Yes, keywords are important too! Having the right keywords in the right places on your website will help people find you! The video below will give you some good tips for choosing the right keywords:

Did you know you can check your competition’s keywords in the source code? Go to 'view', click on source, and voila, there it is! Find 'keywords'. Also have a look at what keywords they use in their titles, description etc. Do some searches using these keywords and see what comes up! It will give an indication what keywords are popular.

Now that you have put together a list (of around 25) keywords/phrases, this is where you use them (where appropriate):

• In page title
• In first paragraph !!
  
• In headings
• In alt tags for images (image descriptions)
• In your navigation

Review your keywords every few months!

Till next week, Marijke

In the last few weeks, I’ve had several chats to clients about SEO, so I thought I’d write a little article about it. SEO is not that difficult and the good news is, that you can (and I think should!) do it a lot of it yourself. The focus is on quality traffic vs quantity.

Here are 10 SEO tips:

1.    Commit to your website being your number 1 marketing tool and priority. Set some time aside every week to work on it – a set time every week will get you into the habit! Make a plan of what you’re going to do.

2.    Make your website really customer-friendly. With this I mean to make it easy to navigate, making it easy to find the information they are looking for (do you know what this is??).

3.    A video on your homepage will increase conversion. It’s not just about the number of people visiting you website, you want them to book/buy your product! Set up your own YouTube channel with links to your website and for each video, ensure it has tags and relevant keywords.

4.    Make it easy for people to share the information on your page. You could add ‘sharing buttons’ (like the ones on the right hand side). When the information is shared, people will return to your site to read the info.

5.    It’s all about content. Google likes original, new content on websites. If you plan your content in advance, you don’t have to come up with new things all the time. Here are some ideas for easy content creation:
•    Top lists, e.g. Top 5 things to do in Queenstown
•    Frequently Asked Questions page
•    How to guides
•    In-depth expert ‘articles’
•    A blog with information that would interest your customers

6.    Update your website regularly (ie weekly/monthly)

7.    Have listings on other sites that link  back to yours (e.g. tourism sites such as Tripadvisor, your regional tourism organisation’s website, your free listing on www.newzealand.com , complementary operators/businesses and paid listings).

8.    Ensure your website is mobile friendly as a lot of your website traffic is now viewed on mobile devices. If your site is not mobile friendly, it makes it very difficult for your customers to read the content on your website.

9.    Add links to your website on your social media posts to encourage people to visit your site.

10.    Send out e-newsletters with a brief description of the article with a link to more info on your website (just like you clicked on the link to this marketing tip!) It drives quality traffic to your website.

Oh, if you think it’s all about keywords…yes, they are important too! In next week’s tip, I’ll tell you all about them!
Till next week, Marijke

I love reading books, blogs and listening to audio books (as I walk my dog or do chores around the house). I enjoy learning as it motivates me and inspires me to do new things!

Another way to get inspiration is to listen to Ted Talks. Even better, make it a habit and listen to one Ted Talk a day (I have just started doing this!) They are only about 15-20 minutes each and you can choose between millions of interesting topics. Instead of watching some mindless TV show, why not listen to something interesting?

Today I listened to the one above on making hard choices - We all face these - whether in our business or personal lives!

So, check out www.ted.com and get inspired! Oh, and you can also download a Ted App on your smart phone. Just go to your app store and search Ted Talks!

You may have seen them around: Infographics. They are a visual representation of information or data, so that it can clearly explained and understood.

People are getting more and more used to getting information presented in the form of videos, images or these infographics. Is it that we are getting lazier? Probably, but I believe our love for visual presentation is also due to the information overload we are dealing with. So, the easier you can represent information, the more likely your customers or audience will look at and remember your message.

Last month, Tourism New Zealand published these great Market Snapshots on their corporate website. If you are operating a tourism business, you will find these very interesting reading! Here they are (click to enlarge):

For a complete list of market infographics, visit: http://www.tourismnewzealand.com/markets-stats/research/infographics/ 

Have a great weekend!
Till next week, Marijke