📌Note: You may want to also check out our guide on how to create a listing.
✍️ Naming Your Listing
Make sure the name is clear and accurately reflects the support your service provides.
For example 'mental health support' is too generic, 'Bereavement support for carers - Manchester', is much more clear and specific.
If your service already has a name it is known as use this, for example, 'Side by Side' is a service provided by Mind.
📃 What works best for the description?
Make sure your description includes EVERYTHING a user would need to know to access your service.
Use emojis 😄 and other customisation options (such as bolding, and italicizing) to make your information as clear as possible.
You can also use 'Headings' to organise your information.
We recommend using the 5 W's:
💡 Who? Who is your service for?
💡 What? What happens during your service?
💡 Where? Where does your service operate? Where is your service provided?
💡 When? When does your service happen? When is your service open?
💡 Why? Why does your service operate? What do you aim to achieve?
💻 Adding a weblink
Add a SPECIFIC weblink, make sure not to just use a general organisation link, but instead the link to a website page about the specific service you are promoting.
For example, if you are uploading a swimming group at a leisure centre, upload the link to the website page for the swimming group NOT the entire leisure centre.
Remember this is where users will be taken to view your service if they click on the website so ensure it is appropriate to the listing.
📋 Which categories should you add yourself to?
Categories allow you to be filtered by people on the marketplace, this means it is useful to ensure any category you fall under you select.
There are also more specific categories that appear when you select the wider one on the marketplace (shown here, selecting 'Connecting with Nature' means you can also select 'Outdoor Activities'). Ensure you utilise both (as long as it appropriate), so that if users are looking for something very specific your service will fall within the filters, and they can still find you.
📍 What makes a good service access criteria?
Make sure your service access criteria are accurate and include all of the information a person would need to understand if they qualify for your service. This can be as short or as long as it needs to be, as long as it is comprehensive.
➕ What additional needs should I include?
For all the additional needs you cater for, make sure to select them. This allows service users to filter by accessibility easily so it is very important you think carefully about whom you cater to.
🗺️ Adding your location
Joy uses Google Maps, therefore you should add as specific a location as possible. This can be the exact place your listing takes place or can be generic such as 'Wolverhampton'.
📌 Note: If you add a generic location Joy will choose a middle point (e.g. the city centre).
🖼️ What images work best?
Clear images, with either people taking part in your service, or your logo work well.
Make sure you add images as they help your listing stand out and give users a better view of your service.
Ensure they accurately represent your service and are high quality so they don't look blurry when added to the listing.
The size that the listing uses is 660x440 pixels, so making sure your image is this size (or has large plain borders) means your image will not be cut off by the system.
Use JPG, GIF or PNG images.
If you need help, most image or photo apps (in-built on your computer) will let you crop images to a certain size.
💡 Hint: If you need to create something Canva has a free option which allows you to create custom-sized images, with text, and free graphics.
This is a great example of a high-quality image on a listing.
💜 Using 'Joy Instant Referral'
Using Joy Instant referral creates an easier referral pathway for users of JoyConnect and our case management software. This increases the amount and accuracy of your referrals which can be accessed via email or on the marketplace.
📞 Service contact details
Add as many contact details as you have so that users can contact you in their preferred way. For example, older service users may prefer to use the phone therefore it is worth having a phone number. However, ensure they are monitored!
📌Note: Remember you can come back and edit your service listing at any time, eg if you get a great new photo that really encapsulates your service, pop back and add it to your listing!