An Australian Online Tradesman Directory
Recently I’ve been talking with Matt from eTradesman which isn’t the standard type of generic business directory that we would normally review, instead it is specifically designed to help users find trade services in their local area.
The directory is well structured and has a lot of trades-people listed, so if you’re looking to have some trade work done, or you’re a tradie and would like more information, have a look at our review of eTradesman or go directly to the eTradesman website.
OfindZ
A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Wolfgang Hein asking us to have a look at his Australian Business directory - OfindZ.
The site itself has been designed purely in flash, so from a search engine perspective, it’s not doing itself any favours, but that aside, the directory itself seems reasonable. To find-out more about the directory and its features, have a look at our OfindZ review.
Big Roo
Another addition to our list of companies - BIG ROO - a local business that claims to be the fastest growing search engine in Australia with tens of thousands of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland businesses already listed… I hope someone passed the memo onto Google 
We’ve reviewed some of their features and pricing in our review of Big Roo but would be quite keen to hear what you think.
Speak Up Sydney - Write a review for a chance to win $5000
A couple of weeks ago I received an email from RAYV about a new competition they are running to help strengthening the tie between local businesses and Sydney residents.
The competition and website Speak Up Sydney is designed to provide a forum for Sydney residents to share the experiences they’ve had with local businesses and to voice their opinions in an open and honest manner. Why? Well, here’s what a recent survey conducted by research company PureProfile revealed:
- 95% of Sydney residents feel out of the loop and would like to be more in-the-know about businesses in their local community.
- 84% of Sydney-siders would like a forum to share their opinions and experiences (good and bad) with other people about the businesses and services in their local area.
- 76% of people in Sydney currently waste time travelling outside their local area for services such as masseurs and mechanics because they don’t know about alternative businesses within their local area.
That’s why. Sydney-siders are feeling more and more disconnected from the people and businesses in their local community and we want to reverse this trend. Speak Up Sydney is all about getting the conversation going and putting people back in touch with the local businesses in their community.
So to help-out your local community and potentially win $5000+ in cash and prizes…
1. Head on over to RAYV, Australia’s coolest business review website.
2. Register for FREE. It takes less than 1 minute, we promise.
3. Search for (or add) the local businesses you want to review.
4. Start writing! The best review wins $5,000 and gets published!
Rayv
A few days ago Anil Sabharwal, Managing Director from RAYV contacted us to tell us about their online community.
RAYV was created to take traditional word-of-mouth marketing online and it is quite possibly one of the most opinionated online communities and business review directory in Australia (and soon to be New Zealand). RAYV makes finding recommendations from friends and likeminded people a breeze - with a click of a button you can find 1000’s of reviews on businesses local to you. They might not all be positive reviews. But hey, that’s what RAYV’s all about.
To read more about some of the features, have a look at our review or better yet, why not head over to RAYV and see what everyone is raving about!
clickfind
It’s not what you’ve got it’s how you use it. Premium local Australian search engine clickfind is striking their unique pose by listening and acting on user suggestions, something that is hard to find in big business.
To quote clickfind:
We quality control all listings and charge $19.95 a month, considerably cheaper than most other paid listing directories
For that fee, someone gets to list their business and up to 500 products or services.
Worthy of mention is clickfind’s blog which is a fantastic move for local search players in managing PR and simplifying user feedback.
I Need To…
Yet another directory has been added to StartListing - this one is called I Need To…
They sent me an email recently with a promotional offer for the festive season which will give you a free Basic Listing (usually $99.00). To claim this offer, enter this promotional code UPG7003 when you sign-up.
The offer ends 31st December 2007 - so be quick to register online with them. Further details about I Need To… along with all the types of listings they provide can be found in our full review of their services.
(Please note that we are in no way affiliated with I Need To… and NO remuneration was received for this review)
Suncoast Connect and local.com.au
Two new directories have been added to StartListing - Suncoast Connect and local.com.au.
There are still plenty of directories that we haven’t reviewed yet, so if you have any comments or feedback on the directories we currently have listed… or if you know of any other business directories that we haven’t yet mentioned - be sure to let us know.
TrueLocal.com.au Launches Ratings and Review Feature
On Monday the 15th of October 2007, TrueLocal.com.au launched a new ratings and review feature.
Ratings and Reviews enables your customers to add a rating against your TrueLocal business listing, write reviews about their experience and share their views with likeminded people.
Your business listing in the search results will now display:
- the average rating and the number of ratings your business receives
- up to 70 characters of text with the most recent customer review listed first
Your business details page will include the complete list of customer reviews, including any of your responses or own reviews.
They have also taken the opportunity to enhance their search results pages and make further product improvements. For the first time TrueLocal.com.au Servicing The Area listings will automatically be shown whenever a search is carried out.
Substantial changes have also been made to the Business Details Page. Designed to maximise the impact and cut-through of your business information.
For more information about these new services have a look at: Ratings and Reviews.
AussieWeb is finding staff with MyCareer
I received the following email from AussieWeb today:
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Hi Peter,
This is the team from AussieWeb Local Search where your free business listing exists at http://www.aussieweb.com.au/
One of the largest activities for small businesses is finding the right staff. We hear this all the time from the users of our local search directory.
For this reason we have added http://www.mycareer.com.au/ to our business directory web site. You can now add job vacancies to your listing and receive a 5% discount from My Career. To get the 5% discount, simply log in to update your listing on AussieWeb Local Search and then click on the Jobs tab to enter the MyCareer website to register your vacancy.
As an added bonus, users of our directory will find job vacancies for your company when they search on your type of business, thus giving your job advertisement more exposure and increasing it’s effectiveness. Of course, your ad will also appear on the My Career web site. A win-win for all concerned.
The AussieWeb Local Search Team
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From digging a little deeper, this appears to be one of many new additions that AussieWeb are introducing to their local search directory.
AussieWeb’s Official Blog provides a little more information with their posts - AussieWeb Local Search looking for new additions and My Career being add to AussieWeb Local Search