Tourism SEO.com

A response to "Doors Closed Owen Sound"

or

"How to Improve Tourism/Business in Owen Sound"

As a tourism enthusiast the revitalization of downtown businesses is obviously a needed step to truly make the city more comfortable for my clients when I give guided tours.  It comes down to initiatives that showcase the region and of course the cost and benefit analysis of whatever we decide to do.  Feel free to pass on these ideas. First I will showcase what I have done in 4 years of living here to improve the community in some way.  I share this not at a laundry list of good deeds, but to show that it just takes a little initiative and time to make a difference.

Here is what I have done so far in 4 years:

Here is my unpaid service to the community in order to help the community grow.

• Online Blog-Tripadvisor

• Over 300+ Improved Images on Google Earth for Owen Sound

• Over 1000 photos on Flickr about the City
  

• Added videos on Youtube about Owen Sound

• Changed to the Wikipedia of Owen Sound to make it friendlier.

• Shared photos worldwide under the name of "Owen Sound Natural Happiness Guide" to raise awareness of the Happiness that can be had in Owen Sound when visiting here.

• 87 albums on my website - www.travelowensound.com that show the assets of the city that would appeal to a tourist. Featuring-> Trails, waterfalls, the farmer's market, Harrison Park, Rivers, Harbour, Bike Trails, Gardens, Historic Buildings, Friendly Locals, etc

• Sold Postcards of the area.

• Gave guided tours featuring bed and breakfasts, organic food, farms, waterfalls, nature, best restaurants, etc.T

• Opened 2 businesses:

Tourism SEO, in order to help local businesses get their online presence up to speed so that they can attract the toursists that they need for their businesses to survive. 

Natural Happiness Guide, a tour guiding company that gives custom tours through Owen Sound, Grey County and Bruce County.

• Attended and learned from: Kiwanis, BNI, Chamber of Commerce Meetings, Mayor's Luncheon's, DIA meetings.

What we may need to do, in my opinion:

Suggestions:

• Owen Sound needs to have signs along our major highways in and out of the  city that are not simply branded logos, but actually something that may make visitors want to stop.  The monument outside of Wiarton is a great example of such a monument.  

• Owen Sound needs to have signage, or larger signage then the blue signs along 10th Street that points out that there are great places to visit in the downtown core along 2nd Avenue. 

• Owen Sound needs to have a seperate website for tourism that does not lead to the regular city website.  It should be a stand alone website that is only interested in Tourism.

• Owen Sound should have a mural project downtown.

• Owen Sound residents, business owners and the city should use the closed buildings downtown as advertising space temporarily.

• Owen Sound should have use one of the buildings downtown and put in large monitors to show videos of the area so that we have 24 hour, 7 day a week advertising downtown.

• Owen Sound DIA should increase the size of their monitor in their window.

• The bathrooms that are public should all have fully locking doors and advertising spaces on the inside of the doors.

• The standard of customer service should be addressed in the hotels, restaurants, gas stations, stores, and other local businesses.  These front line employees may or may not have had customer service training.  With reviews on Tripadvisor pointing to systemic problems with customer service, we should look to improve they way that we care for our visitors.  They deserve clean rooms, friendliness, less sarcasm from some servers it seems, and more customized service that addresses their needs.

• Businesses need to have later hours downtown in order to appeal to later traffic.  The Roxy is an asset that brings business to the downtown and the restaurants seem to open for that traffic.  What happens on the off days?  Very Little, but...it could be better, as there is room for improvement.

• Downtown business owners need to see competition as allies.  I used to work at Homeology and I raised the sales by a great deal by having a warm approach and I never said anything bad about my competition.  Instead, I sent my competition business when I did not have the right product offerings.  I would call over and check to see if they had what my customer was interested in.  This works, because they remember the value of the service that they recieved. 

• No more going out of business sales that are false!  Please, if you want to make a quick buck, have a live on location with a cause for a charity and a sale, but do not lie to your customers!  Do not tell us that you are going out of business and then just change locations.

• Capitalize on tourism in social media.  Please, if you have a social media account for your social business, you must start to engage your audience.  I had no budget and I have over 60,000 views, thousands of responses and such because I ask my audience questions and I take an interest in their lives.  Social media is not a one way message, it was never meant for straight advertising.

• Improve the current cultural tours in Owen Sound.

Justin Skultety- Tourism SEO

Even though there are clear advantages to using personal profiles as Business Pages, it is a practice that is becoming frowned upon. 

A Facebook Personal account as a Facebook page is against Facebook Regulations, and soon they will be deleting these pages.  Also, they can be blocked, and reported as having broken the guidelines.

