We believe strongly that quality and engaging content is the most important area of your online marketing strategy and that without it you have no differentiation from competitor businesses and destinations nor unique attractions for customers. However there is still a role for understanding the mechanics of traditional SEO.
Understanding Meta Titles
The title for your homepage can list the name of your website and/or business and could include other bits of important information like the physical location of the business or maybe a few of its main focuses or offerings.
The example below shows the Meta Title for the Pro at a golf course
The following best practice guide comes direct from Google.
Understanding Meta Description
A page's description meta tag gives Google and other search engines a summary of what the page is about. Whereas a page's title may be a few words or a phrase, a page's description meta tag might be a sentence or two or a short paragraph.
It is understood that Google may not use this for actual searches but it is recognised that browsers my use it to ratify their search.
Whilst not as important as the title tag, description meta tags remain relevant because Google might use them as snippets for your pages. Note that we say "might" because Google may choose to use a relevant section of your page's visible text if it does a good job of matching up with a user's query. Adding description meta tags to each of your pages is always a good practice in case Google cannot find a good selection of text to use in the snippet – perfect for pages with high visual low word content perhaps.
Again the best practice below is lifted from Google’s own SEO guide.
"VisitScotland has today launched a new global campaign which invites people from around the world to experience the Spirit of Scotland - and it wants you to get involved!" says the press release!
Having only had a few minutes to read over what is being launched there is a sense that the concept has the potential to bind not only tourism businesses across the country but be used alongside inward investment campaigns and overseas trade missions to emphasise not only the benefits of visiting Scotland but studying, living and investing here.
It certainly seems to be good use of a strong spirit from which any size of business can mix their own powerful marketing cocktail
It is however only a platform but it is a platform that appears to have many of the tools the industry needs to build more direct business. Videos and imagery, social media hooks and strong consistent messages that if used by tourism businesses and destination management organisations across the country with their own personalised and localised messages could provide the coherence, the glue to promote the Spirit of Scotland more widely.
And it is undoubtedly that spirit that we all need to promote. Globally it's not about Ayrshire and the south west nor East Lothian and the Golf Coast. It is about Scotland and that unique essence that this campaign is trying to build upon.
In the short term businesses should start considering how they can piggy back the whole Spirit of Scotland message. Here's a knee jerk response
Create your own Spirit of Scotland webpage or pages using the term in the title and content and focussing down to your area and Property. Page Title Tag example: Spirit of Scotland in Ayrshire | Celtic Links Hotel | Irvine
Use the media provided. The quality video will seduce you. Embed it though - don't link out. Keep your user on your site
Use the words and strap lines that are being provided and used in the promo materials. You can be guaranteed they are going to go viral. Make sure you give your website a chacne of being found for them.
Use the message and its tone in your writing too. The reason those words have been selected is that research indicates they engage.
Drop the message into your social media headers, email signatures, web footers, and even your check out invoices and PDF brochures.
Download the Guide to using the campaign linked below
and even if I personally find the #scotspirit a little cheesy the benefits may outweigh the cliche so use the hashtag!
Download the ScotSpirit Guide It is not a frequent occurrence that we will praise VS so fulsomely but this campaign has been a long time coming but for it to work needs buy in from the bottom up now; not just the top down. The call to action from VS and the Scottish Government goes on; "Being one of the nation’s most important tourism drivers, events have a massive part to play in the campaign and EventScotland is calling on the industry to take part in creating a new social movement, which will reverberate globally.
From today, we’re asking you to help us show the world what the Spirit of Scotland means to you. We’re asking, simply, “Have you #ScotSpirit?” In return we want you to show us how your company or event identifies with one of seven distinct ‘Spirits’ which we think comprise the Spirit of Scotland. These are Determination, Humour, Spark, Soul, Guts, Fun and Warmth.
Whether sharing an image that relates to these, or describing the very moment that you feel #ScotSpirit, we would love for you to be a part of this new mass collaboration. All you have to do is post or tweet what #ScotSpirit means to you on social media, using the #ScotSpirit hashtag, and you will potentially be engaging with the many thousands of people we are confident will become exposed to the campaign.
As well as sharing the most imaginative content with our worldwide followers via our social media channels, we will also be highlighting the ‘Spirit of Scotland’ through TV, radio and print marketing activity in key markets around the world.
This, we are confident, will help to generate overwhelming interest in Scotland and promote the #ScotSpirit movement, encouraging more visits to Scotland, as well as our many wonderful events. By becoming involved, you can benefit from the support of this campaign and, potentially, bring your event to a wider audience than ever before."
