After getting engaged, I realised that there were no websites just purely based on Derby Wedding businesses. There were a lot of websites in existence, but I suppose due to the high costs to advertise on these ‘national’ websites, only a hand full of people would appear on each of them.
So my idea was to create a website, purely based on Derby and Nottingham wedding businesses, with free listings and a weblink. At the end of the day when I set up Balloonatics, I couldn’t afford to keep paying for weblinks.
I instructed Purely Simple Design to come up with a proposal for a directory website. Peter Kong came back with some great ideas, and although I was investing in this website, my intention wasn’t to make money. Yet Peter suggested offering two levels of listings; A basic listing that offered the companies a Weblink and Address details and then an Enhanced Listing that would actually give the company and additional page on the website with additional information such as Twitter Pages, Facebook Pages, Meta Tags and Descriptions and a Gallery.
I’d also recently become a member of the Wedding Professionals Network, via Kim Fletcher of Event Heydays. Having met and spoken to the owner Steve Lilley. I mentioned my idea and asked if it was possible to offer the website to the members at a reduced cost but also display the WPN logo next to the members who were listed on the website.
As the site grew, I realised that additional content needed to be added. I instructed Peter to add a calendar of Wedding Fayres to the site and a Forum where Brides and Suppliers could swap ideas and chat in general about the planning of there wedding. Not only that, but it wasn’t restricted for companies to advertise offers on as I had included a Blatant Adverts section, that Brides could avoid if they wanted to.
With the Website complete and the sections integrated into RSS Feeds, Facebook and Twitter the website now receives over 100 hits per day. With the Enhanced listings receiving there fair amount of hits also. A lot of the hits are coming in for searching for Wedding Fayres and even registry offices.
We hope to redevelop the website shortly, to blend in with the successful Derby Wedding Showroom that we launched in January 2011.
