Quality database content

philiporchard · Jul 26, 2008

I'm looking to get hold of reliable database content similar to yell etc to populate a database for cardiff, coventry, wolverhampton etc...

i.e hotels, restaurants, plumbers, etc.

Can anyone offer advice on the best way to obtain this kind of data.

Many thanks,
Phil

rob · Jul 27, 2008

Not overly helpful but word of warning!! Watch out for knock off DB's as they are very common, and can get you into serious issues. Proper data costs money as with most things, and cheaper stuff could be ripped / repacked which will have the check seeds inside it.

Btw - still got email to pop to you so apologies on delay

Cheers,
Rob.

philiporchard · Jul 27, 2008

Thanks for the advice Rob.
Do you know of any DB content that I could buy legit?

accelerator · Jul 27, 2008

Maybe the Thomson Directory would be worth trying??

Presumably once you have the site running you will have a facility for people to add their business? If this is the case you could just create all the data naturally.

The thing to do would be to work out what all the categories need to be, then you can create an SEO shell of a site, i.e. lawyers-cardiff.php, garages-cardiff.php, hotels-cardiff.php etc etc so you have the shell their for the search engines, then you can hook people in to sign up. Give them a basic listing for free, charge them for Bells and Whistles. It will take time to build the database but at least it will keep your costs low.

Rgds

Edwin · Jul 27, 2008

Try these people...
Local Data Company

They're not particularly cheap and you can only license the data for a certain period i.e. you're renting it (and have to keep renting or take the data off again) but they seem to have the most comprehensive and accurate coverage. I looked quite intently at their offering for Britain.co.uk but in the end never actually got the project started in the first place!

philiporchard · Jul 27, 2008

Thanks Edwin

Thanks Ed, I like the look of what they offer...

Have emailed them.

It's always a tricky one... whether to provide a database that will encourage users to engage with your website from day 1 or whether you rely on businesses populating the site from scratch...

Any more alternatives anyone?

Skinner · Jul 27, 2008

I have a listing I was given at the breakfast club of my local chamber of commerce of all business in the chamber which was pretty cool, and maybe worth visiting your local one if youw ant free.

fpsgame.com buy UK ( United Kingdom ) databases for lots of business categories database

Lots of people tell me this is a good site but never purchased off them

philiporchard · Jul 27, 2008

Great... they look like reasonable prices.

I'm certain Thompson must offer their content... will look into it.

Edwin · Jul 27, 2008

Skinner said:
I have a listing I was given at the breakfast club of my local chamber of commerce of all business in the chamber which was pretty cool, and maybe worth visiting your local one if youw ant free.

fpsgame.com buy UK ( United Kingdom ) databases for lots of business categories database

Lots of people tell me this is a good site but never purchased off them

Looks too good to be true when you see their prices. I'm not saying categorically it's tainted data, but pricing-wise, it looks like the kind of stuff that was scraped from other sites. I guess "buyer beware" applies strongly here

philiporchard · Jul 27, 2008

Have looked at the Local Data Company again, Ed,

Unless their prices are seriously prohibitive, I see no reason not to go with them.

They don;t have prices on their site, can you remember what prices they were quoting you Ed?

Edwin · Jul 27, 2008

I think it depends on how many records you buy, but something like 25p per record per year for a full record with a lot of data fields and a photo of the business. There were also various minimums - you'd really have to talk to them to get the full story.

Try contacting Ollie Toogood ( ollie AT localdatacompany.com ) - he seemed very helpful. You can namedrop my name if you like, not that it will make much difference I guess...