We hope that all of you are planning on a wee romantic weekend ahead. Some are clearly pushing it a little with a weekend in Cardiff with their partners and oh, yeah a ticket for the rugby!
However you spend it we hope it's a pleasant one. One of our longer term clients, Executive Golf and Leisure in Bridge of Allan have been messaging their clients this week through their ConstantContact newsletter with a slightly amended logo that Steven in the office ran up for them!
Like all lasting relationships you have to keep it personal!
Research indicates that most visitors know what they are looking for when they hit your website so the trick is ensuring that they can get to where they want to be quickly by removing frustration and preventing the visitor from leaving the site to another that’s easier to use.
Reduce Friction
It shouldn’t be complicated to design a structure that works and flows for the user. Identify the elements they are looking for and make it easy for those elements to be found and utilised.
The key is to make it easy for the guest to find what they are looking for and execute quickly. Easy to access booking buttons; promotional offers and news; easy navigation and of course strong introductory content and imagery that increases the volume of the call to action.
However can you put too much on your homepage?
Can we use Pop Ups, Lightboxes or Hovers?
One of the most requested functions when designing landing pages is the inclusion of what would commonly be called a “pop up” (although it may actually be a lightbox or Hover area.) There is no doubt that pop out or pop up boxes have a role to play and we use them frequently for functions such as newsletter sign ups or Booking engine requests.
In both of these examples however the pop up is triggered by a definite click by the user because that is what they are looking for.
The pop ups to be thought twice about are those that simply appear over the top of your homepage every time it loads. To many users they jump out like annoying adverts and for many they are annoying and in the way. We would normally advise against using them.
There may be no definitive evidence but the user is not overly fond of pop ups and there are plenty of other ways to engage the customer.
Use your header imagery
All of our sites now have fully updated header images with the ability to add Titles, sub titles and links. Use these to promote your forthcoming events rather than laying a pop up that simply obscures the original site
Use your feature Boxes
Again all of our sites come with the ability to add and update feature boxes (similar to newspaper puff boxes or “tiles”) directing the user to your featured content. You can update the graphics, title, sub title and link once again. These can provide the quick links and reduce friction for changeable content.
Link Boxes in page
We advocate calls to action at the foot of all content pages to ensure that your site visitor has somewhere to go should they be interested in what they have read – calls to cation could be Book Now, Contact Us, Download Brochure or any redirect to internal or external links.
All our sites are designed where graphic buttons are automatically created for these links giving more prominence to your calls for action.
Everything moving?
It is a personal opinion but we try to avoid too many moving parts on a homepage. Too many sites look like a Sky Sports page with main images being overlaid by two speed ticker tapes at the bottom, moving features on the right, sliders at the bottom and pop ups jumping up all over the place. The brain cannot process the overload.
Keep it clean and simple.
Position your key calls to action where they can be seen and clicked and avoid cluttering. Just because you’ve seen something on another big name website does not mean it is always best practice. Apply your own logic and see everything from the customers’ point of view first.
How often should you post on Social Media? It's something that keeps us up at night. Okay maybe it should keep us up at night but it doesn't.
We leave the sleepless nights to the gurus of social media! However it is something that you need to consider. First of all we think you need to get right your content but once you have established what you should be posting you need to consider when and what frequency. You only have to Google "frequency of social media posts" to get some idea of the variation of recommendations which only reinforces the art not a science aspect of content sharing with your audience but it doesn't mean you shouldn't test it out. There is no definitive right nor wrong just what ends up working better for you. Have a read of this blog with neat infographic shared below. It's a simple but good read. Why not use it as a starting point and tweak from there. http://blog.sumall.com/…/how-often-you-should-post-to-socia…
TripConnect involves bidding for placement in price and availability search results. Your bid, relative to the bids of others, will determine where you appear. Below are some strategies to consider, both for properties who have relationships with online travel agents and those who don’t.
Bidding against others
If you work with online travel agent, there will already be links to these partners in your property’s pricing and availability search results.
In a group-bidding scenario, the top three bidders will receive prime placement for their links. Additional special distinction is given to the top bidder’s link. If you appear in Positions 1 through 3, your link will also include an “Official Site” icon, so travelers know this price is being offered by the property itself. The rest of the bidders that meet minimum bid amounts at the time of the search will appear in text links below the three main links.
Here are some simple strategies to consider:
First position, automatically: During set up, TripConnect will automatically populate bids to put you into first place across all TripAdvisor markets. If desired, you can make adjustments from there. The tool will show you how your changes impact your positioning, projected clicks and cost.
