What would you do if you lost your computer records, do you have a backup plan?
Idrive - www.idrive.com is a great product which provides 2GB storage as a free backup service with a reasonable price plan for higher volumes.
It is extremely simple to setup and the best thing is you can access files remotely from your backup.
It is something worth considering - the alternatives generally don't offer as much security as an online system.
I would be interested if you have other online back up options which are as good. Then post a comment below.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Conversation Marketing
I stumbled on an interesting new blog today - Conversation Marketing
Two interesting posts are:
The Internet Marketing Unlist: 49 Things You Probably Are Doing But Shouldn't
Read the whole post but the best ones are:
The Internet Marketing List: 59 Things You Should Be Doing But Probably Aren't
There are some good ideas in both these lists.
Check them out and also let us know of other interesting blogs.
You can contact us if you want assistance or a review of your travel online marketing or for good sound SEO
Two interesting posts are:
The Internet Marketing Unlist: 49 Things You Probably Are Doing But Shouldn't
Read the whole post but the best ones are:
- Having a flash intro to your site - so useless
- Requiring registration for checkout - I have seen this on travel booking sites - it is painful and doesn't help the customer - offer the choice if you want but don't make it compulsory.
- Ignore me. If I fill out the 'customer support' form on your site, answer me.
The Internet Marketing List: 59 Things You Should Be Doing But Probably Aren't
There are some good ideas in both these lists.
Check them out and also let us know of other interesting blogs.
You can contact us if you want assistance or a review of your travel online marketing or for good sound SEO
Sunday, February 17, 2008
DIY Research Mistakes
Another interesting blog - Five DIY research mistakes that can lead to disaster - which highlights some common errors.
So what are the common mistakes:
An example is the gay and lesbian travel market where RainbowTourism.com markets. While there is some research a lot of the research is self selecting i.e. it captures a "visible" part of the market who read a certain magazine. The research in this area also tends to be biased towards gay men and to North America. However the good news is the internet means this research is getting broader.
The other lesson is that even with the best research you should test the market to see what works. The good thing with the internet is you can test different ads, web pages, etc to see which gives you the best click through and buy rate. The cost isn't huge but it does need to be trialled over different periods to see what works/doesn't work.
So what are the common mistakes:
- You load the dice to get the answer you’re looking for
- Right questions, wrong people
- Right questions, wrong environment
- Failing to corroborate the evidence
- Good evidence, bad decisions
An example is the gay and lesbian travel market where RainbowTourism.com markets. While there is some research a lot of the research is self selecting i.e. it captures a "visible" part of the market who read a certain magazine. The research in this area also tends to be biased towards gay men and to North America. However the good news is the internet means this research is getting broader.
The other lesson is that even with the best research you should test the market to see what works. The good thing with the internet is you can test different ads, web pages, etc to see which gives you the best click through and buy rate. The cost isn't huge but it does need to be trialled over different periods to see what works/doesn't work.
Business Blogging Tips
I stumbled on this interesting blog - Business Blogging Tips - which had an interesting link to the book - Meatball Sundae - Is Your Marketing Out of Sync?
While the book looks interesting this comment on the blog says a lot about the purpose and usefulness of SEO:
While the book looks interesting this comment on the blog says a lot about the purpose and usefulness of SEO:
We tell clients this all the time. MOST print advertising, including the YELLOW PAGES, is a waste of money these days. Would you rather spend $1000 on ad that is gone in month? Or spend $1000 online, where that ad can live on indefinitely?I think the comment about print advertising says it all as does the comment about content. It reinforces the comments we have made before:
Seth also comments on the speed of SEO - ""My position is that the clients are the problem, not the consultants. That's because they want shortcuts, not hard work. The best SEO is great content. Don't do that and you don't get much."
The Web 2.0 has powerful tools to help someone be found online. But it takes time. It does not happen overnight, usually. You have to build the temple....and then they will come! It's like planting seeds in the garden. It takes time for the seeds to fully grow and develop.
