Internet Marketing for Tourism

http://seodigger.com

http://tools.seobook.com/general/keyword/

Type in a domain name and the site reveals the keywords that the domain owner is paying to advertise for.
Interesting, if even a bit creapy. In never hurts to see what others in your tourism market are advertising for:
http://www.keywordspy.com

Labels: keyword competitor analysis tool

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/
provides access to WordTracker and Yahoo's Keyword Inventory Tool at once.

Consider a visit to http://www.spyfu.com
Wondering if it's worth paying to join that directory? Use the site to identify the most popular portals for your market . . .

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has been enhanced. Now tourism businesses using google maps to provide directions can now click and drag the driving route to give their guests the best directions, not just Google Maps default. Advanced users can search this blog for the posting on creating your own customized MyMap with Google Maps.

Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Labels: google maps

According to Lisa Harmon, the creative director at strategic consulting and creative services firm Smith-Harmon, "Based on the metrics we've gathered from national online retailers over the course of the past three years, we see a consistently significant lift in click-through when a primary call-to-action is treated as a button rather than a link."

Too many buttons tend to cancel out the lift effect, but in case studies from MarketingSherpa, a new case study about how publisher SmartBrief was able to increase click-throughs 190% by changing a "related stories" link into a gray utility button.

Other online vendors have reported boosting click-throughs by simply changing a link to a button. At the Edge, our most recent emails go out with a primary call to action as a graphic button, with other hyperlinks in the email text as text links.

I'll go check my latest report to see how our click throughs went.

Bill Sweetman writes a clever blog and in this link he shares some of the highlights of the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Toronto earlier this month.  Some really interesting reflections:
http://www.sweetmantra.com/2007/06/search_engine_s.html

About a third of American travelers who research trips via the web read reviews written by fellow travelers, according to Forrester Research. Other internet booking findings:

• Of those who book hotels online, a third have changed plans based on other travelers' comments.
• Another new survey by online market researchers Compete, Inc. shows that 56% of respondents consider "consumer-generated content" to be credible, vs. 36% who trust descriptions created by a hotel or other travel supplier.
• Studies show that for certain travel products, consumers find the Internet ideal for conducting research but not for booking reservations. Generally speaking, the more complex the travel product, the more likely it will be researched online but booked offline.

In response, a slew of travel sites are introducing or expanding consumer reviews and exchanges, from online agencies such as Priceline.com (which recently added Zagat hotel ratings to its own customer reviews) to the Florida tourism office's VisitFlorida.com, which plans to launch tourist-generated blogs and videos this fall, says eMarketer.

~ source Travelmole News

Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

http://mashable.com/2007/06/23/photography-toolbox/

Just a great set of 99 online resources for editing, posting, sharing and doing just about anything with your photos.

Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Labels: photography resources

We've written about Survey Monkey Before, but when I received the Muskoka Community Network News, I thought it provided a better description of the value of such free online services as www.surveymonkey.com

MCN says,
It’s important to ask customers for feedback from time to time to find out what they like about your services and products. Survey Monkey offers a free version online which is perfect for a small tourism business. If you can manage with the free survey option which gives you up to 10 questions per survey and up to 100 responses, it is an excellent way to get customer feedback easily and quickly.
Consider offering a coupon with the email as a thank you. This hassle free way to survey customers seems to provide a higher ratio of responses than the traditional mail-out survey.

"Muskoka Community Network used Survey Monkey to ask Satellite Internet program participants what they found most beneficial with their new access to broadband. It was easy to set up and view results of the survey. We sent the participants an email request to complete our short survey and included a link to the survey. Our responses started almost immediately. Once the email was sent out, people replied to the online survey and we could view their answers immediately. "

For adding more customization to your survey like adding your logo or having the page appear as if it’s part of your website you can pay a three month subscription at $60.00 US or $200.00/Year.

~ source: Muskoka Community Network News http://www.mcnet.ca

Labels: surveys

There are a number reasons to use this free online Press Release service.

• it's free exposure!
• it's immediate, your release finds its way into news service feeds around the world within a few hours.
  
• gets your business online coverage in RSS Feeds
• Google syndicates your release, so when you use keywords, your release finds its way into relevant news sites including
  
• the release can generate earned media coverage in online and offline publications
• link, link, link . . . the release generates another keyword relevant link to your Website
• the free service automatically prepares a pdf version of your release which you can print and fax to relevant off-line media
  

Best Tip for a Great Press Release: Connect your release to something else that is already getting coverage in the media. See how we connected our release to two timely stories this week.



Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Labels: online press release free

Compete: this great free tool can provide a statistical comparison of up to 5 different websites. Excellent for competitor analysis.

Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Labels: seo compare competitors

This new free tool allows you to upload images and video to create an edited movie online. The video can then be very easily uploaded to YouTube for instant viewing by anyone around the world.

Higher end digital video cameras can produce better content, but most digital cameras produce video that looks pretty good online. So there is likely no need to spend any money to get started.

Lights, Camera, Action:
As the summer tourism season rolls around, it's time to develop a plan to capture great video to enhance your tourism business online presence.
Think about:

• who the models for video could be (staff, guests?)
  
• where the video can be taken
• what things can be going on in the video or in the background
• mood or feeling you want to get across
  
• plan a beginning, middle and end - this is the one thing that is different from photos, most video happens over time and a story can unfold.

Remember, you don't have to shoot the video in the same sequence that your finished video takes. You can cut and paste video and images from different times and places to tell the story you want to tell.

Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Labels: video online editing youtube.com

One of the easiest ways to get video of your tourism business online is at the most frequently visited video site online....

• The site makes it easy to use to upload and encode your video into flash (viewable by almost anyone)
• It's free
• You can create your own channel which provides a host of benefits including rss feeds, creating members lists, customizable page layout and more.

Have a gander at the Northern Edge Algonquin channel at



Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Labels:

According to a recent comScore survey the average person watches two online video streams every day. I want these people to be able to see video of my tourism product . . .

• Five out of every seven U.S. Internet users (71.4 percent) streamed video online.
• Three out of every ten (30.1 percent) of U.S. Internet users streamed video on YouTube.com.
• The average online video viewer consumed 55 video streams, or nearly two per day, during the month.
• Online viewers watched an average of 145 minutes of online video in March 2007.

Are you kidding me? 145 Minutes a month. If I can provide short (2-4 minute) compelling video of my tourism product I can encourage viewers to visit my location without taking up much of their online viewing time. That's why I'm spending the time necessary to get video onto my tourism Website.

Have a gander at my try at creating online video to promote our tourism experiences: http://www.northernedgealgonquin.com/video8.html

Labels: online video

This morning I'm thinking about changing the tag line on the emails we send out. Tag lines are a great marketing opportunity found at the bottom of the email, your signature closing. It can be used to direct your email recipient back to your Web site to find something they might have missed. When changed throughout the year, they can offer seasonal boost to extend your marketing reach by encouraging another communication with the recipient.

I'm not happy with the current tag line that we are using:

Northern Edge Algonquin

www.northernedgealgonquin.com

Starting to dream about a Summer getaway to the Edge? Take a peak at our New line-up of unique experiences and receive special discounts. http://www.northernedgealgonquin.com

Toll Free:1 800 953 EDGE (3343) Local or Int'l:01- (during N.A. Business Hours) Read our web log to keep in touch with all that's new and natural at the EDGE.

One of the first things I'm going to do is make sure the call to Read our Web log is hyperlinked to our blog, so those that receive our email can click the link and go directly to the page we're referencing. In the first line, almost anyone can talk about specials or discounts - this must go from my viewpoint.

When we use words like 20% off, free gift, discount we are using language that encourages the reader of our tag line (or email subject line for that matter) to consider benefits that anyone can offer. On the other hand, most tourism businesses can come up with two or three benefits they offer that cannot be copied by the competition.... they are your brand strengths, the things your guests talk about, recognition that goes beyond the ordinary.

I'll just think of a few possibilities that differentiate our ecology lodge / nature retreat from other "resorts".

• Our guests often ask for recipes and we have a recipe blog to share requests with guests.
• We are featured this weekend in the Ottawa Saturday Newspaper - 7 Wonders by Canoe, from a press release we sent out last week when the canoe was identified as one of the Wonders of Canada in a national contest.
• We're solar powered - and boy it's quiet
• We've posted some new videos that showcase our retreats and trips (ok, we're bleading edge current.... it takes time and energy, but the videos seem to be boosting inquiries).
• facilitators and programs are the key reason people visit.
• we've got new studio cabins
  

OK, now I'll think about how to bring one or more of these into a tag line we can use for the rest of the month and perhaps into the summer.

• Check out one of our new online videos featuring Quest for Balance faciliitators Trae and Wendy.
• Remembering a great meal you had and want the recipe, check out our recipe blog and ask Emily to post the recipe you are looking for!
• Did you catch our feature in the Ottawa Newspaper on Saturday, June 16th? Seven Wonders by Canoe! Read the feature here.
• Have you seen our new studio cabins - see why folks are raving about these new accommodations.

Which peaks your curiosity most and would inspire a click?

The News feature is a good one, but it will need to be changed in another week or so, I don't have time to change the tag line that frequently.
Cabins, nice, but . . . I'm leaning towards the multimedia and since I know the value of an email address (E-Newsletters make our phone ring), I'm going to add a call to action that asks folks to sign up for a newsletter.

