For businesses
Advertise on Verde Valley Directory
A featured listing puts your business first when people in the Verde Valley look for what you do. Flat monthly price, cancel any time, and we send you the numbers.
Not on sale yet. The site is still being built and nothing here can be bought today: there is no checkout, and we are not yet counting visitors, so we cannot quote you a page's traffic. What follows is what featured listings will be when they open, published now so you can see the terms in advance. If you want the first offer when they do, email us and we will come back to you.
What is here to sponsor
We publish 963 checked listings across 9 towns, and 63 categories have enough listings to be worth a sponsored position. Those are the pages we sell. The rest are too thin to be worth your money, and we will say so rather than take it.
Busiest categories right now: trails (302), restaurants (88), hotels (43), schools (26), roofing (24), campgrounds (21), nonprofits (21), landscaping (20).
Start with a free listing
Every business in the valley can have a free listing. If yours is here, tell us what needs fixing and we will check it against your own site; owner accounts and stats are not switched on yet. If it is not here yet, suggest it and we will add it once we verify it from your website. Featured spots are only sold on pages that already get real traffic.
Featured tiers
Prices are per month, with no setup fee and no contract. These are the intended prices at launch rather than an offer you can accept today.
Featured
$25 / month
Your listing first in one category on your town page.
- Top position in one town × category list
- "Sponsored" label
- Monthly click and call counts by email, once the site is counting
Featured plus
$50 / month
Two categories, plus the town home page.
- Top position in two town × category lists
- A spot in the featured row on your town page
- One newsletter mention per month
- Monthly click and call counts by email
Valley-wide
$75 / month
Across every town where you work.
- Top position in your category in every town you serve
- Featured row on each of those town pages
- Two newsletter mentions per month
- Monthly click and call counts by email
What sponsors get
- Position. Your listing appears first in the list you paid for, ahead of the alphabetical or vote-sorted order.
- Numbers. Each month you get a plain email with how many people viewed your listing, clicked to your website, and tapped your phone number. These come from our own logs, not estimates.
- Newsletter mentions on the higher tiers, labeled "Sponsor."
What sponsors do not get
Sponsorship buys position only. It does not change your description, your hours, or your reviews. Sponsors are moderated and verified exactly like everyone else. We say this on the disclosures page so readers trust the site, which is what makes the click counts worth paying for.
Labeling
Every featured listing shows a visible "Sponsored" label on its card and page, and its links carry rel="sponsored". This is required by the FTC and by search engines, and we do it on every paid placement without exception.
The metrics promise
These are the terms featured listings will open on, and they are the reason nothing is for sale yet.
- We will not sell a spot on a page with no traffic. A page has to have had real visitors for at least 30 days before it can carry a sponsor.
- You will see the number before you pay. We tell you that page's recent outbound clicks, so you are buying something measured rather than something described.
- If it drops, we credit you. Two months below what we quoted and the next month is free.
None of that is possible until the site is live and counting, which is exactly why we are not taking money. A directory that sold placement on unmeasured pages would be selling a guess.
Other options
- Category sponsorship. One business per category per town, with a "Sponsored by" line at the top of the category page. Ask for pricing.
- Home-service leads. For plumbers, HVAC, pest, septic and similar trades, an exclusive lead form in your category. Planned rather than running; ask to be told when it starts.
- Newsletter sponsor. A labeled slot in the weekly "this weekend" email.
Questions people ask first
How will I pay, and can I stop?
There is no way to pay yet; card payment arrives with the rest of the launch. When it does it will be monthly, cancellable any time, with no contract, no setup fee and no minimum term. If you cancel, the featured spot runs to the end of the month you have paid for and then stops.
Can I pay to change what my listing says?
No. Sponsorship moves your position in a list. It does not change your description, hours, category or reviews, and no amount of money will. That is the whole reason the click counts are worth anything.
Can I fix my hours or description if something is wrong?
Yes, for free, whether you sponsor or not. That is a standing right every business has here, not a sponsor perk. The claim form is built but not yet connected, so for now email us with the correction and we will check it against your own site and apply it. Removal requests work the same way and are honored within 48 hours.
Can I pay to have a bad review taken down?
No, and we will not do it for free either. Reviews are not open yet, so there is nothing to take down today, but the rule is written before the feature ships rather than after: reviews are moderated by the same published rules for everyone, and we never remove a negative review because of who is paying. If one breaks a rule, report it and it gets the same test as anybody else would get.
What if nobody else is in my category?
Then a featured spot is probably not worth buying yet, and we will tell you so. Being first in a list of one does not get you anything you do not already have. We would rather sell you nothing this month than sell you something useless.
Do you sell the top spot to more than one business?
No. One featured business per town and category at a time, first-come, first-served. If the spot you want is taken we will say so and email you the moment it frees up.
Will my listing rank higher on Google because I paid?
No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing. Paid links here carry rel="sponsored", which is exactly what search engines ask for and means the link passes no ranking signal. What you are buying is the people already reading this site.
I am not a business. Can I sponsor anyway?
Yes. Nonprofits, clubs and events sponsor the newsletter and category pages too, and the same labeling rules apply.
Register interest
Email support@verdevalleydirectory.com with your business name and the town and category you want, and we will come back to you when featured listings open, with that page's traffic and what it costs. No obligation and no payment details.
This page is the only place sponsorship is described. There is no separate inquiry form; email reaches a person today, and display ads, if they ever run, are covered on the privacy page and only load with your consent.