I get this question all the time: "Frey, what niche should I build my first directory in?"
So I put together a list of 9 niches that are genuinely low competition, have real search volume, and come with a competitor you can study and model your build off of.
Let me be upfront. None of these are going to make you rich. But that's not the point. The point is to get reps, learn SEO, see real traffic, and maybe pull in $80 to $200/month in passive display ad revenue while you do it.
One massive caveat before we get into it: you need to build backlinks.
Every single one of these niches is easy to rank in, but only if you're willing to do outreach. I see people build solid directories all the time and then just... stop. They hit a ceiling and wonder why. The answer is almost always backlinks. If you're the person willing to do the cold outreach that 90% of SEOs won't do, you're already ahead.
OK here we go.
1. Hot Springs (Oregon)
Competitor: soakoregon.com (~5,600 monthly organic visitors)
This one has been on my radar for a while. At its peak it was pulling 15K+ monthly visitors. The keywords are incredibly low competition and high volume. You'd target both the broad terms like "Oregon hot springs" and the individual hot spring names.
The play: Build out location pages for each hot spring. Reach out to their referring domains and offer a better resource or a small fee to swap the link. Straightforward game plan with 77 indexed pages to model off of.
2. Drive In Movie Theaters
Competitor: driveinmovie.com (~1,200 monthly organic visitors)
This one is more of a learning project than a money maker. The site is old school and plastered with ads, but during COVID it was pulling 300K to 400K monthly visitors. The keywords are all city and state based ("drive in movie theater Connecticut") and ridiculously easy to rank for.
The play: Great confidence booster if you just want to learn the process. The downside is that at 1,200 visitors, it's hard to justify paying for link swaps. Build this one to learn, not to earn.
3. Swimming Holes
Competitors: swimmingholes.org (~2,200 monthly visitors) and hiddenswimmingholes.com
There are 33,000 people a month searching for some variation of "swimming holes." The competition is almost nonexistent. hiddenswimmingholes.com ranks for 386 keywords with virtually no backlinks and a low DR. Many of those keywords are zero difficulty and get 100+ monthly searches each.
The play: Build location pages by state, target both "swimming holes near me" and the actual names of specific swimming holes. On page SEO alone will get you pretty far here. Add a few backlinks and you're off to the races. Probably $80 to $100/month in ad revenue with US traffic.
4. Skate Parks
Competitor: concretedisciples.com (~2,600 monthly organic visitors)
Very steady traffic. The keywords are mostly branded skatepark names that get a few hundred searches each. They also have state level pages like "Florida skate parks." It's a bigger directory at around 1,000 pages, but the top pages are all listings and location pages, which is exactly what you want to see.
The play: Build city and state pages, target individual skatepark names, and build a few links. Another competitor, arizonaskateparks.com, is already ranking page one for local keywords with barely any effort. That tells you how easy this space is.
5. Rockhounding
Competitor: rockhounding.org (~6,200 monthly organic visitors)
This might be the most promising niche on this list. "Rockhounding near me" gets 2,700 monthly searches, and the competitor is ranking for 1,400 keywords with a DR of only 26. Their listing pages are completely empty (literally no content), and they're still pulling traffic. At their peak they hit 15,000 monthly visitors.
The play: Build state level location pages, target rockhounding and related terms like "where to find geodes," and actually put real content on your listing pages. The bar here is incredibly low. If you add backlinks on top of that, this could be a real winner. Easily a few hundred a month in ad revenue.
6. Boat Ramps
Competitors: boatramplocator.com and boatramp.com (~1,200 monthly visitors)
36,000 people a month are searching for boat ramps near them. The competitors have virtually zero DR, almost no backlinks, and are still getting traffic. boatramplocator.com only has nine indexed pages and all traffic goes to the homepage.
The play: There's a big gap between the search volume and what's currently ranking. Build location pages for public boat ramps by state and city. This is the kind of niche where small directories can win with just solid on page SEO and a handful of links.
7. Escape Rooms
Competitor: everyescaperoom.com (~2,500 monthly organic visitors)
Steady traffic over the past six months with nearly 1,400 pages indexed. They're ranking for branded escape room keywords that get massive search volume (one branded keyword alone gets 18,000 monthly searches). The location pages are working, which is a great signal.
The play: Focus on city level location pages. This is a bigger build, but the traffic is steady and there's clear proof that directory pages work in this niche. Good pick if you're passionate about escape rooms and want something with a longer runway.
8. Distilleries
Competitor: distillerytrail.com (~10,700 monthly organic visitors)
This is the biggest opportunity on the list. Flat, consistent traffic. Tons of low competition keywords. They're ranking for "distillery" plus a bunch of branded keywords with huge volume. Another competitor in the space is pulling 73,000 monthly visitors.
The play: There are multiple monetization angles here: display ads, featured listings, blog content. If you're into whiskey or the craft spirits world, this is a great pick. More of a challenge than the others on this list, but the upside is real. Build location pages, target branded distillery names, and don't skip the backlinks.
9. Ice Skating and Roller Skating Rinks
Competitor: kidsskatefree.com (~3,100 monthly organic visitors)
The listing pages on this site are basically empty. Just a header and a call to action. And it's still ranking. That should tell you everything about how low competition this space is. At their peak they hit 13,000 monthly visitors.
The play: Build simple listing pages with basic info (hours, location, pricing), target keywords like "roller skating lessons near me" and branded rink names. The broader "kids activities" niche has tons of potential, and skating rinks are just one angle. Add links, optimize on page, and you'll outperform what's already there.
