So I live in town called Clemmons. Actually it's the Village of Clemmons. I own the domain villageofclemmons.com and thought I'd bring it to life. Not sure what would be the best avenue for it... wordpress blog / cms phpcityportal joomla or just simply nothing... that anything would pretty much be a waste of time. We have a population of 16,000 people and there are around 200 or so businesses that could populate a directory. Any ideas? I also own triadguide.com which has a clemmons section... should I just point the domain to that section?? In the end I would like to make a little revenue from the site... Any thoughts would be appreciated.
200 businesses would certainly limit the size of your directory. But, you could turn the site into an all things Clemmons which could include the business directory, information about the town and area happenings. If your area Chamber of Commerce has a weak web presence, there might be a huge opportunity. Triadguide would seem to have the greater potential. Then you could include WS, HP, Greensboro and all of the little cities in between. It sounds like one of those newspaper/magazines that interview locals and list the week's happenings. Seems like you could really brand the heck out of a name like that and build a very useful website. Both sites might also have some value to a realtor. I'm not sure you asked this in the right forum to get the best suggestions. p.s. I know Clemmons, I went to high school in the even smaller town of Kernersville.
Dang YMC... small world! Thanks for the feedback! I thought Triad Guide would be busting by now... I have a local forum... nice directory... the whole deal... BUT... I haven't had much time to work on it like I should. Nice meeting you.
Blogging using Wordpress would be a good Idea but Joomla is the best ... I think it would be based on what would be the best avenue that would meet your comfortableness.
I will go for a Joomla implementation and business directory will just be small section of the website. You should have local news and updates there as well. Is there any 'tourist' value to the town?
All things Clemmons INCLUDING surrounding villages and info on em would surely expand the size of your site
I believe you will want to find out the attitude of folks in your village first before you begin a local directory. If you can operate Joomla, you have a lot to offer them, but they must first want it. I tried in a town of 56,000 and they truly disappointed me. I guess they did not realize that the future is digital and that the future is NOW. If you can operate Joomla, you can also offer them what perhaps no other person in town can offer them : Mobile Marketing. Plus, they can update their own page on your directory/listing without needing a computer. They can do it directly from their cell. But... this all depends on how "technologically literate" your village is. Or, perhaps on how well you can explain how they can make money using your local directory. It is especially crucial to them now that the USA is close to a depression.
It is amazing sometimes how you meet someone online or off and realize that you both come from the same small corner of the world. Good luck with your sites.
I agree with above, you should make it all things about your village but I would also add a discussion forum for the people of your village (assuming they have access to Internet which they probably do)
thanks gang for the input. I know a bit about Joomla... will check it out further. I'd like to have a classifieds and in the directory have it where the businesses can offer coupons... etc etc
how about put a directory and blog add businesses to the directory and blog about a new business every couple days