WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FOR ME ?
(this page from when we started in 1999)

We all know about the increased traffic which arrives once we register with the search engines such as Google, AllTheWeb, Altavista and Hotbot, but the best results *always* come from specialist directories which generally offer an even better increase in 'quality' visitors than even the main search engines!

The Internet and the World Wide Web offer us a unique opportunity. One of its advantages is that it offers us a chance to promote (and hopefully, actually sell) our products to a vast (and usually, pretty well heeled) audience, but to actually do this on a level playing field with that of the larger companies in our sector.

This 'vastness' can also be one of its disadvantages - as you will know, the Web is a rather large place! When searching for a company to carry out a service such as ours, it can be very frustrating to constantly run up against a barrage of 'sorry, we do not deliver to your area' type messages. After visiting three or four websites, most potential customers will simply give up and go the more traditional route which will both:

1. Increase the likelihood of them ending up at one of our competitors,
and
2. Waste the large amount of time, effort and money put into developing an effective on-line presence.

There is a way to compensate - and in fact take advantage of the fact that most garden building manufacturers offer a local service - provided we co-operate. Since 1998, we have been in the process of setting up the most comprehensive directory ever assembled of on-line garden building manufacturers world-wide. This directory has been available from our website and has proved to be very popular - a fact which is backed up by our server's log:

Server Log For http://www.gardenbuildings.com/

#reqs:  %reqs: pages: %pages:  bytes: %bytes: file

-----  ------  -----  ------  ------  ------  ----

  269:  4.71%:   269: 17.35%: 479708:  2.44%: /index.htm

  229:  4.01%:   229: 14.77%: 444543:  2.26%: /directory/index.htm

  158:  2.77%:   158: 10.19%: 713298:  3.63%: /home.htm

  140:  2.45%:   140:  9.03%: 304658:  1.55%: /range.htm

   89:  1.56%:    89:  5.74%: 513023:  2.61%: /menu.htm

   85:  1.49%:    85:  5.48%: 138750:  0.71%: /frames.htm

   61:  1.07%:    61:  3.94%: 207680:  1.06%: /play.htm

   40:  0.70%:    40:  2.58%:  89590:  0.46%: /summer.htm

   40:  0.70%:    40:  2.58%: 106352:  0.54%: /shed.htm

   30:  0.53%:    30:  1.94%:  64974:  0.33%: /pricing.htm

   27:  0.47%:    27:  1.74%:  43956:  0.22%: /potting.htm

   24:  0.42%:    24:  1.55%:  64676:  0.33%: /cladding.htm

   24:  0.42%:    24:  1.55%: 112290:  0.57%: /section.htm

   21:  0.37%:    21:  1.35%:  58144:  0.30%: /super.htm

   20:  0.35%:    20:  1.29%: 135280:  0.69%: /choose.htm

What this log shows is that on this particular day, there were 269 visitors to our index.htm page. On this page it is explained that we only deliver in the South of England and we offer the visitor the choice to either, enter the site proper or skip to view '/directory/index.htm' (the directory of other manufacturers in other areas) On this particular day, 229 of the 269 visitors were not in our delivery area and therefore felt the need to get off at this point and go to their local manufacturer. It may sound like a silly idea to be send 85% of our potential customers elsewhere, but due to the fact that we would be unable to deliver to these peoples area anyway, their visit would be wasting both there time and our server's bandwidth.

The above figures are from 1999. We are now receiving over 3,000 pages views per day

We have now realised the value of this directory to our visitors and feel the time is right for us to expand the scope of our directory. By providing this service, we encourage the potential customer to continue there search on-line and not to simply reach for the Yellow Pages; most other on-line manufacturers do not offer such a service and as a result, many potential customers will be lost to the Yellow Pages (and to our competitors who advertise there).

Now, if 85% of our visitors were not in our delivery area, then surely most other manufacturers in the directory must be experiencing likewise. Again, the visitor to your site would simply be wasting both their time and your bandwidth. By providing the opportunity for the potential customer to find the correct manufacturer, we are increasing the exposure of each site in the directory and also increasing the likelihood of each website becoming successful, but without taking away from the success of our (very successful) site.

How can you improve the number of 'quality' visitors to your site ? Simple, add a link to 'THE Directory'. We believe that by directing potential customers quickly and simply to the best manufacturer for their area, we are going to improve things for everybody - the customer (who finds their local manufacturer), us (we increase our exposure to potential *local* customers) and you (by increasing your exposure to potential *local* customers). Far from decreasing the number of 'quality' visitors, this increased exposure provided by our directory will actually increase them. It should also have the increased advantage of reducing the number of 'duff' visitors- thus speeding your server.

How do we set up this link ? Simply visit our add link page and fill out the form. We will confirm your details via email and ask you to enter a simple piece of code to a prominent position on your website on the page to be linked from 'The Directory'.

Remember, this opportunity is FREE, so why delay, register today !!