Bheki Daweti - Full Stack Developer

If you told me a year ago that I’d be building directories for fun — and actually getting real traffic — I would’ve laughed. But here I am, two weeks...

If you told me a year ago that I’d be building directories for fun — and actually getting real traffic — I would’ve laughed. But here I am, two weeks later, with two niche directories live: sawinefarms.co.za (South African Wine Farms Directory) printshopnearme.co.za (Local Print Services Directory) This wasn’t a planned “startup idea.” It wasn’t a 10-year roadmap. It wasn’t even a New Year’s resolution. It was simply me trying to solve some real-life problems with the skills I’ve worked hard to build as a full-stack dev. And honestly? This journey sings. Every challenge, every bug, every late-night deployment — it all gave me the confidence to pursue this niche seriously. Let me tell you how it all unfolded. Why Directories? The Internet Has Holes — I Just Started Filling Them. Directories get a bad reputation because people think of the old “Yellow Pages” style websites. But the truth? The modern web is full of incomplete data — and people are constantly searching for answers that aren’t neatly packaged anywhere. Wine farms in South Africa? Scattered across outdated PDFs, random tourism blogs, and old Facebook pages. Print shops near me? Mostly Google Maps guesses… …that don’t include services, prices, or availability. I realized something powerful: Wherever information is incomplete, there’s a directory opportunity. And that became my entry point. How I Find Ideas: It’s Mostly Real-Life Problems I don’t start with “What niche would make money?” Instead, I start with this simple question: “What information do I wish existed in a fast, accurate, simple format?” The wine farms idea came about because someone asked, "Where can I find farms that allow tastings without booking?" And I genuinely didn’t know. More than anything else, directories are tools essential for organising your day, especially in a busy area where you come to do multiple things. This kind of collection of data can help you plan properly. Keyword Research: The Simple System That Works No complicated SEO software. No expensive tools. Just raw strategy. Here’s how I approached it: 1. Google Search + Autocomplete Typing “wine farms” and seeing: wine farms near me wine farms cape town wine farms for picnics — Boom. Validated. The same goes for the printshopnerme.co.za Typing “print shops” and seeing: print shop near me printing services near me business cards printing — Boom again. 2. “People Also Ask” Questions This is gold. It literally gives you user intent. 3. Competitor Gaps Search existing directories. Ask: What are they NOT showing? Are they slow? Is their data outdated? Do they list services? Pricing? Opening times? Gaps = Opportunity. 4. Search volume is NOT everything Even “low volume” keywords can give consistent traffic if the niche has high intent. Tech Stack: Lately, I have been using Next.js + Supabase + Tailwind + Vercel I love Next.js because it's perfect for SEO (server-side rendering), file-based routing is A DREAM for directories, API routes mean no separate backend needed. I also work a lot with Supabase for data-intensive projects because of Posgres with REST + auth baked in, simple as Firebase but without the lock-in, and realtime if I ever need it. SQL for flexibility for directory filters, sorting, and searches. Tailwind speeds up UI development, consistent styling. I love Vercel's fast global CDN, zero-config deployments built for Next.js, analytics + edge functions if I need them. Well, I moved my projects a lot. I first deployed on Netlify, then moved to Vercel. This stack lets me build, refine, and deploy faster than any traditional framework combo I’ve used. What I Learned From Building Two Directories Back-to-Back 1. Directories are a marathon You don’t win on day 1. You win by updating data, improving UX, and providing value. 2. The structure matters more than the design The way you model your data determines: speed searchability scalability 3. SEO is not magic — it’s consistency Clean URLs Schema markup Good meta descriptions Image optimization Accurate data 4. Small niches can produce BIG results Wine farms? A niche, yes — but a high-intent one. Print shops? Not glamorous — but everyone eventually needs printing. The Challenges: And How I Face Them Every Day 1. The Stack Itself SSR errors API route confusion Supabase permissions Rate-limiting Solutions? Debugging, logs, Google, docs, and relentless testing. 2. Codebase & Structure Directories grow fast. You add features, categories, filters… and suddenly the project feels heavy. To manage: Break everything into components Clean folder structure Reusable layouts Centralized data fetching Global types/interfaces 3. SEO Challenges Duplicate content Crawl depth issues Slow images Poor metadata To solve: Dynamic meta tags per page Image optimization Static generation where possible XML sitemap generation Clean internal linking 4. The Human Challenge: Discipline Nobody tells you this… Directories can get boring. Updating data is boring. Verifying listings is boring. Fixing typos is boring. But success happens in boredom. That repetition builds traffic. So… Why Does This Journey “Sing”? Because I didn’t just build websites. I built tools that solve problems. I built assets people actually use. I built confidence that I can take an idea → build it → deploy it → refine it → grow it. And now? I’m not just a developer. I’m a directory builder. A data curator. A problem solver. This isn’t the end — it’s the beginning of a bigger ecosystem of niche, useful, high-intent websites. And each one teaches me something new. What’s Next? More directories More niche explorations And 100% more SEO experiments The Internet is wide open if you know where to look. And I’m just getting started.

How I Built Two Niche Directories in Two Weeks — And Why This Journey Changed How I See the Internet