Q: Why do I need an online presence for my business?

A: The Internet is here as the new way of information transfer, and its importance to both the ordinary person and to the world of e-commerce grows exponentially. 

Small businesses to medium businesses must compete on a lower budget for the attention of the Internet shopper.  This means that the business listing, the business page or the business site must be something that search engines will find easily, and direct shoppers to when they are searching for what they want 24/7.

Q: What value added benefits are there for me by having a listing with EurobodallaBiz?

A: EurobodallaBiz is a very broad spectrum site and, although the major focus is on the Eurobodalla, it is promoted within the much broader context of the Australian Capital Region (ACR) wherein it belongs.

OK, "So what?"  The answer to that objection is that if someone were searching for say, 'batemans bay schools' in trusty Google because the family is moving to The Bay, then EurobodallaBiz will return on page 1.  Moreover, the result provides information on all the schools with contact details and a link to the school's website if applicable all on the one page!

That's a bonus to searchers and they're likely to think then "Well, this is great, I don't have to continue clicking around; I wonder what else I can find here since we're moving to The Bay?"

Another example: a searcher looks for 'Moruya churches' because the family is coming to Tuross Head for holidays. Voila!  There's EurobodallaBiz on the top of the results - again all the churches on the one page with complete contact details.  "I wonder what else this site has to offer?"

Another searcher wants to know about 'catholic schools north Canberra' - and there's EurobodallaBiz right up the top of page 1 results.  "My brother and family are having a holiday down that way in Narooma soon, I'll tell him about this site!"

Similar results will be found for such popular search terms as 'real estate' 'dining out' 'events' 'attractions' 'employment and training'.  Try it yourself!

This site will be found by a very broad range of searchers applying a wide variety of keyword phrases.

In addition, we ourselves have a paid, priority listing with Yahoo! Local Search - and that spins off to you click here  (if you want a priority listing like this for your own business, I will arrange this for you at a discounted price - contact).

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Q:  Does having my own website guarantee that I will be found?

A:  With EurobodallaBiz Yes! (I can't vouch for elsewhere).  Remember that you are competing aggressively within a very large forum ie. locally, regionally, nationally and in the world at large for supplying your particular product or service.  OK, your website is your advertisement - but does anyone know that it exists (unless you gave them the web address)?  How will they find it?  Why should they even bother looking for you if they can easily find what they want elsewhere by simple search? People are far more Internet & search savvy now than even two to three years back.

You have to advertise your advertisement!  Electronics (e-commerce) has changed the way business is done - it's not like it was even a few years ago.

Your website package with EurobodallaBiz includes your website's promotion and submission to the search engines - a considerable saving if you had to do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you.

Q: How do you keep EurobodallaBiz

up-to-date as a business and tourism directory?

A: This is the most challenging thing about EurobodallaBiz because we want to provide relevant and current information to searchers.   We have revised our methodology from 1 September 2006.

Community or non-profit organisations will continue to be listed free of charge - but these must also at least supply an email address. 

Q: How do I know that this Internet stuff is not just all hype?

A: It is not just all hype! Neither should it be regarded as a sort of 'toy' nor second rate form of promotion any longer. 

Check for yourself by going to the Australian Bureau of Statistics for a start  - you're online or you wouldn't be reading this; the document reference is 8129.0 2003.  Other sources include the Nielsen//Net Ratings and the Roy Morgan Single Source (do a search in say, Google for these and others).

These sources will confirm such as that the use of the Internet for local and community information was the fastest growing area for 2004 when 32% of online Australians used the Internet to find this sort of information.  In 2003 it was 23%.

71% of businesses are online; Australians 14 years and over search for such as: dining out, restaurants, what's on (ie. events), entertainment, education and real estate.

There will be 1.07 billion internet users globally by 2005, 1.21 billion by 2006 and 1.35 billion by 2007. The US leads with over 185 million internet users. Use in Asian countries continues to grow, with China recently surpassing Japan for second place in 2003. Much of future growth will come from populous countries such as China, India, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia. Source e-consultancy com (a pop-up window for this link will appear on part of your screen - when you've finished looking close it to return here.)

In the face of that, you have to at least reconsider that maybe it is not 'all hype'!

Q:  I am an electrical contractor in Batemans Bay.  If I took a regular listing with EurobodallaBiz what good will that do me? How will I be found?

A: As many property owners do not live in the Eurobodalla ie. they are absentee landlords who own property down here but live in say, Canberra or Sydney, then you would be in high demand if something goes wrong in their Batehaven property for example - such as a dangerous faulty power outlet.  Usually these emergencies happen on the weekend; so how to find an electrician pronto?

The searcher would go to her/his favourite search engine - let's say it's Google and type in 'batemans bay tradesmen' or 'batemans bay electrical contractors' and up comes EurobodallaBiz on the top of the search results - and that then leads right to you!

Better still, you should consider your own website (for about the same cost as an enhanced Yellow Pages ad) so that you'll be much easier found 24/7 and to a much wider audience (still have your 'Yellow Pages' advertisement, but reduce it in space and content so that your website is what is highlighted; people then go to that and get as much and more information than from your Yellow Pages ad (and you spend the saving on your website).

