back to you.
- Awards: "Best of" your site each year, for businesses with at least five reviews and 4.5 stars or more, in the top 10% of their category.
- Review guard: reviews that look like they come from the business itself, or from one network reviewing many places, wait for you to check them. The star rating is never a reason to hold a review.
The gist of 50 reviews, in three sentences.
Once a business has five reviews, an AI summary at the top of its page says what customers like and what they don't, with pros and cons, and is rewritten as reviews come in. Visitors can also ask a question about a business, answered only from its page and its reviews.
- Labelled as AI, and written in the background, never while a visitor waits.
- Honest answers: when the page doesn't say, the answer suggests asking the business.
- Monthly allowance: 300 summaries and 1,000 answers a month.
The summary in this screenshot is sample text written for the demo.
Send customers to the businesses near them.
Visitors request a quote from one business, or describe the job once and have it sent to up to five businesses nearby, within 50 km by default. Each business page shows how fast it usually replies.
- Charge for leads if you like: free, a credit from the business's plan, or pay per lead to see the contact details.
- Contact tracking: businesses see calls, website visits, WhatsApp, directions and messages, and the searches they appeared in, over 7, 30 or 90 days.
- Protected: limits per address and per email, and a bot check.
Basic listings free. Businesses pay to stand out.
Sell two or three sponsored places above the results of each category, labelled "Sponsored". Sell banner space by the week at the top of every page, between listings and on business pages, with your approval and a refund if you say no. Businesses can also publish up to three deals each, collected on a Deals page.
- Banner buyers see views and clicks for their banner.
- Deals count redemptions each time a visitor shows the code.
- Featured listings and memberships as well, from the standard money tools.
Add a business in two minutes.
- Business, opening hours, services and social links from one field template.
- Address and a map pin on every page.
- Attributes visitors can filter on.
- Events with dates and venues, if your directory lists them too.
Add a business
An example of the post form, with the fields this niche gets.
Everything in the directory, and around it.
The full list, so you can check it against your plan and theme.
For visitors
- Search by what, where and category
- Open now filter and badges
- Attributes: accessible, parking, Wi-Fi, cards
- Map with every business and branch
- Reviews with photos, criteria and replies
- AI review summary and Ask about this business
- Compare up to four businesses
- Request a quote from one or several
- Deals page and saved searches
For businesses
- Claim the page by email
- Edit hours, special hours, services and photos
- Up to 20 branches
- Reply to reviews in public
- Review invitations and a QR poster
- A review badge for their own website
- Performance: calls, clicks, directions, searches
- Leads, and reply-time shown on the page
- Licensed and Insured badges
For you, the owner
- Directory, classifieds, or both on one site
- CSV and Google Places import
- Claims queue with an audit trail
- Review guard and reports
- "Best of" awards each year
- Sponsored places, banner zones, featured listings
- Pay per lead or lead credits
- LocalBusiness structured data
- Home page sections: featured businesses, claim your business
How a directory makes money.
Basic listings free, so the directory fills up. Businesses pay to stand out and for customers.
Prices are examples: you set your own, in your currency. Yclas takes no commission on what you earn. All the ways to make money →
From sign-up to a full directory.
- Pick a nameChoose a directory in the sign-up wizard: categories, directory fields and structured data are set up for you.
- Choose a lookStart from a directory or community look, then make it yours.
- Fill itImport businesses from a CSV file or Google Places, so the directory isn't empty on day one.
- Invite ownersPut the "Claim your business" section on the home page and email the businesses you imported.
- EarnSwitch on sponsored places, banners and deals once traffic grows.
Where each part is switched on.
Each directory feature is off until you switch it on, so you can add them one at a time. Most are on the Settings and Reviews add-on pages.
| Feature | Where to switch it on | Works with |
|---|---|---|
| Directory mode, hours, attributes, claims | Settings › General › Site type, and the directory field template | Every theme |
| Branches | Settings › General | Nova |
| Review replies, criteria, photos, invitations, badge, awards | Add-ons › Reviews | Nova, with reviews on |
| Review guard | Add-ons › Reviews | Nova, with reviews on |
| AI review summary and Ask | Add-ons › Reviews | Nova; paid plans |
| Leads and lead matching | Settings › General | Every theme; reply times on Nova |
| Contact tracking | Settings › General | Nova |
| Sponsored places, banners | The Make money page in your admin | Nova |
| Deals, compare, Licensed/Insured | Settings › General | Deals on Nova; the others on every theme |
| Google Places import | Add-ons › Tools › Move your site to Yclas | Every theme; your own Google key |
Business directory FAQ
Other niches:
Can businesses edit their own page?
Yes. A business claims its page with an email at its own website's domain, then updates its details, hours, services, photos and replies from its account.
How do I fill the directory at the start?
Import businesses from a CSV file, or from Google Places with your own Google key, up to 60 per search. Imported pages belong to you until the business claims them.
Can customers leave reviews with photos?
Yes. With the reviews add-on, customers rate businesses, add up to four photos, and rate your criteria. Businesses can reply in public.
How do you stop fake reviews?
The review guard holds reviews that look like they come from the business itself or from one network reviewing many places, for you to check. It never holds a review because of its rating, and visitors can report reviews.
Can visitors search for what is open now?
Yes. Businesses with opening hours show an Open now or Closed badge, and the search can filter to businesses open now, using their weekly hours.
Can I charge for better placement?
Yes. Sell sponsored places above category results and banner space by the week, plus featured listings and memberships. You approve every banner.
Can I charge businesses for leads?
Yes. Quote requests can be free, use credits from a business's plan, or be paid per lead before the contact details are shown.
Does it use AI?
On paid plans with the Nova theme, an AI summary of each business's reviews and an "Ask about this business" box, answered only from the page and its reviews. Both are labelled and have monthly limits.
Can a business have several locations?
Yes. Up to 20 branches per business, each with its own address, phone, hours and pin on the map, on the Nova theme.
Can I run a directory and classifieds on one site?
Yes. Set the site type to classifieds, directory or both in Settings.
Will search engines understand the pages?
Yes. Business pages can carry LocalBusiness structured data with address, coordinates, phone and opening hours, and every page is in your sitemap.
More pages on this topic.
The parts of Yclas this niche leans on.
Your directory, live this afternoon.
Pick a name and choose a directory: categories and fields are set up for you. Free for 15 days.
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