After a long and eventful first full year offering .blog with Automattic, I decided to end 2017 with a little time off. Having moved from Toronto to Halifax, Nova Scotia earlier this year, I was eager to relive my university days driving home to Newfoundland, and introduce my wife and young boys to a `rite of passage` for Newfoundlanders — crossing the Cabot Strait at Christmas. I was eager to see how they will do rocking side-to-side for eight hours in swelling seas. (This might be another reason Newfoundland is called The Rock…huh!)
But no matter where I go I can’t help but notice domain names. They stick out to me like the red colouring in The Sixth Sense – you see it and subconsciously know it is important, but you don’t always take the time to appreciate it.
The lineup at the ferry terminal can be quite long and loading the ferry takes a few hours. Passengers typically wait in their vehicles. So, to stretch my legs I ventured inside the terminal. Basically, it is a place to do your business, keep warm, and grab a vending machine delight to curb hunger pains when you run out of options.
The Nova Scotia ferry terminal also has a nice brochure stand for tourists, with plenty of booklets promoting Newfoundland — things to do, areas to visit, and places to stay. With nothing but time, I grabbed a few to show my wife. As we perused through them, two things popped out to me. The first was the beautiful photos of Newfoundland and it’s wonderful residents. It is truly a magical place with amazing people. Second, were the websites being promoted in the pamphlets. Here are a few as they appeared:
- newfoundlandlabrador.com/trip-ideas/travellers-guide
- alphabetfleetinn.com
- http://www.birdseyeviewvacationhome.ca
- facebook.com/NewfoundlandLabradorTourism
- doctorshousenewfoundland.com
- celticrendezvouscottages.com
Seeing this is encouraging because even the smallest businesses in Newfoundland see the importance of a website. These are all wonderful things about Newfoundland, but getting to their websites from promotional pamphlet poses its challenges when they aren’t easy to remember and spell. With hundreds of new domain extensions to choose from I am confident, there are better online signposts than http://www.dreamcatcherlodgenl.ca.
However, there was one exception that stuck out to me — battleharbour.com. And if you ever have the opportunity to visit Battle Harbour, do it! I promise you, you will not be disappointed.
Don Ruiz 