A directory for Muslim-friendly businesses and service providers.
Muslims have a variety of sensitivities that help them feel connected to not just their faith, but their land. This ranges from home service repair, to restaurants, to legal matters.
Thanks to the support of the community, the project was able to launch. With $1,200, I made the site strictly to host text data, not images, to reduce the amount of space needed to power the directory.
The design of the site needed to reflect the Muslim identity which motivated the use of a crescent with a star in the logo and site. I also decided to use a monochromatic design, dark green and white, to create a sharp contrast and draw a user's eye to a listing's information. While the design was meant to center the site's value proposition, it also focused on adding a visual element which was otherwise sacrificed by not including business' logos and service providers' images.
As an information services site dedicated to a specific demographic, ensuring those listed could be affiliated or trusted by a community required a little more than conjecturing. Initially, listings posted were from businesses and service providers who reached out to me through the site, but I ended up doing outreach on my own. I looked for service providers which advertised in newspapers meant to reach Muslim communities, verifying their information through public sources online.
With over 60+ listings, the directory was eligible for Google Adsense. The growth of the platform is therefore largely dependent on its popularity and viewership.
Other directories addressing this absence in the market have a confusing pricing structure or search element, so it's intended to keep the directory simple in what it asks and how users are expected to interact.
Further research will be done on how to increase viewer retention and brand presence as it best fits the mission of the directory.