Why?  well, it seems these pages can invite us to applications on their own if the participant is using an application created from a developer that uses viral methods to advertise their application.  But what does this mean?  It means that these apps access our information and then try to suggest that our friends add the app as well. So, in essence these apps can spam your clients if you are using your Facebook personal page as a business.  It also means that you could potentially give an app all of your clients personal information.

What can be done to rectify the problem?  Use the Business pages provided as they are made for that, they have better functionality, and you can customize them.

If you have a problem creating a custom page, then consider using our services.

Justin Skultety- Tourism SEO

All marketing is actually supposed to be

an "investment."

It should help your business by improving your visibility, maintaining your credibility, and by activating desire in your potential clients that would want to choose your services so that it inevitably leads to a sale.

The same thing applies to Search Engine Marketing and being found on Google, Yahoo, Bing, and in local searches.  It is not too late to put imagery that inspires, content that catches a reader's attention, and a well formed attention getting offer that leads to sales online for your business.

Our company specializes in low cost solutions to helping you get sales through your online advertising dollars. The online world became very confusing over the past 2 years and many business owners have made their own websites, have opened Facebook/Twitter/Youtube accounts and are not sure how all of this is supposed to end up in sales.  With many previous happy clients, testimonials, and over 7 years in social media marketing and content creation; we offer consultation and services to businesses looking to make a big impact on the web. Let TourismSEO.com which is meant to help local businesses be found by searches online from tourists and locals... help your business.

Let us help you with professional photography, social media management, website redesigns, copywriting that sells for you, search engine optimization, creative content and more! Our clients are our testimonials, and they have made thousands from investing only a small portion of their marketing budgets with us. Before you advertise in other expensive forms of media, work with us and form a strategy so that you not only save advertising dollars in the long run, but also sell more!

Are you willing to sit down and talk about your business image over a coffee? Consider getting in touch with us at TourismSEO.com and please call us at 519 376 7193 to get an advantage over your competition. No pressure, no sales gimmicks, just a chance to get better results!

Justin Skultety-Tourism SEO

The Four Steps of Selling on your Facebook Page/ Website/ Mobile Site/ Social Media Accounts

How soon we forget that the information that we put online for our businesses still has the sales process underneath of the surface of that slick design.  Recently I attended a class on sales and it reminded me that our online efforts in selling our products and services should have a similar format to when someone enters a retail store and is just browsing.  It should not be a pushy sales approach, or one that is too relaxed, instead it should flow through the "4 Steps of Selling," which include " a greeting, an infomation exchange, selection, and an affirmation or close."

The greeting should be a casual and visually pleasing landing page that feels welcoming and it should match the expectations of the client.  If you have an adventure touring company, it should have a feeling of adventure and freedom.  If you are selling widgets online, then a practical and sell deigned ecommerce site is suitable.  Personally, I like websites that sell relationships with their clients.  This means that they use imagery that pulls you into how you will feel if you use their products or services, and how wonderful you will feel after you have been looked after by their caring employees.  The greeting has to suit the business style, and it should feel that way that it is expected to feel.  Color scheme, copy, font styles, the types of imagery, the logo...this all makes a big difference in how your business is percieved.  The right feeling of the greeting creates a great starting place to move to the next step.

The infomation exchange online is where we showcase our variety of products, our mission statements, our testimonials, and how a sale can be made.  This is a classic spot for feature and benefit selling, but there remains a catch...

We have to have the foresight into why the client may want to make a purchase.  It is to make their lives better? to relax? to make higher profits? to address a need they have?  Yes!  Needs and wants from the retail sales process have come to life online.  Ideally, we would already know what they may be looking for, and we can answer the questions that are typical when buying a particular service or product.  These needs are different in every situation, but there are some underlying similarties that occur in every sale.  Go ahead and answer the "Who? How? How long? How Much? Where? What are the benefits? Why you? etc.     Show the features of the products and services and then show how it will help makes their lives easier.  Make the sale personal. It leads us well into the most important step.

The selection is where you should highlight a variety of service offerings without becoming too confusing. "KISS -Keep It Simple Stupid!" comes to mind.  Too many choices clouds our judgement, and too little annoys us as consumers.  We want products and services that make sense to us.  So make the sale happen in a timely, concise manner, and accomodate our needs in the process.  This means selling on service, and not cost alone.  Offer 3 levels of service, and pricing that suits a variety of budgets.  Your niche can be carved out even further if you position yourself with better services then others.

Finally, Close the Sale!!!

Online an affirmation is to hae your potental clients call or pay you directly through Paypal.  The ultimate close is to add in a few extra services once they have decided to buy, thus over delivering and exceeding all expectations.  If they call, answer all their questions and call them back.  If they email, send them information and be warm in your approach.  They made their choice, now reward them.

Justin Skultety- Tourism SEO

Marketing for your bed and breakfast can be much more effective if done properly the first time!