- Start a blog - one post a week means 52 pages of new content in a year
- Take the best content on your blog and integrate into your website
- Add a page of things to do on your website
- Employ someone to edit the content if necessary. Having a professional edit your content is extremely helpful to pick up typos, errors and come up with good unique content.
- Employ someone to help with SEO.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
SEO Hints, What's happening in your district,
When planning your website or looking at updating it, think carefully about who your target market is, what does your area have to offer them, think about what they might like to do, and what might encourage them to stay a day or two extra or just enjoy their stay more.
Then add a page to your website, or ask your web designer to incorporate information about these activities or local attractions into your website design.
You may think, oh I'm not paying for another page on my website, what am I made of money? But think about it a bit from your website visitors point of view. Ok, they may have decided to stay in your area for some specific reason, but chances are they won't know places to eat, or know what else is available in your area apart from the reason they are visiting.
So looking at a what's nearby type page, may make them think hey, I would love to go horseriding, or fishing, kayaking, take that nature walk, visit Stills Valley Skifield whatever it maybe. And they may decide to stay at your place for another night becuase of it.
That isn't the only reason to have this information on your website though. Again think of it from your customers point of view.
Say they already know a bit about Stills Valley Skifield, and want to find a place to stay so they could go sking for the weekend, so they go to a search engine, if your website is optimised correctly, a search for say "Luxury Accommodation near Stills Valley Skifield" will find your website ranking highly. If your website doesn't mention Stills Valley Skifield, there is no way that a search like that would find your website at all.
So giving a push to the local activities can have many benefits, and is well worth doing.
Lynny
SEO Hints and Tips
Then add a page to your website, or ask your web designer to incorporate information about these activities or local attractions into your website design.
You may think, oh I'm not paying for another page on my website, what am I made of money? But think about it a bit from your website visitors point of view. Ok, they may have decided to stay in your area for some specific reason, but chances are they won't know places to eat, or know what else is available in your area apart from the reason they are visiting.
So looking at a what's nearby type page, may make them think hey, I would love to go horseriding, or fishing, kayaking, take that nature walk, visit Stills Valley Skifield whatever it maybe. And they may decide to stay at your place for another night becuase of it.
That isn't the only reason to have this information on your website though. Again think of it from your customers point of view.
Say they already know a bit about Stills Valley Skifield, and want to find a place to stay so they could go sking for the weekend, so they go to a search engine, if your website is optimised correctly, a search for say "Luxury Accommodation near Stills Valley Skifield" will find your website ranking highly. If your website doesn't mention Stills Valley Skifield, there is no way that a search like that would find your website at all.
So giving a push to the local activities can have many benefits, and is well worth doing.
Lynny
SEO Hints and Tips
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Consistency on your website, make sure your webpages agree with each other
Consistency on a website is vital, it's a well documented fact that visitors will develop a mistrust of a business if information on a website has different information about the same topic on different pages.
I recently added a new accommodation website to Rainbow Tourism, the site offered luxury accommodation, and was and had real problems finding information about the types of accommodation available at that hotel.
On one page the room types had names like blue room, green room, pink room, each with unique features and you read about what each room had to offer, you had to click to another page for the rates for each room, and there the rooms were named something quite different eg. 1bedroom unit, 2 bedroom unit, hotel unit, yet on the first page there were 3 or 4 coloured rooms that all had 2 bedrooms. But ok, I could guess that all 2 bedroom units cost the same, fair enough.
When it came to booking and paying for a room, the rooms were described as different again. There was no way to book the room that looked out over the pond, and had a spa on the terrace, as compared to the room that had a spa bath inside, and looked out over the garden, again you had 1 or 2 bedroom options, but the features of each room was different.
If I had of been a potential customer, quite frankly I would have looked for somewhere else to stay, I don't have time to write emails back and forth trying to work out which room with which features I wanted.
Looking at photos of this resort on the website it looked like there might have been at least 20 rooms or units to rent, yet nowhere on the site did it say how many there actually were.
