| Welcome to the West Somerset Railway Market Place!
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A great new opportunity for local and national businesses to promote themselves to over 200,000 travellers who visit the West Somerset Railway every year and the many thousands more who visit West Somerset, Taunton Deane, Exmoor and the Quantocks.
This site not only aims to help businesses in laying out their wares and services to all of these people, many of whom research their trips via the West Somerset Railway's various linked websites, but also will ultimately bring even more visitors to the area by raising funds for an exciting project to restore vintage era coaches for use on the steam railway
Follow the links below to find goods and services in the following areas:
The West Somerset Railway Market Place will help businesses reach new customers in an innovative and imaginative but low-cost medium.
And the best bit is that ALL of the organisations who advertise on these pages are there because they have made a substantial donation to the Heritage Carriages Project - an exciting charitable scheme by the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust, to restore two trains of superb 1920’s and 30’s carriages for use on the West Somerset Railway – Britain’s longest steam railway.
Please be sure to mention The West Somerset Railway Market Place when you contact a business listed on this site.
See below for information about advertising on the West Somerset Railway Market Place
| More about the West Somerset Railway Market Place
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What is the West Somerset Railway Market Place?
It is a place for local and national busineses to lay out their wares and services for the world to see. Over 200,000 passengers travel on the West Somerset Railway every year. Many thousands more visit West Somerset, Taunton Deane,Exmoor and the Quantocks. The West Somerset Railway is one of Britain’s premier tourist railways and has friends and supporters all over the world.
Many visitors look at the West Somerset Railway’s websites for details of train services, events and information on the railway. Those websites attract a daily audience of over 2,000 on-line visitors every day, equivalent to over 700,000 potential customers every year.
How does it work?
Your business can add a logo or banner on the right page for you. And the bigger the logo or banner, the more it costs. You supply contact details for your own website. A visitor to the West Somerset Railway Market Place then clicking on your logo or banner will be taken to your website – simple!
How much does it cost?
It costs 2p per pixel. The smallest area or “pitch” is 100 pixels, so an area that is 10 by 10 pixels would cost only £2. The bigger your logo, the more visible you will be. £50 gives you 2,500 pixels, and £200 gives you 10,000 pixels. Even small areas can be effective as web users like to search sites like this for bargains!
 100 pixels =£2
 2500 pixels =£50
 10000 pixels=£200
For example...
 104 pixels =£2.08
 2500 pixels =£50
 10000 pixels=£200
You can, of course, select any size to suit your logo or banner.
And how long will the logo remain in place?
Normally, for one calendar year. However, as an introductory offer, Market Place pitches taken in 2008 will not expire until the end of 2009. Of course pitches can be renewed.
Where does the revenue go?
All the proceeds go straight to the Heritage Carriages Project. This is the West Somerset Railway’s exciting scheme to restore two trains of 1920’s and 30’s carriages for use on the line. Visitors to the Market Place will know that this is where your contribution has gone. It’s a great way to support the WSR whilst getting your goods or services advertised to a wide audience.
What if I don’t have my own website?
At a small additional cost we can design and host a page of information on your business which visitors to the Market Place would be taken to when clicking on your logo or banner.
How do I buy space?
To get started, click here
Then select the "Get Pixels" button. When the "Get Pixels" page loads, click the "Buy Pixels" button below the category that suits your business.
When the "Select your Pixels" page has loaded, you can "click and drag" using your mouse to identify a region of the grid for your logo or banner. A helpful red box will appear and dynamically change shape as you drag with the mouse. At the same time, the size and cost of the current region is displayed as you continue to refine your region. Remember the region you are defining will eventually contain your logo or banner so take care. When you are happy with the region, and cost, click the "Continue" button.
The "Upload your Image" page appears. Here, you can browse to the location of your logo or banner and click "Continue" - or you can select from one of the scores of predefined images shown below, useful if you have no image to upload.
Next to load is the "Describe your Pixels" page. Here you need to add the full URL for your web site making sure to include the "http://". Then you add a Title for your Pixels, such as "Acme Guest House". Finally, an "Alt Tag" - if you are not sure about this, leave it blank, or re-use the same words as your Title. The contents of the "Alt Tag" appear when a user passes a screen pointer across your logo.
Existing account holders can "Log in" at this stage. New account members will need to "Create an Account" before purchasing pixels.
From this point follow the on-screen instructions to make payment via PayPal.
At the end of the process, you will receive an email confirming the transaction.
The pages are "family friendly". Each pixel purchase is reviewed for content before becoming fully visible on the page. Reviews may take a few days to complete. The Trust reserve the right to reject any pixel purchase linked to "non family friendly" websites.
If you have further questions, please email us.
© West Somerset Steam Railway Trust
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Tourism |
Accommodation |
Food and Drink |
Model Railways |
Railway Enthusiasts |
Ladies Page |
The Trust use PayPal for online donations. If you can make a donation please click this button.
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