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Posted on Apr 30th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Last year, Google caused (another) shake up in the marketing world by removing organic keyword data from Google Analytics, replacing it with the words 'Not Provided'. Since then, speculation has been rife that the search company plans to start blocking p...
Posted on Apr 29th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
In an ideal world, all your fans and followers on social media would head straight to your resort's website to find out more about your property, sign up to your mailing list and get ready to book. In reality, most of them need a gentle push. These 3 tips...
Posted on Apr 28th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
The world of Search Engine Optimisation can appear complex and sometimes baffling, so it's not surprising that even in 2014, some people still cling to ideas and practises that are no longer relevant, misjudged or simply obsolete. Listening to these SEO m...
Posted on Apr 16th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Content has become one of the most important ways to reach and build a relationship with your audience in recent years, but developing an effective content strategy isn't easy, even for multinational brands with huge marketing budgets. With Google constan...
Posted on Apr 16th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Social media is constantly evolving, and as we all strive to keep pace, it's inevitable that a few mistakes get made along the way. With this in mind, here are five big social media blunders you might be guilty of, and how to avoid making them again....
Posted on Apr 15th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
When marketers first wised up to the crucial link between content and better search rankings, everyone was trying to create as many new pages to fill their site and share on social media as they possibly could. Unsurprisingly, this lead to the publication...
Posted on Apr 9th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
It's less difficult, and less expensive, to generate a booking from an existing guest than it is to convert someone new, yet this simple fact often gets overlooked in the race to reach a wider audience online. Hotels can retain more guests and save money...
Posted on Apr 9th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Google's accommodation search and comparison service Hotel Finder is slowly but surely gaining momentum in the US, and will create another valuable opportunity for you to promote your resort online when it gets rolled out fully over here in the near futur...
Posted on Apr 7th 2014 by Lee Tester
The world of social media is constantly evolving, and most of us are just trying to keep pace with a steady stream of fresh content to engage our fans. But although focusing on the message is vital to audience engagement rates, it's also important to set...
Posted on Apr 2nd 2014 by Bryan Marsh
You know that positive guest reviews are essential to your property's success, and as we covered in a recent post, the public is becoming increasingly savvy when it comes to spotting hotels' false attempts to accumulate this all-important feedback online....
Posted on Apr 1st 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Photos are one of the most effective tools out there for increasing traffic and driving shares, and now that almost everyone has a Smartphone in their pocket, there's no need to do all the hard work setting up great shots yourself. Each time your guests c...
Posted on Mar 31st 2014 by Bryan Marsh
How much value do your guests place on the opinions of others online? Have they lost trust in review sites or do they still form a crucial component of the booking process? A new study from ITB Berlin and the Worms University of Applied Sciences has looke...
Posted on Mar 26th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Towards the end of 2012, Google began rolling out its one-stop accommodation planning tool Hotel Finder into standard search results worldwide. Two years on, let's take a closer look at how the service has evolved and its impact on the online travel secto...
Posted on Mar 26th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Almost every year, the same message can be heard resonating from marketing circles: SEO is officially "dead" or at least changed so fundamentally that it's completely unrecognizable from what it once was. The truth is, search engine optimisation is alive...
Posted on Mar 26th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Sending out an email newsletter is a great way to stay in regular contact with your guests, alert them to new offers, increase engagement and drive booking rates, but if you're not staying on top of the hard data, how can you be sure all your hard work is...
Posted on Mar 19th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
However well you've done your guest persona research, it's not always easy thinking up blog topic ideas that are highly relevant and exciting to your audience each week. Fortunately, within just a few simple steps, you can identify the kind of blog posts...
Posted on Mar 19th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Social media has broken down the barriers between hotels and their guests, allowing properties of all sizes to engage with their audience in a way that is less corporate, more human and more engaging. Whatever your platform(s) of choice, succeeding in the...
Posted on Mar 19th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Where once, someone might share a positive customer service experience over a chat and a coffee with a few friends, people are now taking to social media in their droves to share photos, write reviews and publish their personal experiences with an audienc...
Posted on Mar 13th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Noticed anything different about the Google search results lately? In the last few days the search company has begun rolling out a new design which changes the way organic search results and ads are displayed to desktop users....
Posted on Mar 12th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
You know you need to post to your property's social media accounts regularly to keep your audience engaged, but how often is enough? Is there such as thing as too often? And what's the best time of day to post for maximum results?...
