I was recently introduced to OfLocal by friend and inspired foodie in the know Sue-Ann Ellen, who suggested I take a look at this one stop spot for the latest and the best lists of whatever I may need to know. She’s a contributor herself and pointed out that here was an unbiased place offering the best of everything and anything local.
Launched in November 2015, OfLocal acts as a reliable consumer-generated information website that provides useful insight on location and venue specific information, while simultaneously offering all local businesses location-based listings.
Basically it brings the best South Africa has to offer to a Top 10 list. Plus, you can create a list, add to a list or just vote for your favourites. They are striving to curate what the choice of the people, as opposed to big magazine publication listings which are often swayed by budgets and advertising. Here no-one can pay to be featured, it is 100% up to the fans.
The insights are generated by means of lists that ultimately consists of the ‘10 Best of hotels, views, restaurants, etc. in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, etc.’ The lists are published, shared and voted for by the consumer. For maximum exposure, local business owners are also welcome to create and publish their own personalised lists and even share those they are featured in. In essence, this will lead to more votes, and as a final result, referral traffic from OfLocal to the business website.
What’s more, direct links to the websites of featured businesses are provided, enabling the consumers to gather additional information on a specific business of interest that will likewise contribute in an increase of traffic referral to business websites.
For example, these two cuts from a post by Sue-Ann listing Best Fine Dining Restaurants in Johannesburg.
Each list can be voted for over a period of 365 days and a helpful countdown of this period can be viewed and followed on the OfLocal website for tracking purposes. At the end of the voting period, the business that receives the most votes will be announced publicly with the first announcement to be made in February of 2016. Thereafter, public announcements will be made annually.
OfLocal considers the best interests of both the consumer and the business owners. Consumers are able to access the best services in specific locations, as well as write and share their personalised lists based on their favourite services within their location. Simultaneously, companies can add to and/or edit their business entry to provide prospective consumers with more accurate information about their company.
Oflocal is the ideal online information website, not only for it’s simplicity and user friendliness, but for its specific and reliable information that as a one stop spot, will save time browsing too.
Visit www.oflocal.co.za for more and follow them on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date. For more details read their FAQ.
