Looking for Online Marketing Advice

[tmp]

Hi, I've got a relatively new website that is receiving not bad traffic, but I'd like more, of course!

I have a google adword campaign and have read the thread on here for that. My results have been mixed, not bad, but not great. I have also used an online PR submission service (hard to tell how that's going, has anybody had any experience of these?)

Has anybody used any DM with any real success?

Any great ideas out there that I might have (probably have) missed?

Thanks

[fridayteam]

Any great ideas out there that I might have (probably have) missed?

Yes, you missed Africa off your list of destinations!

[tmp]

It will be added...those links aren't live yet...but thanks for letting me know.

African countries are actually live in the site though...definately.

Thanks

Peter

[Greg]

I have also used an online PR submission service (hard to tell how that's going, has anybody had any experience of these?)

While free press release distribution sites can be helpful in creating links/traffic, most aren't considered credible sources of news by journalists. This is especially true if they allow people to upload un-vetted/unedited releases, which can be of questionable quality. Unless you send your announcement directly to journalists, it is unlikely they will ever see it.

[Janebert]

Perhaps you could outline the problem or issue more specifically. In other words, is the problem lack of traffic, or is it lack of conversion/user action once they arrive at your site.

You would (hopefully) have some realistic targets as to how many sign ups you want per day/week. You should also know what percentage of site visitors are taking your "most wanted response". What percentage are signing up and are you reaching your targets?

To put this in context - if only 0.5% of visitors are signing up, then either you have a problem with the quality of the traffic (people coming expecting one thing and finding another, freebie hunters etc) OR you have a problem with the content/copy on your site.

I had a quick look at the site, and I'd have to say it's not at all clear what it is that you're offering. I clicked on the backpackers link and just got taken to a sign up page. I had no idea what benefit I would receive if I signed up, or whether I would have to make some kind of payment later in the process.

You need to look at the whole sequence - from someone typing in a search term, to how they arrive at your site, what they're expecting and how many of them sign up. I would also suggest that you work with a copywriter to improve what you're communicating via your site.

Hope this helps :)

Jane

[DarrenC]

Peter, it's good to have another travel business in the forum, we are lacking them at the moment! PR submission sites are good for generating links, but i have yet to have any success with raising publicity - your story really has to be unique.

Google Adwords is effective BUT costs you alot for competitive keywords, which most travel keywords are most certainly that.

Darren

[GaryReid]

Peter,

I'm not sure marketing has the answer for you. Firstly I think the site looks good and i think the idea is interesting.

For what it's worth I think you may have a few more basic challenges to overcome that are based more in your business model.

Paul Graham http://www.paulgraham.com wrote a great piece on Web 2.0, Paul being some what of a sceptic on the subject until recently and in it he identifies a few of the reasons Web 2.0 sites do well. One of those is they don't 'maltreat' users. By that he means when offering something free don't make them jump through hoops.

My personal feeling is that your business model relies on 'community' yet it's difficult to see without signing up where that community is, if at all it exists. For the unregistered user the site lacks depth and you're asking for an aweful lot of information to access.

It takes a brave person to grapple with todays democratic web but harvesting peoples email addresses will result in fewer signups and if you are doing everything else right you don't need their email address. If you do need it tell them you will never use it for marketing.

Have the courage to let your brand do the work for you.

I realise you think you need this information to actually provide the linking up service but there are many ways around this other than the one you have chosen.

My final thought is that you just need to breathe some life into your site that browsers can see when they visit.

[mattk]

Hoe does your site rank in the search engines? If you PM me a list of 20 keywords/phrases that are related to your site I will do you a report to show where you rank for the top 3 search engines (Google, MSN, Yahoo).

Also, there's not much on your site if you don't log-in. Maybe you should think of allowing people to search and view results without needing to register. Registration should only be required if you want to message someone or to create a profile. I lost interest in about 5 seconds when I realised the only things I could click on required me to register on the site.

[WakingDragon]

Previous posts have raised good questions for you. Are you trying to drive more relevant traffic or increase conversions from the traffic you have?

I would focus on the raised issues regarding the basic proposition and usability of your site first. Once you have succeeded in improving responses then you can deliver more users (and you will benefit consdierably more from the higher conversion rate).

When it comes to your PR you need to think intelligently about what your story is going to be, and who might be interested. You can then trawl round a few choice publications and make your story relevant and topical for each one. I find that it is pretty easy to get excellent PR as long as you adhere to 3 basic principles...

1. Write it well - Do it in the style of that editor and save them the work. You are more likely to get published.
2. Make it topical - Most media like to be topical and have "news" so making your PR relevant increases your chances.
3. Make it contraversial - It'll get attention and is more likely to get your name and web site in there.

[tmp]

thanks for the very relevant comments and advice, all useful and are being considered.

Peter

[daveashton]

Greg sorry but on average we get over 4 articles per release because of free PR sites. This is great value for money and takes only an hour to write the release and launch it.

I know you provide a service in this area but we have lots of evidence on how well this works.

I have also now spoken to over 30+ Journalists who have called because of our online press releases and they tell me it is standard practice to check the "online feeds"

Free online PR sites work well so why pay?

Yes there is a skill to it, but then there is to most forms of promotion!

There is list of sites and some BASIC tips under helpful information on this topic at our main site www.bizal.com


Good luck

[Mark Flanighan]

Hi,
One of the best ways to increase your search engine rankings and recieve some free traffic is to write articles on travel then publish them within online ezine article site. Your articles would then be free for others to publish on other sites.


This does 2 things
You include a link to your site within your article or profile. As webmasters are looking for content they publish your article on their site. The more links to your site, the better search engine rankings.

You will also receive direct traffic from those who read your article off these sites, especially if these have been published on other travel related sites.

There are many ezine article sites out there , if you use www.articlesender.com it will publish your article to several ezine sites at once.

These articles however cannot be blatant sales messages.


Mark