Posted on Mar 12th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
As you know, your resort's blog is one of your most valuable assets when it comes to climbing the search rankings, driving traffic to your website, engaging your audience and increasing bookings. Naturally, you want your blog to perform even better, but w...
Posted on Mar 12th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Adding fresh, interesting and well written content to your property's website on a regular basis is your best chance of climbing the search results pages, engaging your target guests and reaching a wider audience online. Thanks to Google's 'Hummingbird' u...
Posted on Mar 6th 2014 by Lee Tester
eTourism is proud to announce that it is now a certifed Tripconnect Partner. This means that you can list your booking engine results within your Tripadvisor listing page. This is a cost per click program where you bid against other OTAs for the top posit...
Posted on Mar 5th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
With the online travel landscape only becoming more and more competitive, and an array of new marketing tactics appearing almost every week, how do you decide where to focus your efforts to get noticed by your guests in 2014? Here are 3 of the biggest tre...
Posted on Mar 5th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Images generate more engagement across social networks than any other kind of content, which means if you're not already posting pics that resonate with your guests on a regular basis, you're missing out on a ton of shares, likes and website traffic. So h...
Posted on Mar 5th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
As an online marketer, the people that actively engage with your message and spread it on to their wider social community are your biggest asset. Perhaps more than any other social platform, Google+ makes it easy to reach out to these brand evangelists an...
Posted on Feb 26th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Although somewhat overshadowed by social media in the past few years, email marketing is still a fantastic way to engage your guests and drive bookings - just as long as you're doing it right. The key is to ensure you're sending out professional, welcome...
Posted on Feb 26th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Your website is your vehicle to showcase your property. It's likely to form your guests' first impression of your business and has the power to drive more bookings than any other component of your online campaign....
Posted on Feb 26th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
You probably know by now that an effective, well maintained social media presence can boost your property's SEO efforts, but chances are you may not have thought about things from the other angle. In other words, have you stopped to think how you can also...
Posted on Feb 19th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Just a few years ago, search engine optimization and blogging were two very separate spheres of marketing -all that link building and keyword research seemed a world away from the more creatively driven nature of the blogosphere....
Posted on Feb 19th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
With the world of Search constantly changing, and countless new tactics popping up in the marketer's SEO rulebook every month, how do you choose where to prioritise your efforts for maximum results?...
Posted on Feb 19th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Recent research from ShareThis has confirmed a trend that will come as no surprise to most: when it comes to sharing content with friends and family on social media, more people are pushing aside their computers and reaching for their mobile phones instea...
Posted on Feb 12th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
It's happened to all of us. You land on a website ready to purchase. But very quickly, you become confused. How do I navigate the site? Where can I go to see reviews? What steps do I take next to purchase?...
Posted on Feb 12th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Google's innovative and controversial new product Google Glass will be made available to the public later this year. With the launch date imminent, it's time to start thinking about how such technology will impact the way consumers search for and interact...
Posted on Feb 5th 2014 by Lee Tester
We all know that optimising your website's content and design is a key component of any successful SEO strategy. But it's also possible to dominate the search rankings with off-site content that you control or at least influence, while at the same time im...
Posted on Feb 5th 2014 by Lee Tester
How much does your social media community really like you? Facebook's Insight platform for businesses can help you find out. The feature offers a range of data that can help you assess the likeability of your property's brand so you can plan ways to bette...
Posted on Feb 4th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
What do hotels and resorts need to do to get the best results on Facebook? New research from Inside Facebook offers a couple of interesting insights. The study looked at the Facebook campaigns of over 2000 holiday properties, encompassing a total of 114,...
Posted on Jan 29th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
If, following our recent blog post about Yahoo, Bing and SEO, you've decided to go ahead and dedicate a little more time to these 'alternative' search engines, this is the post for you. Worried about finding time to incorporate two more search engines int...
Posted on Jan 29th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
When you hear the words "search engine," what's the first name you think of? Chances are your answer is Google, and with good reason. The company has become synonymous with search, boasting a 67% share of the global market and an impressive 6 billion sear...
Posted on Jan 28th 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Speculation is rife that Expedia has been penalised by Google, losing an estimated 25% in its search visibility. It is thought that the search giant has come down hard on the major travel website thanks to evidence the company was using a paid links schem...
Posted on Jan 23rd 2014 by Bryan Marsh
A recent study by Google and Nielsen has revealed that almost three quarters of mobile users make enquiries using a search engine when using their devices to complete a purchase. It therefore goes without saying that if you haven't done so already, implem...
