SEO and E-Marketing

Today I like to write a little about the importance of good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and good E-Marketing)

I see many hotel and business websites looking very good, but performing so badly or they not perform at all. The owners of those websites must have thought “This site design looks stunning and fancy! Let’s upload the website right now! Our guest, clients or customers will love this side and us! They will buy our services and products! After all it’s a fancy site isn’t it?.”

A classic situation! A web designer who designed and created a website without any clue or idea what SEO and E-Marketing means, and this designer couldn’t care less if the website will be popular and a profitable business! After all, the web-designer wants to build and show the most fancy website site to others for his/her own adverting and benefit! The designer couldn’t care less if your side will ever be a high-ranking site, if your site does  have visitors or if your site generates any business at all… Trust me, they don’t care or they don’t know that they should care for you!

Let’s talk about some simple SEO facts:

• It’s a fact that most website designers don’t know much about SEO as the skills and knowledge needed for SEO and E-Marketing are very different. (Would you trust your local contractor to do important Sales and Marketing work for you?)
• It’s a fact that most website designers like to create the most beautiful site to be included into his/her portfolio as a reference and don’t care at all how many people will visit your site… or even better, how much business you create with your site!
• It’s a fact that many websites I check look really impressive and good! However with wrong keywords, without back links, without listings in web directories, without proper HTML, XHTML or CSS, and with those mentioned, your site will never work well!
• It’s a fact that using too much “Flash” will make SEO efforts very difficult.
• It’s a fact that “Content” is King!! Don’t copy from other sites, write good content and write a lot and include your keywords in the content,
• It’s a fact that your visitors come to your site first and foremost for INFORMATION! Give them the option to view nice pictures and videos, but focus on INFORMATION and CONTENT.
• It’s a fact that your site must be USER-FRIENDLY as your visitors might leave the site 10 second after visiting the site if they cannot figure out how to navigate your site fast.
• It’s a fact that you must keep on writing articles, press and news releases and submit them to all the leading sites and on social media sides.
• It’s a fact that you must include social media links such as Face book and Twitter etc.
• It’s a fact that you need a Blog and that you post weekly at least one (1) article on the blog.
• It’s a fact that you need to post on other blogs related to your business to create good exposure and back links
• It’s a fact that SEO and E-Marketing is not a one-off job!! This work never stops even your site ranks well already. If you stop working on your site, your site will be back to the bottom in no time!

It is not unusual to see some hotel and other business websites which are over 5 years old and still does not have a good page-rank, very limited or even no back-links and link-popularity at all, an Alexa rank of 15 millions  or higher and very limited page view and visitors a day (and even less business transactions). Most of the time those websites are without proper content, only fancy flash and pictures and ‘blinking’ gadgets, with all those mentioned, how your website will help you to make business?

Your Sales and Marketing team should be shot on the spot in public if this is the case!

Most S&M Directors and Mangers don’t like E-Marketing and SEO!

• They worry that they will not be allowed any longer to travel to all those travel marts in all those beautiful countries around the world.
• They worry so much that the will lose out on all the delicious business luncheons and dinner with tour operators and agents.
• They worry so much to lose all those benefits such as gasoline allowances, phone allowances etc

They better adjust their mind-set and learn new techniques or they will really have something to worry big-time!!

We know that especially here in Asia, the owners of those businesses don’t know much about IT and even less about SEO and E-Marketing!

Those owners and managers trust their IT Manager- who uses many High-Tech words at all times! Those owner and mangers, not having any clue what the IT Manager is trying to say will trust this person!

Many owners and managers most time wrongly view that certain IT manager must be good, just because he/she speaks un-understandable IT language which the owner himself cannot even duplicate the word after hearing 10 times.  So, what I want to say here is: as an owner or manager especially in a small to medium size, you have to learn about what truly Information technology is, what social media is, what SEO means, what E-marketing is all about.  It is very important as this will help to SUCCESSFULLY complete in business with a minimum cost involved.

Think about this Hotel Statistics:

90% of your sales and marketing budget produces in average only 42% of the result (Tour Operators and Travel Agents)  whereby 10% of the budget (E-Marketing) and SEO) does produce up to 60% of the business.

Most people and managers don’t know that it is NOT the IT Managers’ responsibility to do E-Marketing.  Any business must have an E-Marketing Manager on board or you will lose out badly in today’s business environment! You must insist to get a very detailed monthly report on e-marketing actives, search engine ranking,

If you business is small, you better start learning about E-Marketing and do it yourself or outsource. START NOW or NEVER – Profit is in your hands.