BabyWebNZ March 2010
Newsletter
A word from Helen Pulford
Hello and Welcome to the March issue of
BabyWebNZ newsletter.
I'd like to keep you updated on what I have been doing to develop BabyWebNZ website, what's new on the website and what I've been up to.
As a Midwife and Childbirth Educator, I have a mission to provide information that parents have told me they would like to have about pregnancy, babies and parenting.
I set up BabyWebNZ as a way for New Zealand parents to access such information on many relevant websites here in our own country, after it was found people were often going through search engines to American sites.
I increase awareness of BabyWebNZ through everything I do, including writing for Kiwi Parent (the magazine published by Parents Centre) and teaching Childbirth Education classes for the Parents Centre.
I write Handy Website section in the Family
Times and articles for the Yellow Pages
site. Many midwives are happy to recommend the BabyWebNZ site to their clients, and I print about 10,000 flyers every year to give out to midwives and health practices.
Don't forget to update your listings and banners if your information has changed. You can add pictures to your listings also. Renewal invoices have been sent out in February if you have not received one and wish to renew for 2010 contact us
Now, along with another midwife, Denise Garcia, I have started running Childbirth Education classes
at Wellington Hospital. We have called these classes 'BirthResources'
and have been excited at their popularity, with every class this year
being full. To complement the classes and deliver further information, we have set up a BirthResources website
www.birthresources.org,
packed with useful information for parents and Childbirth Educators.
People who attend the class automatically become
website members and receive access to member-only pages that among other things list discounts from businesses New Zealand wide.
We also distribute monthly newsletters that businesses can advertise in. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter or read through previous issues here. Each newsletter issue can be sponsored, please contact us for details.
May 2009 Commission Report by the Families
Commission revealed that some new parents were not getting access to childbirth education.
To address that, we are putting together a Childbirth Education DVD. Buying the DVD will allow people who are unable to
attend our classes to watch and access the valuable information at home. For a sneak preview, follow this link to see baby bath
and baby check demonstrations, performed by Denise Garcia of BirthResources:
http://www.birthresources.org/display/BirthResources/Resources
Remember to add newsletter@babywebnz.org to your safe senders list/address book to ensure you keep receiving emails.
This issue was sponsored
by
TechTime - we create Smart Web Sites!
TechTime Initiative Group
Limited is an independent Software Vendor and IT Services provider in Wellington, Aoteroa. We specialize in
making
Smart Web Sites that automate mundane processes to allow business owners to concentrate on their business. We
work with budgets of any size, from volunteer-run community organizations and non-profits to international
companies.
We support, maintain and improve BabyWebNZ.org and BirthResources.org providing CRM, Contact Management,
Invoicing, Online Enrollment and Sales Automation. Get in contact if you need a helping hand!
Topics in this issue
New listings and banners
A word from my IT Provider
Some site statistics
New listings and banners
Welcome to Perfect Portraits by Inspire
Photography, West Auckland
Midwives, ChubbyChops, Baby Room, Constitutional Experts, Sweet Cheeks, Soccer4Tots, mum2b, and Midwives Out West that joined our
listing directory recently!
We also have a number of new banners from
amazing businesses:
Little
Mannequins Photography, Soccer4Tots,
Paddle
Tots, NappyDays, and Keep it Unique Keepsakes.
Check them out and don't forget to update your
listings and banners if your information has changed. You can add pictures to your listings also.
A word from my IT Provider
The most important
question of IT...
When expressing your desires to people who will
implement them, make sure you have provided an answer to The Most Important Question of IT: "Why?"
Why do you need this particular functionality?
Why exactly is the existing one not good enough? Why does this have to be red? Why do you think it is
important to phrase it this way?
An answer to this question can turn the understanding of a project
completely upside-down. "We need a website..." tells one thing, but
"... because we don't want people to contact us." paints a very
different picture (incidentally, a true customer's story).
If this question is answered, solutions that have
been overlooked otherwise - may be seen, others may assess the task from a perspective very different to yours, see
alternatives while still staying true to your goals.
Some site statistics
In the last 6 months visits to BabyWebNZ came from
more than 100 countries, with NZ and Australia dominating the list. A solid 80% of these have been new visitors.
While 10% come via referring websites, the search
engines stay the main source of incoming traffic, with almost 75% of all visitors coming to BabyWebNZ through
Google's "organic search" (the actual search results as opposed to the paid advertising placements).
As such having a text listing on BabyWebNZ increases your exposure to people who use search engines and influences your website's "organic search" standings. Search engines love text and it is important to phrase your listing in a search engine friendly way - using the keywords and phrases that people are likely to use when looking for products or services that you provide.
At the same time people are staying on average 4 minutes on the
page giving them plenty of time to notice images that remain a more attractive site for a human eye than text-only listings. Don't forget that you can now add pictures to the listings themselves.
A banner gives you ability to place your advertising on the top-hit pages in categories different from the ones you product or service normally falls under.
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