How to Build a Niche Directory Website

About the Author

Hi, I'm Karen.
Still building.

I'm a St. Petersburg, Florida founder, licensed travel advisor, and Florida LLC owner with six niche websites built from scratch across construction, travel, hospitality, and more.

My husband is a commercial superintendent — which is how I ended up deep in the construction industry, and eventually building a B2B contractor marketplace and a SaaS reporting tool. From there I launched Jet & Swim, a luxury water-forward travel directory, followed by Sky & Swim, CancunToGo, and Smoke & Settle.

I build things I know and love. Then I document everything so you don't have to learn it the hard way.

"For the first time in my life, I've been able to fully execute on my own visions — the ones that had been building up for decades."

The Portfolio

Six sites. Real proof.

Not mockups. Not case studies. Live, functioning websites across wildly different niches — each one a lesson in what works, what doesn't, and what I'd do differently.

B2B · Construction

Sunstate Trades

Florida contractor marketplace connecting GCs with licensed subs. Next.js, Supabase, full authentication.

sunstatetrades.com →

SaaS · Construction

SuperReports

Daily reporting tool for construction superintendents. Stripe payments, team management, voice capture.

superreports.app →

Travel · Directory

Jet & Swim

Water-forward luxury travel directory for adults. Swim-up suites, overwater bungalows, Worth the Flight editorial.

jetandswim.com →

Travel · Directory

Sky & Swim

Rooftop pool hotel directory. Because sometimes the pool should be in the clouds.

skyandswim.com →

Travel · Guide

CancunToGo

Cancún travel guide. Order up.

cancuntogo.com →

Lifestyle · Directory

Smoke & Settle

Cigar lounge directory. Rebuilt from the name up after another business turned out to own the first one.

smokeandsettle.com →

What's Inside

The complete playbook.

Not a blog post. Not a course with 47 modules. 58 pages in six parts — a focused, honest guide from someone still in the trenches, covering every decision you'll face from first idea to first dollar.

Part One

Before You Build Anything

The know it / love it / both framework. Why planning is the real work. How to use Claude as your planning partner. The LLC, DBA, EIN, and the real costs — all of them, including the ones nobody mentions.

Part Two

Brand & Identity

Design instinct vs. graphic art. Building a visual identity without being a designer. The complete brand asset library. Why every site deserves its own world.

Part Three

Building It

Platform choices explained in plain English. Astro vs. Next.js vs. static HTML. How content actually gets on your site, connecting your domain, and the two files that give Claude a memory.

Part Four

Content & SEO

Why content is the product, not just the marketing. Consistency over volume. Getting found on Google, tagging your links so GA4 tells the truth, and one trip's worth of endless content.

Part Five

Monetization

Affiliate programs that actually pay — and the ones that say yes first. Networks vs. direct. The Fora layer. The disclosure rule nobody warns you about, and when to start charging for listings.

Part Six

Growing It

Pinterest as a traffic engine — and the claim-your-website step that unlocks it. When to stop adding and go deep. GitHub without fear, and knowing when to launch.

Ends with a one-page Launch Checklist — everything in the guide, reduced to boxes you can actually check.

The honest part

I'm not going to tell you this is easy.

No Stripe screenshots. No "I made $47,000 while I slept." Just the real costs, the real hours, the real mistakes — and exactly what I'd do differently.

Because that's the only kind of guide I'd want to read.

Startup costs

Documented honestly

Monthly platform costs

Every line item

The hours

Not sugarcoated

The mistakes

All of them

Get the Guide

Ready to build something real?

Six sites. Every lesson. One honest playbook. Yours instantly.

Buy on Gumroad — $39

58 pages · Instant PDF download · Honest to a fault

"Think about what you do when nobody's watching. What you photograph, what you research, what you can talk about for three hours without noticing the time. That's your directory."

— From the Guide

After the book

When you decide you’re really doing this

Read it, build something ugly, find out whether you actually love this. If you get to the point where you want the business to be real, that’s when the paperwork starts — an LLC, a DBA, and in a number of states a newspaper notice nobody warns you about. I handle the Florida version of that step so you don’t lose an afternoon calling papers.

Florida DBA publication — $75 Florida annual report guide — $19

The DBA publication service and the annual report guide are Florida only.

How to Build a Niche Directory Website works anywhere you are.

How to build a nichedirectory website.