Returning to first position: You’re only in first position at the point in time when you set up your campaign. While your campaign is running, other partners may increase their bids so they can be in first position, which will push your link lower in the search results. To return your property to first position, click “Edit” next to your Average CPC bid on the TripConnect Campaign Management page. Then click the “Bid to 1st position in all markets” button.
Keep an eye on things: When you’re running a campaign, you should regularly check your property page and see where your link appears. This can help you judge if you need to adjust your bids for a better placement. Keep in mind, you may be in first position when you set up your campaign, but that can change over time as other partners adjust their bids.
What you’ll pay: If a traveller clicks your link, you’ll be charged your bid amount, no matter what position you’re in on the site.
A global approach: You may be tempted to pull back on bids for domains outside your home market. Generally, it’s a good idea to start at first position in each domain, so you can see which ones drive the most traffic. This will need to be monitored daily. Over time, you can make adjustments.
Reach travellers everywhere: It’s also a good idea to place desktop and mobile bids. This will help you reach travellers no matter where they’re researching your property. This will need to be monitored daily. Over time, you can make adjustments.
Solo bidding
If your property doesn’t have a relationship with an online travel agent, your link will be the only one listed in your property’s price and availability search results, and it will automatically appear at the top. Your link will also have the “Official Site” icon next to it. In this case, TripConnect will provide the minimum bid you need to place to display your link. This minimum bid is based on market prices.
Because you don’t have any direct competition, your minimum bids will vary based on market prices. You will see these changes when you configure a new campaign, but you won’t see fluctuation while you’re running one (unless you sign up with an online travel agent).
Here are some simple strategies for you to consider:
Consistency is key: Because you don’t have an online travel agent, it’s important to keep your TripConnect campaigns running without interruption. This will help ensure that you always present pricing and availability information to travelers who are interested in booking.
What you’ll pay: You’ll be charged your bid amount whenever a traveler clicks your link.
Global approach: In your case, it’s even more important to place bids across each TripAdvisor market. The ability to show pricing and availability information right on your listing will maximize your opportunity to book travelers outside of your home market.
Tips for managing your campaigns
You can see the most up-to-date metrics for your TripConnect campaigns on the Campaign Management page. This page will show you the amount spent, revenue generated and room nights sold. You can also make adjustments to your current campaigns, and set up new ones, from this page.
Budgeting
There is no minimum spend to participate in TripConnect, but there are minimum bids to have your link appear. You will see these minimums when you set up your campaign. You can set an overall budget for your campaign, to ensure it aligns with the money you’ve allocated for it. You can also set daily spending limits to ensure you’re not using too much money in one day.
When you’re first getting started, try setting up a campaign with a specific budget. Closely watch the Campaign Management section of the tool to see how long your money lasts and how successful the campaign is for your business. As you become more comfortable with traffic patterns, move to monthly campaigns with no budget restrictions. This will help you maximize your opportunity for clicks. Using monthly campaigns will also help you judge the times over the year when your property sees more traffic. This is particularly relevant for accommodations with significant seasonal peaks and flows.
Click forecasts
As you configure your campaign, the TripConnect tool will provide a click forecast for the next 30 days. This forecast includes an estimate of the number of clicks you’ll receive based on your current settings and market position. The expected spend is based on the number of forecasted clicks multiplied by your average cost per click for each market, aggregated globally.
Billing and payments
All invoicing will be handled electronically through the TripConnect Campaign Management tool. You can also track your billing balance on this page. You will be charged your bid price for each click sent to your booking page. No refunds can be issued on traffic that was delivered to your site. Also, no discounts are offered to any partners who participate in bidding.
Your credit card will be charged every time you meet a preset spending threshold (this threshold varies by market) or every 30 days – whichever comes first. You will be billed in the same currency as your Business Listings subscription.
The information above is a summary of TripConnect’s Bidding Strategies and Tips for managing your campaigns
For full information please read the article here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/TripAdvisorInsights/n1992/maximizing-your-tripconnecttm-campaigns
Plan B recommends careful monitoring of your campaigns in TripConnect. Each campaign should be reviewed regularly (daily) in order to ensure investment and return are optimised. Plan N can provide
management of your TripConnect account if required.
It appears that this message is rolling out across European markets currently and I was wondering if any businesses in the UK had received it yet?
An extra level of security? This from the very company that made a habit of sending out hundreds of thousands of customer details by fax to unmanned machines in hotels across the world with full client details, address, credit card, security number.
Now they don't want you the provider of the customer service to have access to your clients' contact?