Here is the new updated tag line we'll be using:

Northern Edge Algonquin

www.northernedgealgonquin.com
Toll Free:1 800 953 EDGE (3343) Local or Int'l:01- (during N.A. Business Hours)

Meet the facilitators with our new online video featuring Quest for Balance facilitators Trae and Wendy . Are you an Edge Insider? Sign up for E-news!

Changing your tag line? Send your thoughts by commenting on this post.

Labels: tag lines email

Email Certification programs have come into the mainstream as Internet Service Providers (ISP's) primary method of protecting their servers from unsolicited email (SPAM).

With uncertified email, senders can expect 15% or more of their email list to be blocked at the email server. On the other hand when your email is sent as certified, almost all email will reach your subscribers' inboxes.

Most third party email services will ensure that you are adhering to best practices of email to ensure their costs for certification are as low as possible. If you use unauthorized email addresses expect your service provider to block access to your list. It is easy for service providers to identify when lists are not clean as email campaigns result in a high number of bounces due to abandoned addresses.

Find out which email certification scheme(s) your email service provider uses. And if you are still sending email to your clients from your desktop - sorry to say, you're emailing on borrowed time.

Email Certification Programs

Goodmail and SenderScore Certifed are the two most used consumer-oriented certication programs.

Habeas Habeas has been around the longest and is used by the most servers. ISPs that use their "Habeas Safelist" include AOL, Earthlink, Google, and MSN.
SenderScore Certified SenderScore Certified is used by Hotmail, MSN, Road Runner. If you have lots of MSN/Hotmail recipients on your list, SenderScore may be a preferred certification scheme for you.
Goodmail Goodmail is used by AOL. They used an embedded token in the email that directs participating email inboxes to show images - html (graphic emails) were previously routinely blocked by AOL. The main advantage to Goodmail is that emails sent to AOL would never have your images blocked, and your message would be tagged with a little "goodmail" icon.
SuretyMail SuretyMail is run by the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy. Some big ISPs and Spam Filters that use SuretyMail include: Sprint, SBC, SpamAssassin, SpamCop, GoDaddy, Outblaze, and Postini.

Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Labels: email certification certified

Try out this free website load time tool and find out? Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for maximum load time, but longer load times will result in visitors abandoning their visit. Use this tool to compare your site to other businesses similar to yours, you'll get to know what elements are slowing down your page load time. Once you see the results for your site, you will be able to identify which images need to be optimized (file size made smaller) or what other page elements are taking up bandwidth, keeping your ideal guests from purchasing your tourism services.

http://www.pingdom.com/tools/fpt/?url=tourismclicks.com



Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Labels: website load time testing

This article gives a rarel glimpse behind the curtain at Google.

Labels: ny times google

Has your site been put into the penalty box by google so that your site is not showing up in search engine results?  It may be that your website designer has used some sneaky ways to get your site listed.
Have a peak at from Google on their on what to do and what not to do.  Then after updating your site, re-submit it for reinclusion in the Google database. 

The future is social.
Very popular among 20 somethings is the social networking site:
Consider dropping bread crumbs that lead to your business by establishing an online profile here. As well, Customer-Relationships can be greatly enhanced with this service that helps previous guests stay connecting with your business.

Creating an account is free and there are a number of application that can be shared on the site including image libraries, video hosting and much much more.


Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Labels: facebook tourism

Hey Todd!
I thought that I would let you know that as a result of your Tourism Keys workshop, we decided to budget for keyword advertising and blogging in 2007.

I ventured forth and bought some ads with MSN and Google thus far; with Google getting me some click throughs. Prior to this, I spent a day doing google trends which has helped me focus greatly on wording for our print and web advertising. I took a list of popular keywords and compared them to the Ontario Tourism top 20 activities from their Cdn Travel Survey.

Thanks again. I hope all is well. I understand that you’ll be coming to Campbellford on Oct 30. We’ve already got a list of participants growing.
Take care
Cori

Thank for the note Cori.

If you can integrate into your site, it can provide some impressive information to help you gauge the quality of the click throughs.... where they go through your site, how long they stay etc. This tool has recently been upgraded and has a nice graphical component that will help you see what's working.

One of the things you might find with keyword research is that keywords opportunities aren't matching your website content. If that's the case, consider creating customized pages specifically for the keywords you are advertising for. This will also lower the threshold minimum click through rate that Google charges because your site becomes more relevant and result in more activity on the page from the click throughs you are generating.

Good Luck,
todd.

Todd Lucier - TourismClicks.com

Labels: google adwords analytics keywords