Do you own a bed and breakfast and you want the inside scoop on how to market it?

If you are just opening up a new bed and breakfast or you have a seasoned business that is currently experiencing a lull, then this article is especially for you!

When marketing/advertising a bed and breakfast, you must keep in mind that your mission is to sell the experience that vacationers and tourists may have when staying in your home.  With this in mind, you have to focus on branding your bed and breakfast from the standpoint of how it is different from the thousands of other bed and breakfast's out there.  How is this done you may ask?  Well... It starts with creating content and collecting imagery that truly embodies your bed and breakfast.  

A well devised marketing plan always starts with a strategy and as such, you should start by focusing on your strengths.  If there is a scenic view, a surrounding forest, or a waterfront, you should include associated imagery when creating your marketing materials.   If you are trying to instill the feeling of peacefulness, then perhaps meandering local rivers, forests, and landscapes should be properly photographed and cropped so that there is underlying imagery that evokes this emotion.

The next step is to pick a great name.  This is a little tricky because it seems that everyone has an opinion and even if a poor choice in name is suggested, typically it will be defended adamantly by the one that suggested it.  Once you have a decent name, my suggestion is to Google search if the name already exists.  Once you have one that works, submit it to a focus group and see if it really works properly or it does not work at all.  An example of a bad choice might be picking "Shady Pines,"  which has been used in every cartoon out there for and is in the back of our minds as being a name for retirement homes.  With the wrong name, you can throw tons of money at marketing your bed and breakfast but it will never work as planned.  The right name will serve well for years to come and may even outlive owners as the building exchanges hands.

The step that follows is to create the copy that entices visitors to stay with you instead of your competition.  If you do not have the "gift of the gab," then it is best to hire a great copywriter that specializes in tourism, or that has a background in sales and marketing.  These days, it is best to hire a travel blogger, or an seo expert that may be able to help you direct search traffic to your site by just writing great articles.

Once the content and the phtography is completed, you should start to look at a website, an association listing, a chamber of commerce listing, a tripadvisor account, and other forms of online advertising.  It is best to approach all of these with one thing in mind; Streamlining the sales process.

To explain a streamlined process, one has to get into the mindset of those looking for a bed and breakfast.  If I am travelling from far away and I am looking to book a stay, how will I look up your business?  Will I read reviews?  Will I want to see pictures?  Is there a discount?  What are the benefits to me staying there?  What extras are provided?

When these answers are provided, your business information, a link to purchase, and a link to call should be provided.  There is no second chances to sell when there are so many options out there.

• Does your website rank well in search engines? 
• Does your content appeal to the right audience? 
• Is it providing imagery that helps to make the sale and easy one?  
• Is there a video?  

These should all be considered when advertising a bed and breakfast online.

The next questions that you should ask are:

• Is your website search friendly?
• Have you applied SEO strategies to your content across all elements of advertising?
• Are your photos optimized for the web?
• Is your website friendly for mobile phones?
• Are you collecting the analytics information(statistics on viewer traffic)?
• Have you linked to regional directories?
• have you submitted your site to search engines properly?
• Is it working?  How are sales?

Cause related marketing can be a very social experience.

Marketing to one's heart as opposed to one's pocketbook is ideal.  Large organizations have been doing this for quite some time with door knocking campaigns, telethons, and mailouts that request support in the form of money for a good cause.  

How does social media, and online presence

and the right image fit into this?

It is simple, a well written webpage that can be shared via social media is the new form of direct advertising when used by a non profit organization.  Facebook pages and Facebook events with appropriate PDF, or JPG files that can be downloaded are now becoming the norm.   Best practices in this category include using a graphically designed poster or brochure that has all of the pertinent information about the event being shared or the cause itself.

Sharing Photos of those involved become an important part of the cause as it shows community participation and due to having a "Tag" feature, they can be shared directly on the "Walls" of those that participated.  It is a great way to show appreciation for the involvement of those that donated their time, energy, or their hard earned dollars.

Having the Regular media share your Facebook event on their pages, over the radio, and in the paper is also a really good way to raise awareness of your cause.  Be sure to do this very early and repeatedly so that it becomes ingrained in the minds of those that have busy schedules.  You want people to be able to recall that there will be an event and why they should attend.  Mention the Facebook Page, The Location and always link to a website if possible as that is the best place to share even more information and to thank supporters of your cause.

Remember, SEO best practices may be used in the page, and having a link to a website means that if there should be a few thousand people that visit the site, Google may show preference to that content for the next year to come.  This is a practical solution to creating a well found website in Google searches.  Just be sure to resubmit the site and it's htlm sitemap the next year with new content or else it may be cached.

Causes are the reason for being social and social media is a great way to get that message across!

Justin Skultety -Tourism SEO