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DIRECTORY ENTRIES, Guidelines and Advice

If you are already in our directory, it will be because we consider the goods or services you offer could be of use to someone with a boat or interested in the sea. Click here to see a real example of what you can do with your listing for free if you can be bothered to take the time:

http://www.visitmyharbour.com/directory/view.asp?c=&b=67463

I think you'll agree it's well worth the effort !

To modify your listing... (if you're already in the directory)

1. You will have to create a "Log in account" and get verified by return email (2 mins). See Below:

http://www.visitmyharbour.com/articles/article.asp?arturn=1468

2. Contacting us..... the quickest way is to email us directly from your business email address, use...

visitmyharbourATlavabit.com (Replace the AT with @) 

Or you can use the "Contact Us" form, using your business email  as the reply address.  In your email or contact form, give us the following information:

1. Your Name, exactly as you entered it in your log in form (your real name, not your screen name, if any).

2. The Name of your business exactly as it appears in the directory right now.

3. The name of the harbour your business is linked to.

4. One of the categories your business is listed under.

That's it..all done

Now wait for us to get back to you by email, usually within a couple of hours, always within 24 Hrs.

We'll link you and your business together and you're off !

The reason this all seems a bit complicated is that WE have to be sure that we only link your business entry to the rightful owners, and so no one else can "hijack" YOUR listing.  We can promise you that once you're past this stage everything is plain sailing..really.

Once we've linked you and your business together, every time you go on our site and are logged in you will see next to YOUR business entry ONLY... "edit"  If you click that you can start changing things straight away...you can even upload a smallish photo or logo. OR simply click on your business entry, and when it appears you will see above it an "Edit" tab..... If you're not logged in this won't happen.

See lower down this article for Tips about making a good directory entry.

Not already in the directory ?

If you have a "pukka" marine business that is in an area or harbour we havn't yet covered, we can accept your entry providing you are in the UK, Isle of Man or Channel Islands. You will be put in a section called "Areas not yet covered or inland".  We intend to get everywhere sooner or later...

For other (maybe not strictly marine) listings, we accept entries only from businesses in and around the harbours we have already covered. In our work compiling this directory we deliberately left out eating and drinking places, provisioning shops/stores/supermarkets, banks, post offices, and museums. These types of establishments are welcome to make a new listing for themselves within our directory, providing they are around a harbour ALREADY COVERED.

The only criteria is that the business is a " bricks and mortar" business, and it is based where someone that gets off a boat or dinghy can reach within 10 minutes on foot. The other criteria is that it could be useful to a visiting yachtsman/motorboater.

All new entries in our directory will be scrutinised before being activated.

We specifically do not accept entries from anyone selling property eg. luxury yachtsman's residences etc, nor do we accept directory entries from any websites (although these may have a place in our links section). We may well accept entries from Harbourside B&Bs, Harbourside Car Hire, nearby supermarkets( especially if they offer delivery) etc.... if it may be of use, on the spot, to a transient sailor, your business entry will probably be accepted.

To create a brand new listing...

You again have to create an account and be verified by return email. You can then create your new listing. When you submit it, we get notified, check it over, and switch it on...normally within 24 hrs you will see your new listing displayed, and be able to log in and edit it at will.

Once you are in the directory (if you're not already there), it is a simple matter to modify your listing whenever you want. You can also change your photo/logo too.

Tips...

The tagline... maximum of 250 characters, this is the one thing that people will see beside your name (in a standard non-enhanced, free listing). Make it interesting/relevant and they may click on your entry.... you need to put something here that describes what you do but also makes people want to see more by clicking on...

It is one thing that may be worth experimenting with on a regular basis to see what gets you the best results. You may be able to tell by monitoring your website traffic...you'll see what has come from us.

The photo/logo.

Whatever picture you upload, it will be sized to fit the standard small window. Make sure whatever you upload looks good when it is small. Some pictures look great in a large size, but shrink them and they look hopeless. Try it out, upload a photo from your computer into you listing and see how it looks.  You can always change it.

The description.

You have plenty of room to describe your business, try and do so from the point of view of a visiting sailor who may be looking for something in particular. It may not be such a good idea just to lift some "blurb" off your website and paste it in.

It is envisaged, seeing as our site is all about harbours, that anyone reading thoroughly through it will be planning to visit, if not already there. If you have something that interests them, they may well mark you down for a visit... For example you're yacht broker, and adjacent to your premises or within the harbour in question... you have several boats on your books. Why not mention in your directory listing that potential customers can view several very local boats if they visit you.

Try thinking of things the other way round for a change.... put yourself in the sailing shoes of the visitor on board his own boat. What things does he always need ? Water, fuel, gas bottles, provisions, maybe a meal and a drink ashore, spares and repairs for his boat... if you can offer these things why not mention them. Spare a thought for those with a yen to get out to sea..we all had to begin somewhere..boat trips, trial sails, fishing trips..people on this site want to know, and may well patronise your business.

Two little examples.. Camping Gaz, not the most common system in the UK, but believe it or not there is no centralised directory of where you can buy this.... you could search the web for ever and not find out.  Paraffin.. not in use so much nowadays, but those that use it really do need it.

Conclusion.

Having spent many years on the sharp end of advertising (i.e. buying it with an advertising budget, not selling it), one inescapable conclusion keeps coming back... it's not only the amount of money you spend... it's the time, thought and effort that you put into your focused advertising plan that really pays off.

We hope you will make full use of these powerful free features we offer in our directory, and we also hope that once you realise how easy it is (on this website) to be in total control of your advertising, that you may consider other methods of advertising with us besides the directory.

We thoroughly believe that internet onboard is the way of the future, and we believe that we are the first to offer a pilotage website with charts specifically optimised for slow connections and onboard use.