Before you go…
You might find suitable Accommodation using this Map…

Booking.com

The post Booking.com Map Search first appeared on South Coast Accommodation & Tourism.

The Directory Listing is no longer Active

You have been redirected to this page because the Listing you were looking for no longer exists.

While we make every effort to ensure that you find what you are looking for on our website, our clients do not always renew their business listings and in such cases these listings are disabled or deleted. Below you will find links to our more popular Listing Categories to help you get back on track.

The post Listing Has Expired first appeared on South Coast Accommodation & Tourism.

This post was written to give our current and future clients (listing owners/managers) some insight as to what goes on behind the scenes on the South Coast Accommodation & Tourism Website. To do this, I must first point out that this Website is powered by WordPress (i.e. The software used to design and maintain this website is WordPress). I am not going to bore you with details about WordPress, other than the fact that it is the system used and that WordPress uses something called a ‘Theme‘ to control basic design & functionality. If you want more information on WordPress, you can view my personal blog at www.duanereeve.com.

Also, know that what is discussed below is ‘time-related’ and current as of today (19 June 2014).

Where it all began:

So to begin with; I mentioned above that WordPress uses a ‘Theme‘ to control basic design & functionality and the theme used for this website is called ‘GeoPlaces‘. The GeoPlaces theme is a specialised premium theme created specifically for directory type websites. At the time SouthCoastAccommodation.co.za was launched the GeoPlaces theme was one of only a few Directory Themes available for WordPress. 4-Years later, there are now numerous Directory Themes available for WordPress, but I still think GeoPlaces is one of the better ones (although I am considering a change – more on that later).

What’s in Store:

1. Improved Performance: The speed at which a website downloads to a browser plays a major role in the success of a website. If the site is too slow, the visitor moves on to another. Site speed also influences Search Engine Rankings as slow websites are penalised by search engines. I know that this website can do with some speed enhancements, so this is the first task being planned and will include the following:
   • Installing and configuring a ‘caching plugin’ to reduce repetitive downloads of the same content.
   • Installing Gzip Compression to reduce file sizes, thus increasing download speeds of files.
   • Installing Expired Headers Instructions – Expires headers tell the browser whether they should request a specific file from the server or whether they should grab it from the browser’s cache.
   • Finding and installing a suitable tool to handle image compression – compresses images download faster
   • Removing the Google Map from the Home Page (The Maps will remain on the category pages).
   • Implementation of a Content Delivery Network (CDN) – A CDN distributes files to numerous Servers across the globe. When someone access a webpage, the CDN will determine which of it’s Servers are closest and fastest to provide the requested files in the shortest time-frame (thus speeding up the site further).
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2. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): For ease of understanding, SEO is essentially broken down into two categories, namely, ‘On-Page SEO’ and ‘Off-Page SEO’.
   • On-Page SEO is the stuff physically done on the website to improve rankings: A lot of time and effort was spent on ‘On-Page SEO” and this website already has many Pg-1 rankings in Google because of this. That being said, I think this can still be improved further.
   • Off-Page SEO is what is done elsewhere on the Internet to influence rankings: Minimal effort has gone into the ‘Off-Page SEO’ for this website and it is here where I will be concentrating future efforts. Off-Page SEO includes things like getting more links to our website from other websites/blogs/forums. It also include ‘Social Signals’, which means more links from Social Medial Pages/Profiles and more Social Interaction Online (you can help by Liking our Facebook Page, or following us on Twitter).
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3. Revising Content: This, although being a simple task it is a challenging task. Approximately 1-Year ago I spent some time adding a Business Directory Section to the website on request from a few potential clients. Of the 20+ requests for this, only 3 clients eventually signed-up. This section has now been removed due to the lack of interest. The Events Category, which had been around since I launched the website in 2009, has also been removed. Bottom line for each of these sections, is that the blank pages are impacting negatively on the ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ efforts and hence the decision to remove them.
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4. New Website Design: This is something I’ve had on the cards for a long time already. Fact is; I have been messing around with all types of code and systems to find a better platform for this website. Unfortunately, the ideal custom solution is too expensive and my last quote was just shy of R180’000.00 (That’s right, One Hundred and Eighty Thousand Rand). Other alternatives include hiring directory script services at no less that $100 per month or buying some other directory script, which may or may not work. So, with that in mind, I have decided to stay with the devil I know; being WordPress and to use a new Directory Theme simply called ‘Directory‘. ‘Directory‘ is currently the most powerful and feature rich WordPress Directory Theme currently available and it was developed by the same company that developed GeoPlaces. Doing this transition is a major job and I have no idea when I will get around to doing this. Maybe, by the time I get to it, something better will be available, but only time will tell. For now, just know that I do intend upgrading at some point in time and I will notify you when I’m ready.

