Explore Hastings editorial standards
Explore Hastings is one of twenty city guides covering New Zealand. The guides on this site are researched and written in-house by our editorial team.
How we research a best-of guide
We start where a reader would, by searching for the category in the city. From there:
- Every business is checked against its own website. Names, addresses and phone numbers come from that site, not from a directory feed or a bought data set.
- We confirm each one is based in or genuinely serving Hastings, rather than a national operator running a local landing page.
- A business with no website of its own is not listed, because there is no primary source to verify it against.
- We do not visit or interview the businesses we list. Our research is desk-based and drawn from what each business publishes about itself.
- Guides are updated as businesses and information change.
What can and cannot be paid for
Being included in a guide cannot be bought. A business is listed because it met the criteria above.
The #1 position can be. Where a guide carries a paid first placement it is stated on that page, naming the business, and that business still has to meet the same criteria as every other entry.
We take no commission. We are not paid when you contact or hire a business you found here, and no business pays us a referral fee.
Frequently asked questions
How do you decide which businesses appear in a guide?
We search for the category in the city the way a reader would, then check each business against its own website. We look at how long they have been operating, what they actually offer, any trade registration or accreditation they publish, and whether they are genuinely based in or serving the area. A business we cannot verify from a primary source is left out.
Can a business pay to be included in a guide?
No. Being listed cannot be bought. If a business appears in a guide it is because it met the criteria, and no money changed hands for that placement.
What does the #1 position mean?
On some guides the first position is a paid placement. Where that applies it is disclosed on the page itself, naming the business. A business in that position still has to meet the same criteria as every other entry, so it cannot buy its way past them. On guides with no paid placement, the first position is our own editorial pick.
Do you take a commission on work booked through the site?
No. We are not paid when you contact or hire a business you found here, and we take no referral fee.
How often are the guides updated?
There is no fixed schedule. We revisit a guide when a business changes its details, closes or opens, or when a reader tells us something is out of date. Contact details are re-checked against the business’s own website when we do.
My business is missing, or something about it is wrong. What do I do?
Email ad***@****************co.nz. If the details are wrong we will correct them. If you would like to be considered for a guide, tell us and we will look at it against the criteria above.
Corrections
If something here is wrong about your business, or you think you should be in a guide, email ad***@****************co.nz and we will look at it.