Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are not all about how much money you are willing to spend as an advertiser. Besides the Cost Per Click (CPC), there are several components factored into the ranking of advertisers’ sites on Google. Many large Online Travel Agencies such as Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity have huge online marketing budgets that allow them to simply ‘buy’ top rankings within the SERPs. Many times these OTA’s are willing to pay extremely high CPCs to maintain a certain position.

What can advertisers with smaller budgets do to compete? First a recap of what factors Google considers when determining rank. Read the rest of this entry »

Embarking on a Travelzoo campaign can be extremely stressful for independent hotels. Unlike chains and brands that have hotels spread out nationally and internationally with up to hundreds of properties to recoup the high cost that a single campaign costs, independents have a single property in a single market with a limited number of rooms to make this campaign profitable. That being said, there are a number of things you can do to make your ad more effective than others to help drive reservations AND brand awareness, a huge benefit of running a Travelzoo campaign often overlooked in this ultra-direct online marketing age. Read the rest of this entry »

Ever since the online video YouTube era began, I’ve heard less and less about its important and once ubiquitous predecessor, the webcam. In case you’ve forgotten, the webcam is basically a camera that broadcasts pictures to the internet in real time. While this instant distribution has its advantages, the disadvantages (slow frame rates, poor image quality, etc) have quickly hastened its demise.

So if the webcam isn’t pretty and can’t seem to compete against its evolved and polished follower the video why are we talking about it? There are two main reasons: The direct traffic they can drive to your hotel’s website and the additional links you’ll acquire by having one at your hotel. Read the rest of this entry »

I noticed this from my friend Mike’s blog and thought it was a great idea. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been said there are thousands of variables that go into how the search engine’s algorithms determine which websites rank where. While there may be truth to this, in reality there are a few key things you can change on your website that will quickly improve how often your hotel’s website shows up in the search engines. And although I would never claim that if you do all of these you will see an increase in traffic from the search engines, I will go on the record that I’d be surprised if you didn’t at least see a bump. All of these tips are important enough to warrant an individual in-depth look so expect future posts on each of them in the future. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the LocalHotelDirectory.com blog! As excited as I am to dive in and start writing on what this blog will focus on, I think it’s important to give you some background of the site this is attached to and who will be contributing. And yes, this is as predictable and boring as first blog posts come so, like the espresso with 4 sugars I’m drinking, I’ll try and keep this short and sweet. Read the rest of this entry »