Need some website help? Start here.

What we do is technically called “content strategy” or content marketing. That’s a jargon-y way of saying that we help you put your words, images, and videos to good use in a way that helps drive sales and profits of your product/service. We’d like to think our tagline says it a bit better: we help you make your travel website better.

To help you find the information you need right now, we’ve organized all of our knowledge and resources into helpful categories. Be sure to bookmark this page, so you can find it again when you need it, as you’ll see we’re still building out this page! (If you see a title in italics, that means we’re still writing it!)

Getting Started – The Big Picture

So, you’re getting a new site, or you want to sit down and re-work your existing website for conversions. You’ll want to start with our free website self-assessment assessment. Then checkout some of these great “big picture” articles.

• • Five Myths About Great Websites
  • How does a website logo affect sales and conversions?
  • How to choose fonts and typography that will encourage sales and happy customers
  • Does a travel website’s color scheme have an influence on conversions?

Last, but certainly not least, please take a minute and read: Why Your Website Will Never Meet Everyone’s Expectations.

Organizing Your Site for the Sale:

Probably the most common problem we see in our expert website evaluations is that sites are unorganized. You must be organized from top to bottom in order to make sure even your most impatient of customers has no problem. Here are some handy tips and information for organization and clarity.

• • First, what about the taglines (that text that goes under your logo). How to Write a Tagline that Doesn’t Suck.
  • Then, grease the wheels of commerce in 8 Common Mistakes Made When Organizing your Website Menu.
  • Oh, and don’t forget: 10 Things That Should Be On Every Small Business Website
  • And if you’re expecting any money to change hands via your site, you need to read Online Buyers Beware: How to Restore the Trust Factor

Last but not least, an important read: the Page On Your Travel Website Everybody Is Talking About.

Keeping Your Website Fresh and Interesting:

Making sure your site is updated on a regular basis ensures that everything is up-to-date, but also gives your customers good reason to come back around often. Search engines also love regularly updated websites, as do social media fans and followers. Here’s how to keep it fresh.

• • First, the question we get asked all the time: How Often do you need to update your website?
  • Then, if you didn’t like our answer , here are 8 Helpful Suggestions for Travel Website Owners Who “Aren’t Writers”.
  • It’s not just about text, but images also. But, first read a piece on Why Photos on your Travel Website Can be a Bad Idea
  • Maps are also HUGE too – of course, people want to know not just what, but where. Here are 7 Innovative Ways to Use Google Maps on your website.
  • You need video. Here’s some tips and examples top get started with video, followed up by a great podcast, Video 101 for Tourism.
  • Do you put your brochures on your website? More Proof Travel Brochures Aren’t Dead, Just Different

And when you reach the point of “I’m so TIRED of updating my site“? Time to read this one: Dealing with the “Blogger’s Dip”.

Increasing Repeat Website Visits with Email Marketing:

Email marketing is, bar none, one of the most powerful and effective sales tools on the Internet. There’s no excuse not to get started — here are some great resources:

• • First, let’s start off with the hard stuff: Email Marketing Jargon Explained.
  • Then what about a little bit of creativity: How to Name Your Newsletter – 14 Useful Examples that are fun and effective.
  • Also, Why You Need Email Marketing Software, and which provider to use – stay within the law!
  • Don’t forget to add a signup form to your website. But first read about The One Thing Missing from Most Email Newsletter Signup Forms
  • And as you’re getting into a groove? Here are 3 Ways to Annoy Your Customers Via Email – don’t do that. Instead, here are 6 Totally Not Sleazy Ways to Email Follow Up with Your Customers. Ahh, much better.

Social Media – Generating Website Traffic from Twitter:

We love Twitter because of its open nature, allowing you to connect with people of like interests. Twitter can also send quality traffic to your website. Here are some fun facts and tips about Twitter.

• • Here are some Fun Twitter Tips and Tweaks if you’re just getting started.
  • A Reminder that Twitter is Not About Number of Followers, because some days, it feels like that is all that matters.
  • And don’t forget these 10 Great Examples of How to Use Tweets as Content on your Website – since tweet are such short text snippets, they can be very useful as content!

Social Media – Generating Website Traffic from Facebook:

Facebook, for many, is becoming a huge traffic source – if for no other reason than Facebook’s sheer volume of users. Facebook is a beast in terms of the numbers of constantly changing features, options, and a very unweildy terms and conditions policy. But we’ve got some great tips and advice as per usual.

• • First, get this right:Facebook Fan Pages Versus Groups – 99% of you want a page, not a group.
  • Learning by Example: 18 Awesome Facebook Fan Page Welcome Tab Examples – we love this feature!
  • Should you take direct bookings from your Facebook page? If so, how?

Search Engine Optimization – Generating Website Traffic from Google Search:

Another great source of traffic is the search engines – namely Google. Learning how to implement SEO – search engine optimization – isn’t as difficult as you might think. Let’s dive in:

• • Shannon eases us in gently with this post, 5 SEO Lessons You Can Learn from Yoga.
  • And if you’re asking WHY, you might want to read through 11 Juicy Reasons why SEO should be in your Marketing Plan. You’d be surprised!
  • How to know what people are searching for? Well here is A Simple Way to Improve Your SEO Keyword Knowledge.
  • SEO gets a bad wrap from people who head for “the dark side.” Don’t do that. How to Use the Jedi Force for Search Engine Optimization.
  • Lastly, don’t forget about Google Places – a huge driver of results. Sara fills in the gaps in this piece, The Growing Importance of Local Search in Travel and how to set up your Google Places page.

Keeping Track: Measuring Google Analytics Traffic

Although if you’re anything like us, you’d rather try your best than just hope for the best. But the reality is you have to monitor your progress and chart that progress against those goals. Thankfully we have a simple three step process for that.

• • First, to play the game, you have to know the language. Start Here: Analytics Jargon Explained
  • Then, you need to know what is important and what’s just noise – even the best analytics programs have piles of data that you don’t need to know about. The 7 Most Important  Stats You Should Track from your Website
  • Lastly, here is a Simple Way to Monitor Website Performance without Getting Overwhelmed. It’s so simple, in fact, you might not believe us.

Stay in Touch, Would Ya?

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