food for thought A MARKETING SERIES

food for thought A MARKETING SERIES

website insights Partnering with your Destination Marketing Organization

2your travel salem resources website 3digital resources

travel salem resources Listing components Event listing benefits What works best

Listing components Free and Paid Listings Free Event Listing Free, 35 word description, image, website link Free Business Listing 1 basic address listing with phone Paid Business Listing TS member, 2 listings, 25 word description, image, website link, PDF upload Additional Options Video Discovery Map Ticket link Booking Engine link Visitor Guide

Event listing benefits Free early posting, longer internet life = SEO benefit High web traffic - 63,500 views between January-May 2017 Blog Content prime resource for area events E-blast Content weekly Friday Events email over 2,500 subscribers, E-clpise email Newsletter Content monthly, quarterly Travel Oregon major and premium events for visitors TS>TO Links creates an inbound link from TS, credibility helps SEO Shareable Content Open your email Share your email

What works best Criteria Located in Salem, Marion County or Polk County Located outside Marion or Polk County, within 50 miles of Salem ~ members only Open to the public and of interest to visitors Not a class, meeting, convention or ceremony Not for religious, political, personal, pornographic, or propaganda purposes 35 word description for Events Think like a visitor! No need to duplicate content title, date, time, URL Write for editing Check spelling Use U&LC, please! Multiple calendars set-up a monthly format, cut and paste

your website Content matters Working with travelsalem.com Why use links?

Content matters WEBSITE BEST PRACTICES Usability User experience is important. A website that is difficult to navigate will cause your viewers to leave. Graphics Keep fonts readable an artistic or fancy font isn t always the best, sans serif is easier to read on screens. Use your brand/web colors with ease of readability in mind. Copy Viewers tend to scan generally avoid lengthy copy Content is king relevance above quantity, unique content Links Best to set so the link opens in new window Accessibility A list of guidelines can be found at www.w3.org/wai/wcag20/quickref/ Use alt text for images on your site Chrome Link Checker Extension, checks for broken links that show as 404 errors

Working with travelsalem.com Listing - Send updates as soon as possible -- i.e. contact information, hours, URL change form is best indicate update in title or description Events post early for maximum exposure, some publications work 6 months out for major events. Changes need to be sent to TS. Be consistent in use of copy i.e. Name, address, description Site updates ontravelsalem.com are constant, allow 2-4 weeks for information to be processed Long-term listings are good for SEO, use evergreen content We are open for new ideas, itineraries to include on the site

Working with travelsalem.com, cont. Images Upload 500px minimum in jpg or png format photo or logo Events without an image not streamed to homepage Listings without an image will be held for publishing until an image is submitted File name use descriptive file name, helps SEO Public Relations Request Form Press release development and distribution to media outlets

Why use links? Inbound Links links that lead to your site from other sites Internal Links a blog may have links that lead back to other pages on your site. Use a keyword or phrase, helps increase relevance of page, improves user-friendliness. Backlinks search engines evaluate quality of backlinks 1. Subject relevance it should always relate to landing page 2. Anchor text should relate to the target page and refer to the content 3. Link location links from content are rated higher than from a footer or site navigation 4. Guest blog helps improve your branding and helps acquire high-quality backlinks, partner with businesses Social Media search engines take into account the traffic generated by links from social networks, 1. Use buttons for social on your site make it easy to share 2. Maintain your social channels and keep adding new content. Email share your content and extend the reach of your website and social shares with e-blasts. Helps create more inbound links. Review links on your site to make sure all are active

digital resources Website analytics Website check-up Google apps

Google Analytics GA provides valuable data about your website 1. Traffic visitors come from various places i.e. search engine, advertisement, email link. Referral vs. organic traffic. 2. Keywords shows you how visitors are finding your site 3. Visitor profiles geographic location, device, new or returning visitor

Google Analytics, cont. 4. Site traffic and bounce rate - Helps determine which pages are most popular and which may need adjustment. Helps to target to audience and provide relevant information. 5. Historical Data Ability to review and compare data by designating date range. Useful to identify trends by time of year, campaigns to help with future marketing plans. 5. No cost GA is free and offers more options than most fee-based analytics tools

Google Analytics Sample

Website check-up Website Down http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/# Check Myhttp://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/# Links Free add-on. Crawls through your webpage and looks for broken links. Open Site Explorer Free link analysis https://moz.com/researchtools/ose Website Grader https://website.grader.com Siteliner.com - reveals key issues that affect your site's quality and search engine ranking Quick Sprout Website Analyzer https://app.quicksprout.com/analyzer PageSpeed Insights https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/in sights

Google Apps (need a Free Google account) Trends shows changes in search volume for different topics, search terms and entities. This can be local or global. Keyword Planner enter a seed word and it gives suggestions plus estimates of monthly searches. Also can enter competitor s URL and search for relevant keywords. Search Console identifies organic keywords that are already driving traffic to your site. Good for establishing a base of keywords. Search Traffic>Search Analytics>Queries

thank you Presented by: Dee Hendrix, Marketing & Online Manager, Travel Salem :: dhendrix@travelsalem.com ~ June 2017