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Please read this page before attempting to create a directory listing. It explains what information can be included in your entry free of charge and what options are chargeable, where to find geo-coordinates for the map option and how to create an attractive and successful listing. Cost of listing your company in the Canal and Narrowboat Waterways Business Directory
Rather than fixed listing options such as 'standard' , 'premium' etc, you may choose from several optional items to build a listing which suits you. The basic directory options are free. A quick calculation, however, will show that a very extensive and impressive listing can be created, using all options, for the very favourable price of just £112.50 for a full, 12 months, 24/7 advert, which, coupled with our very respectable and growing site visitor numbers and page views, we feel compares extremely favorably with alternative online waterways directory offerings, and even more so with traditional advertising media.
Getting Started
1) Before you can create a listing, you need to be logged-in. Before you can log-in, you need to "Create an Account". There is a text link below the log-in box on the left margin of the main directory page, here, for this purpose. 2) Once your account is created - you will receive an email with a link to click to confirm that it really is you - you can then start the procedure via the "Add Entry" link on any directory page. 3) Payment Options - When you have completed the entry form and selected your options, you will be taken to a paymet options page where you may choose to make a secure online payment through PayPal.com (A PayPal account is not required to use this service), or to arrange a Bank Transfer.
4) Now we will briefly run through the "Add Entry" form and look at what is required, what is optional, what is desirable, what is free and what options are chargeable. IMPORTANT: Please use Upper Case and lower case letters appropriately, ie not all capital letters and not all lower case letters, otherwise your listing may be delayed while someone has to re-type it, which might make us, and you, a little cross! We reserve the right to edit poor text and grammar, which we feel would spoil the image of the site as a whole. All standard listings will be valid for 12 months* - you can edit or un-publish a listing if you need to. All costs shown for chargeable options are also for a 12 month period.
Required Items:
Most of the form entries do not need any explanation, so we won't bother with those, except to point out that you can't create a listing without the following required items: Listing Title - Company or Business Name usually, but if you are adding an entry for something like a Private Boat Sale, or something which does not involve a named business entity, then use a short accurate descriptive title. (This title will also be used in the page's title meta tag for search engines)
Address 1 (1st line of your address) - Town - Post Code - Email Address: this email address, which might be different to your account sign-up address, is where enquiries and system emails will be sent, so make sure it is typed accurately. Category - One category must be chosen (at the foot of the form). Click the small "+" sign to view subcategories, select one, then click the arrow button - at the top of that section - to assign it. Additional categories are possible, but chargeable)
Although the above items are the minimum information required, the more detail you can give the better chance your listing will have of proving useful to prospective clients - which is the whole point, isn't it?
Optional Items - Free
Address 2 - County - Contact Person - Phone - Fax Although optional, your entry may not be very useful without these items, so please include them! Lattitude & Longditude - without these co-ordinates a map will not appear on your listing. Co-ordinates are used because they provide a more accurate map location than just an address. NB These co-ordinates must be in the decimal form - you can find this information by visiting this page, and centering the map on your location - contact us for help if you have any problems.
Nearest Waterway If your business is close to a canal or river, please enter the name accurately here. This is a searchable field, so typing accuracy is important. Icon You can upload a small image (company logo etc) which will appear in the V-Card or Category view. Max dimension (longest side) is 80 pixels and max file size is 300k Meta Keywords & Meta Description - These items are very important in respect of the optimization of your details page for search engines - the contents should reflect the subject of your listing to be effective.
Chargeable Items Website Link - enter the full url to your own website here - ie starting with http:// The cost of this option is £15
These next items are those that will make your listing stand out and can make it as useful as a complete mini web-site in it's own right:
Description - This is probably the most important feature for your listing. You will be able to add a substantial amount of text sufficient to fully present your product range and/or services. Text can be formatted, edited as HTML, and can include a link (say to a particular product on your site). The cost of this option is £30
Company Logo/Image - You can upload a 300pixel (longest side or square) image to illustrate your listing. This might be a business logo, or a product image. This will appear on the details page. The cost of this option is £10 Image Gallery - This option allows you to add up to 8 images, which will be displayed as thumbnails on your details page. Clicking a thumbnail open a smart "lightbox" type display of the full size image, with controls to scroll through all the images uploaded. Maximum image size is 500 pixels longest side - landscape format or horizontal images look best on the page. The cost of this option is £30* NB: It has not (yet) been possible to incorporate this option within the automated payment function, therefore if this option is used and images are uploaded, we will bill this separately by email, after your listing is active.
Additional Categories - The first category you choose is free, but you may add your listing to other categories, where appropriate, for a small extra charge, which will give greater visibility to your listing: If any problems are encountered, or if you need further explanation or help with the process, please use our contact form.
* Note: Duration of listings: Normally 12 months, however any "introductory offer" listings that are provided free of charge but which include options that are normally charged for, will revert to basic free listings after 6 months, with the option to choose any paid options afresh.
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