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The Five Most Expensive Hotels in the World

July 29, 2009 by

The Times has published a list of the five most expensive hotels in the world.  The top was the Hotel Martinez in Cannes, France at $37,000 per night.  Ouch.

Here is what $37,000 gets you:

Situated on the famous seafront boulevard, the “Croisette”, Hotel Martinez (pictured above) boasts a Michelin starred restaurant, piano bar and “vast” private beach. Not that you will need to mix with the hoi-polloi if you book the luxurious and very expensive Penthouse Suite. You’ll have a sitting room, dining room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms with hammam, shower, a spa bath, dressing room and sauna at your disposal as well as a huge terrace that overlooks the sea. Can I move in please?

The Four Seasons Hotel penthouse suite in New York City was the only US hotel to make the list.  I think the 10 Weirdest Hotels in the World is more my style!

Filed Under: Heard Here and There

Hotel Vs. Vacation Home Calculator at Tripadvisor

July 28, 2009 by

tripadvisor-logoTripadvisor has neat tool worth checking out on their vacation homes page: A Hotel Vs Vacation Home cost comparison calculator.

Simply type in the destination for your trip:

tripadvisor1

And find out how much you will save, based on your destination, # adults, # children, # nights and how much you eat out:

It would be nice if they would make this available as a “widget.”

Filed Under: Out and About

Search Engine Optimization Focus Plan: New Product Release

July 27, 2009 by

July 27, 2009 Glenwood Springs Colorado – Blizzard Internet Marketing announces a new, powerfully packaged, and affordable SEO package that is available for purchase immediately.

Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc. has been helping hotels and resorts achieve better results from search engines since 1996.  After exclusively offering full-service Comprehensive Solutions to its clients, Blizzard has created a new packaged service that specifically addresses SEO: The Search Engine Optimization Focus Plan

“It is exciting to be able to accept new clients without requiring them to consolidate their entire marketing strategy with Blizzard.  Many tourism businesses are seeking help in only one specific aspect of their online marketing footprint… in this case, SEO” Trent Blizzard

The Search Engine Optimization Focus Plan includes:

  • Monthly consultations
  • Monthly reporting
  • Research
  • Written SEO recommendations

Blizzard Internet Marketing is based in Glenwood Springs and provides full-service online marketing solutions to the hospitality industry.  Services include: website design, SEO, PPC management, link building, email marketing, blog design and reputation management.

Blizzard Internet Marketing
1001 Grand Avenue
Suite 203
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
970-928-7875 | 888-840-5893
Fax: 970-928-7875
Email: info@blizzardinternet.com
Website: www.blizzardinternet.com

Filed Under: Blizzard News

Lynnwood Washington Tourism Website Redesigned

July 24, 2009 by

Lynnwood Washington is a shopper’s paradise located just 15 minutes away from Seattle.  From a tourism perspective, Lynwood offers a unique value proposition: Close to the City… Close to the Country… Close to the Mountains… Close to the Sea.

Blizzard Internet recently  redesigned a website for the City of Lynnwood’s Tourism Division and wanted to show it off a bit.  It is a nice looking website built on a WordPress content management system.   Lynnwood’s Project Tourism Manager, Mary Monroe shared here experience of working with Blizzard to redesign their website:

“Blizzard staff have all made us feel like an important customer, even though we are a relatively small account.  Working with the design team has been a breeze, they know what they are doing and have been very accommodating in letting us experiment with different ideas.”

Lynwood Washington Tourism

The city had several pressing needs that drove their redesign:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: SEM

PPC Research About Synergies Between Paid Search and Organic Search

July 23, 2009 by

Industry StatsAbout two weeks ago a customer asked about the wisdom of buying PPC placements for keyword phrases they already rank for.  Good question!

The first part of the answer was easy… definitely buy your brand name keyword.  We recently shared some data about a boutique hotel that enjoyed a boost in ROI after adding brand-name keywords to a PPC campaign.

The second part of the answer was that older research had shown that showing up for both PPC and organic results increased overall click thru rates.  The problem is that I can’t find that research anywhere on the Internet.  So, I spent a few hours looking for new research that would show synergies between PPC and organic advertising.  Here is what I found:

The Search Synergy Report by ICrossing was the most promising research. It referenced a recent study done by Nielsen ReelResearch (which I couldn’t access): when both paid and organic search results appeared on the same page, that site got 92% of the clicks, while an organic listing alone resulted in a click 60% of the time.

The iCrossing Search Synergy took that research further, it also found that not only do the clicks increase, but the quality of visitor increases with more page views (44%), more visitors (41%), and more time on site (39%) and more orders (45%).   The single factor impacting the changes in online performance was the average position of they keywords.

Assuming you believe research… you have to conclude that online performance is dramatically improved if PPC keywords are also ranked in natural search.

I found some other nice pieces of paid search research if you want to do some of your own research:

The Atlas Rank Report: How Search Engine Rank Impacts Traffic: Studied Click-thru-Rates on PPC ads and found:

  • Traffic drops significantly by rank.  While your sales may be costing you 10% less by maintaining 3rd
    rank, you could be losing nearly half of the customer acquisitions possible in 1st rank.
  • The drop in traffic is consistent with each drop in rank, dispelling the myth that you must be in the
    top 3 ranks.
  • While we have focused on pay-for-position search, the principles apply to paid inclusion and natural search as well. [Read more...]
Filed Under: Industry Stats, SEM

Google Workshop in Park City Utah on August 4th

July 19, 2009 by

Trent Blizzard is teaching a  Google seminar in Park City, Utah: “All About Google: How to rank higher for more keywords.” The seminar is on August 4th from 8:30 – 12:00  at the Dakota Mountain Lodge.

The hands-on half day workshop is focused on the hospitality industry in general, and the hotels, resort and property manager segments in particular.  Attendees will learn:

9:00 – 10:00: How to show up for more keyword phrases in the search engine results. Learn how to broaden your keyword reach by coming up for more keyword phrases.  Learn proven search engine optimization techniques to find and implement a far-reaching keyword strategy.

10:00 – 11:00 How to rank higher in the search engine results. Learn how to get higher rankings for your targeted rankings through targeted link building. Learn tips and techniques to move the keyword phrase rankings onto the first page.

11:00 – 12:00 Online Tools that will knock your socks off. Learn about new and powerful online tools that will help you track your results, research your competitors and make your website more succesful.

Signup Now:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: SEM

Quick and Easy Videos for Your Website

July 6, 2009 by

Video is all the rage… it deepens your presence in search engines and it improves conversion rates on your website.

Many resort operators don’t have professional videography in their budget and are  intimidated by making a slideshow themselves.

One of our customers recently asked if there was an easy way to make nice little videos for their website.  Good question.

My personal favorite free and amateur tool is Windows Movie Maker — an application that most have on their computer and don’t even know exists.  Movie Maker is a reasonably powerful piece of software that will let you:

  • Take photos and videos and create movies.
  • Allows text overlays, fancy transitions, and panning and zooming.
  • Allows you to add audio (don’t add copyrighted music!)
  • Saves your creation in many different formats.

However, many people are looking for an even easier solution.  A solution to turn photos into a video, add copyright-free music automatically, and even host the video for you (so you don’t have to figure out how to get it uploaded on the web).

I recommend you try Slideroll.  Here is a quick example of their video. It took me 16 minutes to create this short photo-based video:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: How To: Tips & Tools
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