We have been reviewing our visitor stats for the Virtual Swanage website for the first four months of 2012 compared to 2011. The stats show an increase in the accommodation, events, local directory and the Buy and Sell sections but a decrease in the Gallery and the blog.

 From these stats it seems that more people are looking for accommodation for the current year and are looking for events to visit while on their holidays and also local business, clubs and organisations. The gallery hasn't had as many updates this year as we had planned due to other work commitments and weather conditions and this also results in a lack of new blog posts notifying of new additions to the site.

A comment sent in today about the Return on investment (ROI)  when advertising online yet again proved that you need good quality photographs of your property if you are going to gain customers either online or with offline advertising.

The saying "A picture paints a thousand words" is very true when advertising holiday accommodation. Having poor quality, badly lit, poor angle, cluttered or blurred photographs will make your holiday accommodation look poor compared to businesses with good quality, well lit and in focus photographs.

Some interior photography tips:

1. Use a tripod, this will eliminate any camera shake which results in blurred photos.

2. Turn on the lights in the room, this helps to light any dark corners.

3. Don’t shoot direct into the windows as this will cause your camera to underexpose the rest of the room resulting in a dark room with little detail and very bright windows.

4. Use a flash on your camera, bounce the flash off a flat surface such as walls or the ceiling which helps to give a more even light throughout the room.

5. Style your rooms, include items such as towels, soap, coffee cups etc in the rooms which are normally supplied for your guests. Don’t overdo this as too much clutter will be distracting in the final shot.

6. Take your photos using a wide angle lens and shoot from corners rather than from side to side. Move any furniture to enable you to get as much of the room in the photo as possible.

This website http://www.strobist.blogspot.co.uk  has a lot of useful information for photography using on and off camera flashes and some posts on shooting indoor rooms

We have added a new local gym based in the Swanage Bay View Holiday Park to the business listings.

Joe's Gym is a family owned, independent gym with a focus on customer service. Joe and Sarah Shepherd have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the fitness industry.

http://www.virtual-swanage.co.uk/directory/info.aspx?id=853

A new design business, Flying Duck Creative has been added to the business directory

http://www.virtual-swanage.co.uk/directory/info.aspx?id=848