Question 1: My web company keeps telling me I get great organic traffic, but I don't know what this means.
Common search engines include Google, Yahoo, MSN among others!
Website traffic is the visits to your site.
There are lots of different kinds of website traffic, each being a different the path that a visitor might take to get to your site.
Organic traffic is essentially someone who has arrived at your website by searching on a search engine, this could be Google (which is the most common) or one of the smaller search engines which often appear on your analytics like yahoo, bing or conduit.
Someone finds your sites through an "organic" search, or via a search engine based on the relevancy of their search to your site, their own location, the...
First we all had printed brochures and flyers to share the wonder of our tourism business with others.
Then everyone acquired PC in their home and we needed a website to reach those people researching their travel from home.
Soon a website wasn't enough and a booking engine became a necessity quickly followed by the need to have a channel manager to distribute our rooms/activities on a myriad of 3rd party travel websites like Wotif and Booking.com
Now, you are "so last year" unless you have a mobile website. Really?
The answer is yes.
Travel website traffic via the mobile web has increased by a staggering 72% between August 2011 and January 2012 accounting for a total of 17.4% of all website traffic in the industry*.
In 2011 we had the big "Men in Black" offering our country the hope of increased numbers for tourism.
The Rugby World Cup brought plenty of hype, promises and pride as a nation; and we wanted to believe that the whole world was watching us.
Truth is, rugby doesn't hold the attention of some of our largest markets (Japan, U.S. China) and the televised games do not show off our biggest assets as a destination: our landscapes.
In 2012 and 2013 the release of "The Hobbit" movies is the next great opportunity. When it comes to wide spread tourism benefit, the little men with hairy feet are going to stomp all over rugby.
While it is difficult to ascertain the exact number of international visitors who have visited New Zealand as a result of the films, after the 2002 and...
As a tourism business, you probably already know it's the visual that really engages your customers. You already have your best photos on your homepage, and you may even have a short video featured on your website - this is an excellent start (especially if you already have some video content on your website).
But are you using your video to its full potential?
Today, 94% of travel is researched online so when marketing your tourism business it's important to bear in mind where your customers are spending their time online and how they consume the information they find.
Recent studies reveal the continuing rise of online video. More and more people are using YouTube to search for content; it's now the second largest search engine after Google with their video views...
So we have all heard and read the articles about the recent UK lawsuit which resulted with Trip Advisor no longer being able to claim that their reviews are "real". This was a big blow for the online tourism review site but it does not stop travelers from reading and depending on the site to help make travel purchase decisions.
Trip Advisor is brilliant and simultaneously annoying - we live in a time when the consumer holds the power to help your business or tarnish it.
Take solace in knowing that even the world's most exclusive 5 Star hotels receive silly complaints about inane things like "the banana's in our fruit basket had bruises." People reading the comments can usually identify the "never happy" guests.
Travel purchase is an emotional and often large purchase...
Historic Country Store Transformed into Accommodation and Restaurant - Ophir, Central Otago.
Be one of the first to book and experience Pitches Store in its new identity as a six room, historic accommodation and restaurant. Opening March, in Ophir, Central Otago, this unique accommodation allows you to step back in time but with all the comforts of a luxury accommodation.
Certain to become one of those must experience destinations, the Pitches Store transformation has been a six year project for owners Colleen and David Hurd who purchased the run-down heritage building in 2006 with the dream of returning it to its former glory, yet offering a unique blend of history, luxury and culinary excellence.
During the extensive restoration project, Colleen has been based in...
