The Real Oasis blog

I came across the Real Oasis blog, the landscaping and design website, after Richard Boyd left a comment on the Concrete Spread.

The site is full of great information which incorporates topics from garden safety to topiary and even CAD which I will cover at some stage myself.

Richard has laid the site out very well making it extremely easy to navigate.

Only one little confusion is the similarity with the blog and the main site and I wonder if there is a real need for both?

Good use of photos, screen shots and scans to illustrate and hold your interest so I have added the link to the side bar.

Whilst I am in the Real Oasis domain I think a little highlight of the plant hire side of the business is worthy of a mention.

I am not too sure, other than commercial exhibition companies, if you will be aware that you can hire plants for special occasions. It doesn't matter if you want to adorn a marquee for a wedding set in the grounds of a hotel or to grace your terrace for a birthday party but there are companies, and Real Oasis is one of them who will hire out plants.

I am also pleased to see that they have published terms and conditions clearly on their site. T & C's should be a very important part of anyone's set up, be it a single simple sheet or detailed conditions covering every facet of your business.

Comments

[Richard Boyd]

Hello Philip

Thank you for the kind words.

We were interested in what you said regarding is there a need for both web sites.

We started of with the main site (.com), which had a news and information section, which if I am honest was very boring. We then started to dabble in blogging just to test the waters (using .net) … and then decided to make the blog the news and information part of the company. The other issue was that our technical knowledge is not good enough to allow us to integrate the blog into the main website, so it stands alone.

We still don’t have a clear editorial policy as far as the blog is concerned, so it rambles a bit. However, most people seem to like it.

I doubt if any of our clients actually read the blog, it seems to have a completely different readership - other bloggers, students, press, garden product manufacturers and suppliers, etc., so from that POV it serves a separate job.

Thanks also or mentioning the plants hire service, that has really started to take off this year. We diversified last year from traditional topiary into some more unusual plants and the response has been incredible.

[Philip Voice]

Hi Richard

Thanks for the comments.

It is always worth remembering that whilst your current readers might not be clients, they are always potential clients.

Your webmaster should be able to put links on both sites to make them look integral.

Shout if you need any help.

Phil