As a web designer, it's obvious to me that the site has had additional pages added over time, and that's probably where the inconstancy's have happened, and possibly the booking system they use costs a lot per room so they didn't want to list too many rooms.
Most visitors to the site wouldn't understand or care how this happens, all a visitor wants is to find out what you offer, how much it costs, and if it available when they want it. So that's what your website should offer.
We offer a several services where we contract people to visit a site as a potential customer and get them to report any problems, or suggestions for changes, services of fixing the problems, and doing ongoing site updates and SEO tweaking for a set month fee. This works really well as there isn't a big investment in a website at once, and with continual small changes, a website will continual to do well in search engines.
Also do remember to contact Rainbow Tourism, if you are looking for a great little booking System that takes online secure payments, for as little as $20 a month your online customers can book their rooms right there and then.
Regards Lynny
Hotel/Motel SEO & Webdesign Services
I recently added a new accommodation website to Rainbow Tourism, the site offered luxury accommodation, and was and had real problems finding information about the types of accommodation available at that hotel.
On one page the room types had names like blue room, green room, pink room, each with unique features and you read about what each room had to offer, you had to click to another page for the rates for each room, and there the rooms were named something quite different eg. 1bedroom unit, 2 bedroom unit, hotel unit, yet on the first page there were 3 or 4 coloured rooms that all had 2 bedrooms. But ok, I could guess that all 2 bedroom units cost the same, fair enough.
When it came to booking and paying for a room, the rooms were described as different again. There was no way to book the room that looked out over the pond, and had a spa on the terrace, as compared to the room that had a spa bath inside, and looked out over the garden, again you had 1 or 2 bedroom options, but the features of each room was different.
If I had of been a potential customer, quite frankly I would have looked for somewhere else to stay, I don't have time to write emails back and forth trying to work out which room with which features I wanted.
Looking at photos of this resort on the website it looked like there might have been at least 20 rooms or units to rent, yet nowhere on the site did it say how many there actually were.
As a web designer, it's obvious to me that the site has had additional pages added over time, and that's probably where the inconstancy's have happened, and possibly the booking system they use costs a lot per room so they didn't want to list too many rooms.
Most visitors to the site wouldn't understand or care how this happens, all a visitor wants is to find out what you offer, how much it costs, and if it available when they want it. So that's what your website should offer.
We offer a several services where we contract people to visit a site as a potential customer and get them to report any problems, or suggestions for changes, services of fixing the problems, and doing ongoing site updates and SEO tweaking for a set month fee. This works really well as there isn't a big investment in a website at once, and with continual small changes, a website will continual to do well in search engines.
Also do remember to contact Rainbow Tourism, if you are looking for a great little booking System that takes online secure payments, for as little as $20 a month your online customers can book their rooms right there and then.
Regards Lynny
Hotel/Motel SEO & Webdesign Services
Sunday, January 13, 2008
17 great marketing articles
I recently added Conversation Marketing to my Google reader (thanks to Google's recommendations built into Google reader).
I was really excited to see this article:
17 Conversation Marketing Articles You May Have Missed
One of the best articles was 3 Ways to Kill SEO Suicide.
All 17 have some excellent ideas. For tourism operators I would add the following additional items in relation to your booking system.
If you are interested in discussing further feel free to contact me.
I was really excited to see this article:
17 Conversation Marketing Articles You May Have Missed
One of the best articles was 3 Ways to Kill SEO Suicide.
All 17 have some excellent ideas. For tourism operators I would add the following additional items in relation to your booking system.
- Is it easy and simple to use.
- Ask a friend to test it out
- Check the email responses are ok.
- Can you to track bookings from all your agents, websites and other marketing sources
- Does it display the correct rates to the general public but provide the ability to display agent rated as appropriate
- Is it hosted on a secure, backed up server.
- Are credit card details stored securely.
- Will the system update other booking systems
- Is their a simple calendar to display availability
- Does the system allow you to enter a start date and then a choice of departure day or number of nights.
- Do you control the booking and payment terms?
If you are interested in discussing further feel free to contact me.
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