Your Online Guide to Wasaga Beach.

It's important to remember why we began.

A few years ago, the Town of Wasaga Beach embarked on a marketing campaign which was designed to bring business to Wasaga Beach. The accompanying slogan went something like this "Business is better at the Beach" The problem was.. it just wasn't true. Wasaga Beach is a very difficult place in which to do business. Since the beginning, we have been known as a seasonal town. Even residents tended to shop anywhere but here. Locals would bet on the demise date of new commercial ventures, yet this slogan continued to be trumpeted on billboards and ads. Things have gotten better since then but business is still tough here. One has to be competitive and inventive to stay relevant here. 

Wasaga.com is unlike any business here in the beach. We have the opportunity speak to all types of business owners. We know when they are doing well, and when they are not. And our success depends on theirs. Over the years we have worked to highlight this town and our clients through our site. If they succeed, so do we. 

2008 was a terrible year for business. The weather was horrible and many seasonal businesses struggled.  I wondered to myself what wasaga.com could do to improve the situation. So in 2009, wasaga.com was re-designed to be more interactive. 

The concept was simple. Give people truth. Gain their trust. Let customers be part of the conversation. Connect them to businesses which will more closely match their needs and they will return time and time again. 

With this new philosophy in place, wasaga.com was re-designed in 2009 to allow site visitors to post reviews via our forum, upload articles of their own and join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Collectively, through wasaga.com - site visitors and business owners can discuss their needs and suggest solutions, blog about their experiences, display their favourite photographs and hopefully... direct their friends to Wasaga Beach. 

Wasaga.com accepts all types of advertising. Our goal is to be the place everyone visits to find goods and services in Wasaga Beach and surrounding area. We started out as a tourism website but we are quickly morphing into an all-in-one informational site. In 2009 we are expanding to include even more categories of services. During the summer of 2009, our first new category; health & wellness will begin to unfold. Residents and visitors will be able to find out more about the services available to them here in Wasaga Beach.

I already have a website, why should I advertise on wasaga.com?

How's that working for you? You spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars having a website developed for your business only to find out that too few people are finding your site.  Wasaga.com has been creating websites for over a decade and has learned that "if you build it, they will come" is just a line in a movie. If they can't find you, a website is nothing more than an expensive digital dud. You have to announce yourself. Let people know your website exists. Cyberspace can be an awfully lonely (and expensive) place if you haven't taken steps to make sure you are found. 

Take advantage of our traffic. For the search terms "wasaga" and wasaga beach" wasaga.com is #2 on Google. People find us easily and if your business is listed here, they will find you.

Our traffic during peak times can exceed 5,000 unique visitors per day. Where else will your business get that type of exposure? 

Our listing in "Google"

A Sample of Our Stats Wasaga.com is the most visited site in the area for people looking for information about Wasaga Beach. We began as a tourist site but we have expanded to include all types of businesses. New categories are being added on a regular basis.  Whether you need your car repaired, a chiropractor, resume writer or a place to stay, you can find it here.

How to get extra (free) advertising on our site.

We have opened up the site to allow our Advertisers, and site visitors to add to the conversation. Nobody knows your business better than you do and your knowledge could not only be interesting to our readers, your ability to articulate your ideas could translate into valuable promotion for your business.

Let's say for instance that you own a Spa. You must get dozens of questions from people who aren't familiar with the types of services you offer. For instance, "Are there any health benefits to massage?" Or, "Is there a difference between this or Shiatsu Reflexology?" Write an article to explain what you do. Make it promotional without being self-congratulatory as this is meant to be a source of valid information, but mention who you are, your business, where you are located and talk about any introductory specials or events that you might be having. Take advantage of the thousands of unique visitors we get per day to get the word out about who you are and why our visitors should visit your business and your website.

Your article will be available from our welcome page. It will link to your ad, and your website. And you aren't limited to just one article. You likely have a brain full of ideas that could translate into new clients. Help us to bring information to our viewers and you'll be helping yourself by generating interest in your services. 

Reviews - why we include them.

Wasaga.com gains site visitors by offering an interactive experience. The idea is simple. Give people a place where they can find information and then connect them with other people who have used your services. Nothing boosts your business more than testimonials from happy clients. This is not a complaints department. We are very careful about what is posted and we are always mindful that your business depends on word of mouth from happy clients. But the internet is a vast, uncontrollable beast where you have little recourse should somebody want to make you look bad. You can do nothing but watch in horror as when somebody uses sites like tripadvisor.com or epinions.com to slam you. Not so at wasaga.com. 

You have heard the saying "If you liked it, tell your friends. If you didn't like it, tell us". Most business owners are never aware when someone is unhappy. The problem with that is the upset customer will tell all his friends and before you know it, your reputation is damaged. And now that the internet is in every home, that unhappy customer is telling the world.. and you can't defend yourself! We aim to help your business by alerting you of any unhappy reviews. We'll let you work it out with your client and try to present a fair and balanced viewpoint. We hope that every review will be complimentary but if one should arrive that isn't, we'll; a) let you know b) let you try to solve it c) allow you to defend yourself d) post it only if it meets our reviews guidelines (reviews NOT complaints!) 

I had this very conversation with a local business owner a few days before I wrote this. The difference between a review and a complaint should be quite clear. A review seeks to tell others about an individual experience. It isn't a method of solving a problem between a customer and a business owner nor is it a form of revenge.  We will not post unsubstantiated complaints. Rather we intend to let our site visitors tell other readers about their own personal thoughts and preferences. For instance, if they visit a restaurant, they can say "the steak was cooked to perfection but I thought the peppercorn sauce was a little salty for my tastes." Some people love a salty gravy, some do not. They cannot say "the gravy was horrible and you should stay away from this restaurant". Those types of comments are not helpful and don't add to the conversation. 

Summary.

Educated customers who know what they are getting are more satisfied. There is no value in tricking people into spending their money. It might work once, but they won't return. Wasaga.com is attempting to connect you with the right types of clients - and our site visitors to the businesses which will satisfy their needs. 

We feel that if a person is looking for a five star hotel and we direct them to a charming but rustic cabin, they won't trust our website again. Providing our visitors with accurate and fair information is the best way to foster trust, and to increase sales for us, and you.

It's a partnership. 

The new website is still being tested with our audience. There will be many tweaks as we grow into the new format. Hopefully I have explained our mission adequately. I welcome the thoughts and opinions of site visitors and clients alike. Tell us if there is something we can do to make our website more useful to you.

Sincerely,

Darlene Watters, owner of Wasaga.com