A final word:

For those of you who don’t already know me or my circumstances, I would like to clarify a few things. I am a ‘stay-at-home dad’, who makes a living from the Internet. My primary business is providing Web-Hosting and Web-Design Services to small businesses and Internet start-ups (bloggers etc), most of whom are in Cape Town (where I live). The South Coast Accommodation Website is a side project for me and one that I run personally with no help and minimal budget. Whilst I do charge for Premium Listings on the site (@ R350 p/year), 95% of clients make use of the FREE Listing offered. I make a few $$$ a month from Advertising revenue, but for the amount of work required to run this site, it is maintained more as a passion, than for profit. As it currently stands, this website costs me money, instead of making it and whilst I will continue improving this site, I am also planning on turning this into a viable income stream for myself and for others. To do this, I will be looking into revised listing plans (with more payment options) and I am currently researching an online affiliate marketing tool, which once implemented will help others to make money by referring businesses to list on this site. More on this will be posted in an upcoming post, once the technicalities have been sorted out. Oh, and like the website upgrade, this will take time to implement as it’s very technical.

That about sums it up, for now… Until next time!

– Rgds Duane

The post WordPress Website Upgrade first appeared on South Coast Accommodation & Tourism.

This morning I opened my Outlook Mail client and after downloading all my new mail items, one particular e-mail stood out from the rest and as such it caught my attention straight away. The Subject of this e-mail was, ‘New Booking’.

The reason this stood out for me, is that I DO NOT handle bookings within my business and should therefore not receive notifications about New Bookings’ or any bookings for that matter, unless of course if I had made a booking for something (in which case I should recall doing so).

Unfortunately the same is NOT the case for most of you making use of the listing services on the South Coast Accommodation website.  Most of you run accommodation businesses and getting notifications about ‘New Bookings‘ are pretty much the norm (at least I hope this is the case for you). Anyway, I decide it’s best to make you aware that there are e-mail scams targeting the accommodation industry and what follows is a sample of such an e-mail scam:

Warning Bells: Since I saw the warning bells in the way this e-mail was written and the fact that the subject matter wasn’t relevant to me, I opted to look into this e-mail scam a little further, to help inform YOU! I took the first line of text from this e-mail and I pasted it into Google’s Search Box. The results confirmed this was a SCAM and also shockingly revealed how many different variants there are of this Scam e-Mail targeting accommodation venues. People, please ERRR on the side of caution and educate yourselves and your staff. Don’t get caught up in the excitement of a New Booking promising upfront payments etc, especially if it’s from a sender you have never even heard of before.

Be on the lookout for SCAM e-Mails. If it’s anything similar to what I have shared above, or if you are dubious in anyway, copy & paste the first few lines of the e-mail into the Google Search Box and if it’s a scam, someone would have posted information about the particular SCAM…

The post Accommodation eMail Scams first appeared on South Coast Accommodation & Tourism.

South-Coast Son’s, one of http://southcoastaccommodation.co.za’s business directory clients, is offering you a convenient time-saving alternative to what is most definitely one of my least liked household chores – GROCERY SHOPPING!

That’s right; South-Coast Son’s will do your grocery shopping on your behalf…
and they will deliver it to your door.

Where can I get the ‘SHOP&DROP’ Service?

The ‘SHOP&DROP’ Service will initially be rolled out to the greater Amanzimtoti area with plans to rapidly expand down the kwazulu Natal South Coast.

Who is the ‘SHOP&DROP’ Service for?

This service is aimed at everyone from busy business people with no time to shop; the elderly or pensioners that either can’t or don’t want to go to the shops and/or any business requiring groceries to be delivered for whatever reason.

How much can we expect to pay for ‘SHOP&DROP’?

• There will be a minimum fee of R30 service charge for any shopping up to the value of R200.00
• There after your shopping will fall within a price range that is charged accordingly.
• Visit the South Coast and Sons Website for more details or Click Here!

Methods of Payment for ‘SHOP&DROP’

• ‘SHOP&DROP’ customers are required to pay ‘Cash-On-Delivery’.
• Payment can be made via cash or card on delivery.

* * * EFT PAYMENTS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE * * *

The post South Coast & Sons Shop&Drop first appeared on South Coast Accommodation & Tourism.