Category Archives: Google

Have you jumped on the mobile bandwagon yet? If you haven’t yet, you are missing out big time! Mobile continues its ascend up the ladder of importance for internet users. Most website owners are starting to see the percentage of mobile as a channel grow month on month.

Google is at the forefront of this paradigm shift as they continue to push for the perfect mobile experience. In 2014, they added the mobile-friendly label to search results to help users “find pages where the text and content were readable without zooming in.” While plans for removal of this label are already underway, Google will continue to include the mobile-friendly criteria as a ranking signal. 

Get Started on Mobile

First things first, if you’re not yet mobile-friendly, call Tomahawk now. We can help...

6 Key Steps to Mastering Mobile Phone Video

Incorporating video into your digital marketing is a powerful way to increase bookings. While we strongly recommend hiring a professional to craft your main website/brand video, you can easily produce ongoing content for your tourism business with your mobile phone camera in 6 steps.

•    According to Google, 45% of leisure travelers booked instantly after watching a video of the travel activity. 
•    72% of business travelers and 74% of affluent travelers booked upon watching a video (Google)
•    62% of travelers want to watch tourism videos, including tours, sightseeing, cruises, hotel rooms, properties and airlines. (Google)

Holding the cell phone

•    Put the cell phone on a flat surface if possible
•    OR brace your...

It's time to throw away previous models of online distribution! Tomahawk Director and tourism marketing expert Gina Paladini presents the drastic changes in online distribution for tourism, and how your business can stay ahead of the curve.

Download the whitepaper as a PDF.

 

Let’s start by looking back to the 1990 era of travel distribution.

“Those were the days.” The distribution chain was an easy, single flat line with the novel addition of a supplier having their first website.

Today the available distribution "chain" is more like a bicycle wheel with spokes than a chain!

The increase of distribution channels options requires an deep understanding of your customers, and which channels are best for each stage of the travel purchase...

Over the past month Google has changed the way Adwords is displayed on desktop search results. Have you noticed the difference yet? Here's how the changes may affect your business.

What changed?

1. No more text ads shown on the right-hand side.
2. Up to four ads are now shown above organic (natural) search results – when previously the maximum was three.
3. Three ads are also now shown at the bottom of the page.
4. This means the number of maximum text ads has been reduced to seven whereas before there could be 11.

Why did it change?

Many people will say the answer is money, but by removing the ads on the right, Google has created a cleaner user experience that is more consistent with how mobile search is displayed. The right-hand space is also now used for other...

Learn how to recapture visitors who have abandoned your website and turn them into bookings!

Introducing New and Returning Traffic

There are two types of traffic that comes to your website: “new” and “returning”. If you have the chance, login to Google Analytics and take a look under Audience > Behaviour. How does your new and returning traffic compare?

Commonly, you’ll find your returning traffic stays on your website longer, viewing more pages. This is because the people who have come back for another look are those who are more interested in your product or service. Hence, your chances of converting returning traffic into a lead or sale is higher than with new traffic.

Therefore it makes sense to increase your returning traffic by encouraging more visitors back...

We’re just a few short months away from professional virtual reality (VR) headsets to hit the consumer market in a storm of holiday promotions, and the future is here.

Google Cardboard  - Free Consumer VR

Google Cardboard, an approximately $20 box frame with plastic lenses, went on sale this year as a proving ground for this new technology and it’s been a wild success. Google brings the concept to anyone who wants to explore the new tech, with free designs for the cardboard headset also available on their website. Reminiscent of the red plastic View-Masters of the late 1980’s, these cardboard boxes have a simple slot for a cell phone. All you have to do is download a VR app to a smartphone and the world of virtual reality is in your hands.