Bedandbreakfast.com Expands Reach of Gift Certificates

July 25, 2006 by 1BlizzAdmin

For a limited time, BedandBreakfast.com gift certificates are being sold at Costco stores across the United States. Sandra Soule, Marketing VP for BedandBreakfast.com, explained the reasoning behind this move in our recent phone conversation:

“…only 3% of U.S. travelers have tried a B&B. With this great Costco deal, we are introducing many folks to their first B&B experience. Once they have tried B&Bs, we are confident that these first-time guests will become repeat customers. The upscale demographics for the typical Costco customer are in line with those of the typical bed and breakfast guest.”

Although Costco certificates are being sold to consumers at a 20% discount through 2006, innkeepers will be reimbursed at the regular rate of $85 on every $100 certificate, just as if it had been purchased for the full face value directly from the website.

Currently, they are also negotiating with other leading national retailers to offer their Gift Certificates in stores on a non-discounted basis

Overall, this has the potential to bring greatly expanded exposure to the small inn hospitality industry. Participation is optional, as always, and the staff at Bed and Breakfast.com welcomes your feedback. You can reach them at 1-800-GO-BandB (1-800-462-2632) or by e-mailing Support@BedandBreakfast.com.

Carrie Hill - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.

Filed Under: SEM

Responding to Internet Technology Changes

July 25, 2006 by 1BlizzAdmin

We are in the Age of Information, and the Internet has brought a whole new level of communicating and marketing. It is a fast, powerful, and international information resource, transforming the way we view and use information. Technology trends in our field are dynamic; what may have been current two years ago is obsolete today. Because Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc. is directly tied with the internet, it is crucial for Blizzard to stay current with internet technology research. The research we conduct is required for Blizzard to stay competitive in its field and to provide excellent customer service.

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Filed Under: Featured Articles

Site Content and Google Accessible Search

July 24, 2006 by 1BlizzAdmin

While doing my daily “blog browse” this morning, I came across something interesting over at the Official Google blog.

A Google engineer has built something called “Google Accessible Search.” Basically, this new program, which is just in the testing phase, ranks results for a given keyword based on the “usability” of the sites indexed. It looks at a web page based on how it would look with images and other distractions removed. When I searched for “Napa bed and breakfast”, the first SERP was a site with a flash intro page, not generally considered “user friendly.”

Take a second to look at your hotel, travel, or hospitality website objectively. Is the on-page information buried in paragraph form, is it hard to find a specific fact or tip? Sometimes, writing a smashing intro paragraph, followed by some great bullet points, makes the page much easier for the user to read. Usability is important to retaining visitors and converting into a return on investment.

One of the big “mantras” over at Google is user-friendly content. Make sure your website provides travel and tourism information or service(s) to the visitor first, and to the search engines second. Post comments to this article with links to your travel website so we can see your usability practices at work. If you’re not sure, post it anyway and we can offer advice!

Carrie Hill - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.

Filed Under: SEM, SEO

Explosion in Online Video

July 21, 2006 by 1BlizzAdmin

The internet is exploding with online videos. They’re interesting, engaging and entertaining, and are rapidly adding a whole new dimension to the ‘net. Most text is read once and then the reader moves on to something else. However, videos that can capture attention are nearly perfect viral internet marketing tools – they are watched over and over again, e-mailed to lists of friends, raved about in blogs, and shared on social networking sites, like Yelp and MySpace. Savvy marketers are quickly figuring out how to use videos to drive attention and traffic to their websites, and to help make sales once visitors arrive there. How can you join them – and should you?

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Filed Under: Featured Articles, SEM

Have Google Rankings, Need Motels

July 20, 2006 by 1BlizzAdmin

Hospitality was one of the first industries to embrace the internet. According to ClickZ, about 52% of all lodging accommodations were booked online in 2005, up from 40% in 2004. By gaining high rankings in the search engine results, you can really cash in on the online aspect of your lodging or hospitality business. However, if guests can’t find you on the internet, they can’t make a reservation; you could be letting nearly half of your potential business slip away.

One small chain of motels, Key West Inns, has the opposite dilemma. They already enjoy top search engine rankings for valuable “key west” lodging terms. However, they don’t have a franchise in that area, so they are looking for a hotel or motel owner who wants to partner with them to take advantage of their great Google rankings. Are you interested?

With a little research, you’ll find that http://www.keywestinn.net shows up in the top 10 positions in Google’s free listings for more than 20 terms searched for by hundreds of people looking for a place to stay in Key West, Florida. Some examples are #4 for “key west motel”, #3 for “motels in key west fl”, #3 for “key west rooms” and #9 for “lodging in key west”. The website enjoys top 20 results in Google for many other targeted Key West lodging terms, as well as similar results in Yahoo and MSN.

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Filed Under: Breaking News

Domain Name Essentials

July 19, 2006 by Blizzard Associate

You open an internet browser, type in a website address and, in a matter of seconds, you are checking e-mail or shopping your favorite online store. You probably never put much thought into it, but how does your internet browser know from what server to download the websites you request?

Every website on the internet has what is called an IP address. This is the physical address of the computer where the website is located on the internet. 209.173.131.21 is an example of an IP address. Obviously, it would be rather difficult to remember the IP address of every website you visit on the internet. This is the reason Domain Names were invented.

Let’s start off with the definition of a Domain Name:

A domain name is the alpha-numeric name which directly relates to a numeric IP address of a computer/server on the Internet, where a website is located (or hosted). All domain names are unique, and need to be registered through an ICANN* approved registrar.

When an internet surfer types a domain name into an internet browser, a DNS (Domain Name System) server on the internet translates the domain name into a numerical IP address, which points the internet browser to the appropriate computer on the internet where the website is located. It is only at this point that the requested website is downloaded.

Since each domain name must be unique, it must be registered to ensure only one website is online using a specified domain name. There are literally hundreds of companies, known as registrars, that can register a domain name; many vary widely in price and service. There is even a larger number of companies who are resellers (or registration service providers) for these ‘registrars.’ Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc. is a reseller for a company called Tucows. Please click here for a list of ICANN approved registrars.

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Filed Under: Featured Articles

Is a Number One Ranking All You Need?

July 18, 2006 by 1BlizzAdmin

What happens when you reach that lofty goal of a number one ranking in Google for a competitive keyword term that drives traffic to your travel destination website? Do you declare your Search Engine Marketing a success and relax? Do you turn off your pay per clicks, thinking “why pay for traffic when I can get it for free”? No, not unless you are willing to lose about 60 % of your conversions. Read DM News’ Essential Guide to Search Engine Marketing: Good Organic Rankings Aren’t Enough to learn more.

Mary Bowling – Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.

Filed Under: SEO