Posted on Jan 22nd 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Maintaining a blog isn't just about writing great content; it's about encouraging a dialogue with your audience. The comments section is the ideal place to encourage your guests to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions, but with so many spammers out th...
Posted on Jan 22nd 2014 by Bryan Marsh
Now that we're a few weeks into the New Year, have you stopped to think about where you'd like to take your property's marketing campaign in the coming 11 months? Taking time to reassess your efforts will keep you focused on everything you need to achieve...
Posted on Dec 18th 2013 by Administrator
SEO has changed radically in the last few years, but many businesses are still inadvertently limiting their ranking potential by relying on ineffective, outdated techniques that at best do nothing, and at worst, are actively penalised by Google. Here are...
Posted on Dec 18th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Back in September, Google unveiled Hummingbird, an algorithm adjustment which overhauled the way search results are ranked and sent waves across the marketing world. Around 90% of search inquiries are affected by the change, which moved the focus away fro...
Posted on Dec 17th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
The most successful businesses on Twitter do much more than simply spam their followers about how great they are. They use the platform to listen to their customers, check up on the competition and engage in helpful and meaningful conversations that demon...
Posted on Dec 11th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
When your guests are scouring the web for the perfect property for their next holiday, great hotel photography catches their eye and gets them daydreaming about their break. But what visuals are most likely to get travel shoppers pulling out their credit...
Posted on Dec 11th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Your resort's website is the best tool at your disposal for driving online bookings, and as you know, SEO plays a crucial role in making sure as many of your guests as possible actually land on it. Good SEO isn't just about driving high volumes of traffic...
Posted on Dec 10th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Have the rules and regulations surrounding Facebook contests caused you to shy away from trying them in the past? Not long ago the social network quietly updated its promotions policy, making it possible for businesses to run contests on their own timelin...
Posted on Dec 4th 2013 by Administrator
Pinterest has just introduced a brand new way for its users to pin the things that interest them in the form of 'Place Pins'. This new kind of pin has been designed primarily to cater for the increasing number of travellers that use the social platform, a...
Posted on Dec 4th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
If you want to dominate search results, you need to make sure your main social profiles and pages, as well as your website itself, rank highly. One of the best ways to help these pages climb the rankings is through building links, both from external websi...
Posted on Nov 27th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Christmas is just around the corner, and as people begin to decorate their homes for the season, it's time to think about how you can change up your resort's Facebook strategy to promote engagement and spread some festive spirit. Here are four simple idea...
Posted on Nov 27th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
TripAdvisor recently announced that content from its vast portfolio of hotel reviews will now appear in the Bing search results pages. Bing will reportedly now serve up property reviews, ratings and photos, as well as TripAdvisor's price comparison tool i...
Posted on Nov 26th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Once upon a time, travel enthusiasts planned their adventures by sticking pins in a wall map. Now, thanks to image-based social media platform Pinterest, they have a convenient, visually appealing 'virtual pinboard' to share their holiday plans and dreams...
Posted on Nov 21st 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Want to know what the online travel marketing industry has in store for 2014? Here are three key trends we think you should look out for Mobile Travel At the end of last year, Google Travel estimated that around a quarter of all search engine queries rela...
Posted on Nov 20th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Great SEO isn't just about ranking highly for those carefully chosen keywords and phrases anymore. It's about making sure you have the right content and technical strategies in place to get taken seriously by Google and get in front of as many of your gue...
Posted on Nov 19th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
It has only been ten months since Twitter introduced its video sharing service Vine, and in this short time the app has gathered more than 13 million users worldwide. Vine allows users to get creative with the video cameras on their Smartphones to create...
Posted on Nov 13th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
If you've ever daydreamt about sitting back and letting someone else do all your marketing for you, implementing a marketing automation system could be the answer. Well, almost. Marketing automation software doesn't actually make the work of your resort's...
Posted on Nov 13th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Google's 'Hummingbird' switch up has made it more important than ever to continually create high quality content to get noticed in search results and drive traffic to your resort's website. Great content is an extremely effective tool for driving traffic...
Posted on Nov 12th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Twitter has come a long way since the days when simply posting a few lines of text and a link to an image or blog post was the limit of its marketing capabilities. Perhaps in response to the soaring popularity of image-based social media, the site has rec...
Posted on Nov 7th 2013 by Lee Tester
Nothing beats hitting 'publish' on a new blog post, but even when the new content is finished and up on your site, there's work to be done to maximise its reach. This simple post-publication action plan will help you get more out of each blog you publish....
