Hotel Banana Azul
Beachfront on Playa Negra

Over 5,000 people visited Puerto Viejo Satellite in Aug!

The number of internet visitors to Puerto Viejo Satellite keeps growing! Last month we saw over 5,000 unique people visit the site — exploring local businesses and info:

Our statistics indicate that these visitors are mostly out of country doing research on their upcoming trip to the area. You can see that from the high number of outgoing clicks — these are clicks from Puerto Viejo Satellite to listings who have chosen to support the website and their own business by purchasing a weblink to their site or Top Pick status as well as clicks out to photos, blogs and videos and volunteer opportunities for the area.  Curious where are vistors are coming from? Here's where the most recent visitors to the site came from:

Num	Perc.	Country Name
262	62.38%	United States
51	12.14%	Canada
40	9.52%	Costa Rica
22	5.24%	Spain
15	3.57%	United Kingdom
10	2.38%	Germany
20	4.76%	Other

And September traffic is on course to beat another record!

Puerto Viejo Satellite and local businesses hit the big time in Conde Nast Traveler Magazine

Did you see the September 2007 issue of Conde Nast Traveler magazine (It's got Bill Clinton on the cover)? The magazine profiles the Caribbean Coast of Central America and does  a section on Puerto Viejo.

Conde Nast Traveler is a magazine with a huge readership. They focus on the luxury market and on unique accommodations and experiences. We've always know we're unique here and now the world does too!

The listings for the article mention www.PuertoViejoSatellite.com as the place where the author recommends to do research on the area — over any guidebook! And it seems clear to me that the author did her research on the area using the site so that the businesses listed on Puerto Viejo Satellite had a distinct advantage when it came to getting included in the magazine.

The local businesses recommended in the article were Banana Azul, Tree House Lodge, Aguas Claras, Shawandha Lodge, Samasati Nature Retreat, La Pecora Nera restaurant and Hershel Lewis’ Caribbean Surf School and Tours. Cahuita National Park and Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge were also recommended.

If you can’t find the printed magazine, you can read the article online here.

New Community Calendar on The Talamanca News

Have you checked out The Talamanca News lately? We've covered a lot of stories of importance to the community. And now there is a community calendar where you can browse for  upcoming events by date.  Coming  up on Sept 15th is Costa Rica Independence Day celebrations! Check the left side menu bar of The Talamanca News for more upcoming community events.

Did you know you can subscribe by email to all the news from The Talamanca News and not miss anything? Click here for info on subscribing.

Transport page available in Spanish

I have a goal of making the website fully bilingual which is why when you're adding your listing to the site you need to enter your business information in both English and Spanish. So the map page has always been fully bilingual. And now the Transport page is too!

If you have a link from the Spanish side of your website to the area transportation information on Puerto Viejo Satellite, you should update the link to point to the Spanish page:

www.PuertoViejoSatellite.com/transport.php?lang=es 

And if you've not linked your site to the Transport page then you're visitors are missing out on the most complete and most current information for the area.

Tips for promoting your business or project online

Each month we'll feature a tip here for promoting you business online. Of course the best tip of all is to get listed on Puerto Viejo Satellite and purchase a weblink or Top Pick upgrade so people can find your website. And by referring the customers you can't accommodate back to www.PuertoViejoSatellite.com we all benefit. Also by linking to the detailed transportation page and other helpful info on Puerto Viejo Satellite will benefit us all.

Another site to list your business on is CostaRica.Craigslist.org. This is a "classified ad" style site operating around the world which started a Costa Rica subsite. It is a very popular source for North Americans especially looking for information on vacation rentals in the area. Their ads are free. The downside is that ads are ordered by date only so you need to remember to resubmit your ad every couple of weeks to keep it visible and current.

It's also a good place to list a business or property for sale. And you can tell people the location of your property by listing it on Puerto Viejo Satellite. You can just choose a Business Type as Private Map Point when adding your listing to the site and your property will not be listed in the directory but you will have a web address (URL) which you can give people to view your property on the map.

Know someone who needs a website?

Do you know a local business owner who needs to get a website? Did you know that we do websites too? Puerto Viejo Satellite has an incredible deal for local businesses who want to get an online presence for their business: $50 gets you a one-page website with:

• Your own website name like www.PuertoViejoCoolStuff.com
• A link to your website from your Puerto Viejo Satellite listing
• A one-page website with photos, information and even a reservation form if you have a vacation rental property
• An email address at your domain, e.g. Juan@PuertoViejoCoolStuff.com
• Renewals are only $20 a year for the website (renewing your website link is additional)

You can get all the information here.

Thanks!

That's it for this month, let me know if there's a specific topic you'd like to see in future editions.

Pura vida!
Doug Dosdall
www.PuertoViejoSatellite.com

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