Cairns Kids Activities interview on the 19th op Arpil 2013 with Cairns FM89.1 community Radio

                                                                
Jurgen and Sophie Kleijkamp (Jurgen is pronounced yer-gen - and kleijkamp is pronounced kl-eye-camp) have recently created a website for families living in and visiting Cairns. It provides a quick and easy way to search for ideas of things to do with kids in the Cairns area.

Tell us a bit about yourselves and why you have created this website? How did you come up with the idea and who are you wanting to visit the website?

talk about who we are, what we do for a living, family, Cairns, etc
introduction how we started Cairns Kids Activities 1 year ago, how we joined forces to get the idea into a reality with a website that would help local and visiting families to cairns

What age groups of kids do the activities cater for?
babies to teenagers

Do you include special events?
yes - there is a calendar of events, we try and keep up with all that's on around town - but if any of your listeners would like to list an event they can just email us - we list events for free

Do businesses running the activities have to  pay to be listed?
No - all listings are free - this way we can list everything there is to do rather than just the businesses that can afford it. We wanted this to be a truly comprehensive catalogue of things to do.

What about classes like music or swimming lessons?
yes - we list regular classes like dance and swimming lessons, art lessons and all the sporting clubs. We are always adding new listings so if any of your listeners have suggestions they can just email us and we can get onto it

How do people use the site?
you can use the search bar to look for something specific, search the different categories, or search using the icons. We are constantly reviewing the site and how it is used to make sure we are keeping it user friendly. Any feedback is always welcomed.

Can you tell me a few of the categories you have?
beaches, sporting clubs, libraries, art galleries, dance and drama, school holiday activities, biking and fishing

And what are the icons you mentioned?
we have 8 icons that categorise activities in a different way - for example if you click on the wet season icon - then you see a list of activities from different categories that are good for a rainy day - the 'nap makers' icon lists activities that are good to wear out the little ones, and there is a 'teenagers' icon that pulls together all the activities suitable for kids older than 10 or 12.

Do you have every activity in Cairns listed?
work in progress, adding new things to do and events, working on making the website more user friendly, mobile website,. over 300 things to do, over 250 events added, 120 days online, over 370 unique visitors a day, over 1800 Facebook followers,

Can people add their own activities & events?
Ultimately Yes, visitors will be able to add activities and events to the website. At this stage they can send us the information and we will add it to the website for them. Each submitted listing will be manually check by us to make sure it meets our guidelines and quality. In the meantime, we would love it if visitors to the site can rate the activities they visit and add their comments - to help others visiting the site get a broader view of the activities

So - I listings are free, how do you finance the website and all the work you put into it - there is a marked lack of advertising on the site which is quite refreshing really.
We purposefully have kept advertising to a minimum. There are too many sites that become an advertising bonanza and we wanted this to have a simpler feel, and an objective viewpoint. For this reason, all listings are free of charge, and the only paid advertising you see are a couple of banners on each page.
We have done all the work to create the website so far for free knowing the website will become a very interesting platform for local business' to advertise their services and business on. The website is visited by parents who either live in Cairns or visit Cairns as a tourist - it is a very specific market using this site. Our advertisers have a clear picture of our visitors and can see the benefit of advertising on the Cairns Kids Activities website.

Sounds like it could be a good deal for local businesses, what kind of advertising do you offer local businesses? Is it expensive?

We provide 3 kinds of banner advertising and have packages for either monthly or yearly advertising. The advertiser will provide a banner or we will create one for them (just to make sure it fits into our style). The banner will rotate with all the other active banners to make sure everybody will get the same exposure. When people click on the banner, it will take them to the website or Facebook page of that advertiser. We provide the advertiser with stats about how people have seen their ad and how many times the ad has been clicked.

Next to banner advertising we have added 3 paid categories to the website that are paid listings. Those categories are restaurants, accommodation and family deals. The information on those paid listings are provided by the advertisers. We clearly state this on those pages. We arent in the business of reviewing restaurants or accommodation, if businesses offering accom or food want to advertise to families, then they can do it on cairns kids activities.

Tell me more about the family deals...

We have the idea that the family deals will be a great way for some of the tourist companies to combine forces and create great family deals for local and visiting families to Cairns.

You seem to have a real local focus with this site, how do you think this site could affect local business and tourism?

Our website is providing a broad spectrum of things to do in the Cairns area. So not only the major tourist attractions, but the smaller companies with a smaller marketing budget will get business from our website. and hopefully families will realise that they needn't spend a lot of money to have fun with their kids on holidays. We expect the website will become a hub of local knowledge - sharing the lesser known places and activities in the area - as well as some precious local knowledge about the more well known activities

How do people find the website?

As the owner of Zen Web Design a local internet marketing company that provides website & SEO services, I have built the website in a search engine friendly way to get the best search engine results. So just google "cairns kids activities" - and there we are!

How can the audience help?
We would love it if they could visit the site, and use it - tell your friends about it - and give us feedback if you find any mistakes, or want to add anything - also - if you run a local business and are looking for some good value focused advertising - just email us and we can work out a good deal.

Cairns Kids Activities Logo

On December 21st 2012 we have finally launched the Cairns kids website. Cairns Kids Activities is a website that provides parents who live or visit Cairns with info about what to do or what events are on in the Cairns area.

The website is online for 100 days now and we have seen some amazing progress! In 3,5 months time we have reached more than 25.000 visitors to the website. Since the beginning of April we have around 360 unique visitors each day. Our Facebook page has over 1800 followers and active members who share their local knowledge with visiting families to Cairns.

We love to see our kids happy and healthy Cairns is a fantastic place to be a kid! We are a family of four and have lived here in Cairns for nearly 7 years now. We have had both of our children here and have enjoyed the many benefits mixing the tropical lifestyle with family life. We understand how it feels to be looking for things to do with kids and so the idea was born to create a 'one stop shop' of information and ideas for the Cairns area.

This website is a way to bring truly family orientated information to locals and visitors alike. We have tried very hard to create something different from the tourist orientated sites that are everywhere on the web. We have written most of the content ourselves, or added our own experiences to the information offered on individual websites. As our children are only 2 and 5, we have sourced information for older kids from friends and colleagues who are 'in the know'.

Just like a child, the site is a work in progress and is growing rapidly. Also just like a child, we need the community to help us help it grow! Please take the time to share your tips and experiences. Your input as a parent is so valuable to us.

Website & SEO by Zen Web Design