Foreign Perspectives

One really big advantage of using a database driven approach to the Whole Earth Guide is that I get considerable development leverage from the existing B&B and self-catering listings sites. For instance, using the existing code base let me get the guide operational in a couple of days and there are already improvements visible on the listings sites courtesy of features that were needed for the guide.

Then there’s the global aspect of the guide site which will be leading to the listings sites supporting other countries before anyone applies for a listing. Already, Holland is an available option simply because of the Amsterdam article from the guide and Turkey will be following shortly.

In due course, there’ll even be an SEO advantage as it shouldn’t be that difficult cross-linking the trio of sites and that’ll let me start to use the website recommendations that I’ve been collecting from the properties listed on the accommodation sites over the last couple of years.

Finally, once I get the guide site operational, it’ll be easy to incorporate the information within it in other sites or create a new version targetted at other markets.