People search and shop online these days - hard copy 'Yellow Pages' are fast becoming a thing of the past in the sense that when people see your website (the Yellow Pages ad has served only as a prompt) they will go to their computer and bring up your site (and one very good thing about that is that your competition, now a 'closed book', is dropped back in the magazine rack or where ever).

Q: How does my business sponsor a South Coast artist?  What do I get out of it?

A: Your business takes out a regular listing @ $66 pa - see where Shell Service Station Moruya has sponsored artist Mark Tronson example.    For an extra $30 pa your business is listed on your chosen artist's page (which is provided to the artist free by EurobodallaBiz) - this is a 'double ender' for your business, especially as 'South Coast NSW artists' are prominently accessed off my home page!

You could sponsor the 'South Coast NSW Art & Artists' page rather than any particular artist, $s negotiable.

Q: What options do I have to get my business online now with EurobodallaBiz?

A: You have a wide range of options according to your own particular needs.  Here are some:

• A Simple listing costs $44 one-off; this is the entry point and you need an email address.
• Web links added are $22 pa per link.
• A Regular listing in your appropriate business category - say, 'trades & contractors' will cost $55 per annum.
• A full listing with photo is $99 pa.
• You may add to your Regular listing now or later with such as a web half page, or a full page.
• You may have EurobodallaBiz quote on a business website for you and discuss your best options after that, such as promotion and management.  For example The Travelling Storyteller

Alternatively, contact EurobodallaBiz about getting your own self-managed website. We offer the complete solution for your own website  - and is incredibly simple and easy. Nothing makes creating an online presence easier or more simple for you.

Q: Can I advertise Specials that my business is offering on EurobodallaBiz?

A: Yes, very easily!  For example, if you're a motel you might offer an accommodation special for say, one month or a fortnight.  Your ad would appear in the 'specials page' for the month and it would have a 'unique code' which the customer has to quote to get the benefit (or they print it and cut it out like a coupon and present that).  This way you know if your ad is working. 

All you need is the Simple listing on EurobodallaBiz to do that!  You would just pay the price of the 'Special' for as long as you have it.

Q: I've got to watch closely my advertising $s.  How do I know that EurobodallaBiz has better to offer than elsewhere?

A:  It is not so much a question of 'better' as it is 'different' and what traceable return you're getting from your advertising $s - in other words, what is working for you and what is not?  Eg. an ad on the back of a local bus (and that might be between $100/$200 per month) is fine for wherever and whenever the bus goes - but what if it doesn't go when it's supposed to go; and what about the potential customers where the bus does not go at all eg. Canberra or Sydney or Melbourne - (and searchers from these cities are potential visitors are they not)? And what about 24/7 advertising when the bus is garaged?  That 'month' that you paid for has, in the last analysis, become somehow truncated.

By 'different', I mean that EurobodallaBiz promotes your business online to the world at large 24/7 from $40 - Blind Freddie could see that that's value simply by contrast!

In any event, I expect that businesses ask their customers how they found out about them as a way of tracking advertising $s? - otherwise, I couldn't and wouldn't claim that it's better to advertise with EurobodallaBiz rather than on the back of a bus - or anywhere else for that matter!

However, I will claim that it is different and may well be just as, if not more, effective than traditional ways of advertising because it is online - this is fast becoming the way of the present that when searchers want something or other they go to the Internet.  And so it will be, and ever more fully, the way of the future!

Q: Your site is called EurobodallaBiz - why do you include towns such as Bega and Braidwood and information about Canberra?
 

A: The primary focus of this site is the Eurobodalla (the Nature Coast) both in its commerce and its tourism (and these two are inextricably interwoven). Nevertheless, it is the Eurobodalla that is very much part of the Far South Coast (which we share with the Bega Valley [Sapphire Coast]), and with the Southeast Region that the Far South Coast shares in turn along with the Bombala, Cooma-Monaro and Snowy River local government areas. 

Then the aforesaid are all subsets of the Australian Capital Region (ACR). 

At least this is how EurobodallaBiz sees it and why we paint on a broader canvas.  You will appreciate that we are by no means in isolation, rather part of a bigger picture.

This is largely because government (federal, state and local) likes convenient, administrative regions - EurobodallaBiz easily adapts to that model as it makes sense to do so.

Q: What if I want to put my business logo or banner on one or more of your pages?

A: No problem - but you will need at least a Simple listing to do that. You will appreciate that pages vary in popularity or importance eg. home page vs major portals, vs minor portals, vs specialised portals. EurobodallaBiz will give you a quote for what you want where ever you want it, and on the size of your banner - I don't want to go into specifics here as I will quote according to your requirements.

Q: How do I advise you if there've been changes to my business or community listing details?

A: You could either give me a ring on 4472 1121 or send email advising details of the changes.  I will do it pretty well straight away; and there's no charge the first time.

Q: How do I submit my business for a Simple Listing?

A: For the Simple listing you need to be a South Coast based business