Posted on Nov 5th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Social media has become an essential component of every business's digital marketing toolbox. Used effectively, it's one of the best tools at your disposal for generating buzz around your resort, promoting guest engagement and driving bookings. If your so...
Posted on Nov 5th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Mobile web usage is at an all-time high and most businesses know that a mobile strategy is an essential component of a successful online presence. Building a mobile-friendly version of your resort's website is the first step, but what happens next? This c...
Posted on Nov 1st 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Search engines see the number of links directing to your website as a strong indication that your content is worth linking to, and therefore worth ranking highly on the search results page. However, increasingly, it's not just the sheer volume of links to...
Posted on Oct 30th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Your guests have a constantly expanding library of opinions about your property right at their fingertips in the form of TripAdvisor, Google's Hotel Finder, Yelp and a host of other review sites. As we discussed in a recent blog post, it's virtually impos...
Posted on Oct 28th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Thanks to TripAdvisor's Travel Affiliate Program, content from the world's number one travel site now gets in front of more than 300 million people worldwide, making guest reviews of your resort more readily available than ever. This easy access to a weal...
Posted on Oct 24th 2013 by Lee Tester
YouTube has stepped up their analytics reporting over the last few months and now offers a more useful range of reports to help you assess your channel's performance. The insights contained in these reports can be used to hone your video marketing strateg...
Posted on Oct 24th 2013 by Lee Tester
Social media remains the most effective way to connect with droves of potential guests around the world while strengthening engagement with repeat guests and showing off the more human side of your resort. If you feel that your current campaign isn't work...
Posted on Oct 22nd 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Last month, Google created waves in the marketing world with "Hummingbird," its most significant algorithm change for over a decade. With the new algorithm, Google has shifted the focus away from a search system based almost entirely on keyword matching t...
Posted on Oct 17th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
The transactional or 'Thank You' email is an automated message triggered when your guests make an online booking or complete a specific action such as signing up to your mailing list. These are one of the most effective kinds of marketing emails for impro...
Posted on Oct 16th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
One of the most significant changes of Google's recent Hummingbird update is that data scraped from websites is now being displayed on the results page alongside traditional search results content. Now, each time a user makes a search enquiry, Google will...
Posted on Oct 16th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Just before its 15th birthday, Google unveiled one of its biggest and most significant algorithm overhauls yet. The update, nicknamed Hummingbird, is the search company's latest move designed to deliver a higher quality service to its users. How the updat...
Posted on Oct 9th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Getting specific when it comes to SEO can be a very profitable strategy. By ranking highly for keywords related to your resort's particular niche, your website will attract higher quality traffic and generate more bookings than ever before. Decide on Your...
Posted on Oct 9th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
What do Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest, Tumblr and even Facebook have in common? They're all predominately visual sites, which use photos and video as their key source of content. Crucially, this content isn't supplied by the brands, but by the users' thems...
Posted on Oct 8th 2013 by Lee Tester
When Google developed Google+, it created a SEO powerhouse designed to dominate search results above Facebook, Twitter and all other social media platforms. Want to take advantage of this domination and get your resort noticed in search results? Here's a...
Posted on Oct 4th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Fake online hotel reviews have been around as long as the web itself, fuelled by unscrupulous marketers seeking to drive bookings, or perhaps simply trying to stay afloat in the fiercely competitive digital world. But a recent crackdown by US authorities...
Posted on Oct 3rd 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Visual bookmarking site Pinterest is rolling out a new type of pin aimed directly at content publishers. The new, enhanced "article pin" is designed to make it easier for users to save and collect interesting written content they find around the web for f...
Posted on Oct 2nd 2013 by Bryan Marsh
At the end of last week, Google announced a major update that has changed the face of search engine marketing for good. As part of an ongoing move to create a more secure web experience, the search giant has just made all search enquiries encrypted using...
Posted on Oct 1st 2013 by Lee Tester
You've had your resort's website professionally designed to showcase your property's best features. You're driving traffic there through a carefully thought-out marketing campaign that includes a social media strategy, email, blogging and possibly pay-per...
Posted on Sep 30th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
We've all seen them the endless, envy-inducing sun-lounger and beach photos that pop up all over our social media feeds whenever a friend goes on holiday. Now, taking the world's photo-sharing obsession as its inspiration, a new Instagram themed hotel is...
Posted on Sep 30th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
There's no denying the power of the online review. Travellers are actively seeking the opinions of former guests when making a booking decision, which means you need to get proactive with your resort's reputation management if you want to shine online. Ma...
