NatureCoaster.com is being Improved for You

NatureCoaster has been growing a lot, thanks to you! We started building the site in 2014 with a dream to unite the residents, visitors and prospective relocators with all the awesomeness that is here.

The site was designed to be an online visitor guide to Florida’s Nature Coast, and we have evolved over the three years we have been publishing to include a weekly e-zine full of useful information about the area, in addition to our weekly features.

NatureCoaster.com is now providing information for residents, visitors and relocators throughout Citrus, Hernando and Pasco Counties through our website to the tune of over 12,000 unique visitors monthly – yes that’s more than 144,000 unique visitors annually!

We have utilized Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to expand our reach.

NatureCoaster wins Writing Awards!

Diane Bedard, our founder and main feature writer won two awards at the 2017 Florida Outdoor Writers Association Convention in Ocala. Now we are an award-winning publication by association!

NatureCoaster Site and Logo Redesign

We invested in a complete redesign of the site, allowing us to improve the speed of the site and its seo function. This helps readers connect more quickly with what they are looking for.

Have you seen our new logo?

Our original logo was designed by Diane Bedard as a visual representation of our mission. It is a yin/yang symbol with the forest on one side to represent the eastern side of the Nature Coast and the water on the other side to represent the western side of our area. While the idea is great, we spent a lot of time explaining it.

Luke Kenney came up with the new logo. Much cleaner but true to the original concept, don’t you agree?

Stefen Phelps rewrote the entire directory and integrated our Photo of the Day by Pat Oberti Manfredo. You can bookmark the site and get a new NatureCoaster photo pick me up every day!

We will be rolling the new site out next week (hopefully), and expect this to help all our NatureCoasters.

The NatureCoaster.com Directory

The main page of our NatureCoaster Directory has been one of the most visited pages on our site over the years. It helps NatureCoasters connect with NatureCoasters.

The NatureCoaster Directory is expanding to paid and unpaid listings. This makes the directory more useful for those who are looking for local information, and helps to promote those who have invested in connecting with NatureCoaster readers.

The NatureCoaster Calendar of Events

We have worked hard to build the best calendar to cover events throughout our area. Featured events are shown at the top of the calendar and a fun layout lets you click on events that interest you for details like price, hours, location, details and a map to get you there.

The local businesses that believe in our mission to unite the residents, visitors and people considering relocation has been one of our main sources of income, and sponsored features and featured events have been the other ways.

Combining our Calendar of Events with our weekly e-zine list of what’s coming up has made this another of the most visited pages on NatureCoaster.com.

Now we are offering Venue Packages that include your location, with a description, photos, a map, and all your upcoming events listed in our calendar and at your Venue. This is a great offering for theatres, live music venues and educational organizations that want to promote their schedule.

The NatureCoaster Home Page

Since we began, we had an intro page about our mission as the home page. This is fine for new visitors, but as we have evolved to cover light news, we wanted a new format to provide readers with recent articles and images as well as the current events in more of a magazine format.

Stefen Phelps Design took care of this for us beautifully with a slideshow of the last 4 featured articles, the photo of the day, and our new advertising spaces. Below the “fold” are categorized articles that were recently published.

What’s Next: Partnering with NatureCoaster.com

We are now adding partnership packages which include advertising banners and are searching for a sales representative to help us find the best of the area’s organizations who want to  grow with us.

As our online publication has grown, our event promotion packages have taken off. NatureCoaster.com has been a great tool for connecting readers and event promoters because our readers are looking for things to do in Florida’s Nature Coast. They trust us, knowing that we have worked to connect them with what’s happening NOW from our inception.

If you are a NatureCoaster with a business or organization in Florida’s Nature Coast who would like to grow with us, contact us to explore partnership opportunities.

If you are a NatureCoaster reader, please send us your comments on the new format, or add them below, so we can continue to provide a publication that is relevant to your needs.

And, everyone, please be kind to each other, and take time to enjoy the nature that surrounds us, working to ensure Florida’s Nature Coast continues to be the magical place it is.