Posted on Sep 19th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Suffering from email marketing writer's block? Your email content is just another great platform to showcase all that makes your property unique. Here are 10 simple email-blast ideas to get your creative juices flowing and your guests clicking and booking...
Posted on Sep 18th 2013 by Lee Tester
If you're already juggling marketing campaigns across several social media sites, you need to be sure that any extras you add to the mix are going to be worth the time. By now, you've probably heard of Pinterest and Instagram two still relatively new phot...
Posted on Sep 16th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
If you want to maximise bookings this festive season, you've got to start now.With Christmas and New Year's fast approaching, here are some tips for making the most of the busiest booking period of the year. Get Ready Planning and preparation is the first...
Posted on Sep 12th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Uploading promotional videos to YouTube boosts your online marketing campaign by bringing your property's best features to life, capturing the attention and imagination of guests and getting them ready to make a booking. With a little time and effort, the...
Posted on Sep 10th 2013 by Louise McWalters
At eTourism we're always trying to come up with new ways to enhance our systems. The latest update to the eTourism Online booking engine now allows you to upload multiple images to each of your eTourism Online packages....
Posted on Sep 10th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Over the last three years, Google has made several important changes to the way it indexes the search results page. Determined to serve up only the best, most useful results for every online query, the company has introduced a series of algorithm updates...
Posted on Sep 9th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
With 359 million users logging in every month, Google+ is hot on Facebook's heels as the second largest social media site in the world. And now that Google is prioritising content from the platform on the search results page, it's quickly becoming one of...
Posted on Sep 6th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Your resort's blog is the ideal platform to showcase your property, draw attention to interesting local events and demonstrate the more human, less corporate face of your business. By inviting comments from readers, a blog also opens up the lines of commu...
Posted on Sep 5th 2013 by Ashlee Hume
No doubt you've heard the expression 'Less is More' numerous times in your life. When it comes to email marketing, it is surprising to see that a number of business and property owners think people are reading through their entire emails....
Posted on Sep 5th 2013 by Lee Tester
Whether it's a rogue tweet from an employee or guest negativity on Facebook, it doesn't take much to spark a social media crisis that can leave your resort's carefully honed marketing campaign in tatters " if you're not prepared that is. Protecting yourse...
Posted on Sep 4th 2013 by Ashlee Hume
Understandably, for some newcomers of the hotel, motel and resort game, using CMS's (Content Management Systems) can be a little daunting. Uploading, downloading, importing, exporting, it all takes a little patience and learning. This tutorial will show y...
Posted on Sep 3rd 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Google has introduced a string of algorithm updates in the last few years in an attempt to banish spam and prioritise quality, freshness and social content on the search results page. All this has stirred up a lot of debate about the value and future of S...
Posted on Aug 28th 2013 by Lee Tester
Google+ is still barely over two years old, but it has already claimed a total of 359 million active monthly users, ranking it behind Facebook as the second largest social media network. Despite this rapid rise to success, it seems many businesses and bra...
Posted on Aug 26th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Is your resort visible in Local Search? If not, you better stake your claim fast. Every month, approximately 3 billion search queries are made using local terms according to data from comScore. Luckily, there's plenty you can do to improve your chances of...
Posted on Aug 23rd 2013 by Bryan Marsh
If you want to remain ahead of your competitors you need to be constantly creating, monitoring and managing your marketing content across multiple online platforms. So how can you be sure you're focusing your efforts wisely? Here are five current marketin...
Posted on Aug 22nd 2013 by Bryan Marsh
There are now over 1.15 billion Facebook users worldwide, and the typical user creates an average of 90 pieces of content a month, according to recent data from the company. With such a mass of content piling up every day, getting your resort's message se...
Posted on Aug 21st 2013 by Ashlee Hume
Back in July, Facebook rolled out their new and improved insights panel for business pages. Sure, managing your own Facebook business page is simple right? Well, yes, as long as you understand the information you're looking at . If you've never actually h...
Posted on Aug 20th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
The public's trust takes years to win, but in the age of TripAdvisor, a single bad review can shatter even the most glowing reputation in an instant. Where the review comes from is irrelevant. It might represent the genuine gripes of a dissatisfied guest,...
Posted on Aug 19th 2013 by Bryan Marsh
Ever since Facebook and Twitter became an integral component of every company's online marketing campaign, debate has raged about how far social media will overtake traditional SEO when it comes to ranking highly in search....