Over the past few years, we’ve seen an explosion in the amount of revenue hotels receive from online bookings. Let’s face it, E-commerce is here to stay and any way you can use tools to leverage yourself against your competitors and maximize profits, you should – let me rephrase that, you MUST!

Consumers (you and I included) live for convenience. When we have gathered all the information we need to make a purchase decision, we want to easily complete our transaction and continue on with our lives. As a business, making the reservation process as simple as possible will benefit not only the consumer’s perception of your company but also increase conversions – a win-win, if you ask me!

How To Utilize Social Media To Increase Online Travel Bookings

Facebook is more than just a site to reconnect with your friends, it is an excellent customer relationship tool that should be used to connect you directly with customers, answer questions, engage in conversation about your property and most importantly, get people to book at your hotel. According to an article from Hotel News Now, Facebook conversions are rapidly growing. In fact, the conversion rate for Facebook is 2% higher than it is for TripAdvisor and other travel review sites!

To make the reservation process as easy as possible, simply add a booking widget to your hotel's Facebook page. This goes back to convenience.  Why make a customer navigate away from your page in order to book, when you can add a widget allowing them to book directly from Facebook. Do you really want to risk having them return to Google, run a search for your hotel and possibly stumble upon one of your competitors and choose to reserve with them instead. Had they been able to book directly from Facebook, you would have captured them before they could find another hotel.

Most branded hotels like Hilton and Marriott have already done the grunt work to set up these widgets for your hotel and these can easily be added to your page in less than 5 minutes.  If you’re a boutique hotel, a developer can create this for you at a minimal cost – an excellent investment.

Where Else Can I Use A Booking Widget?

If you have a standalone site without a booking widget embedded into every page of that site, you have been losing out on reservations – guaranteed! By simply adding a reservation widget that lives on every page of your standalone, you are making it easier for customers to check room availability, rates and reserve their stay with your hotel. Here at Blue Magnet, we have recorded a drastic increase in the number of reservations regarding standalone sites in which we have implemented this strategy.

Remember, it's all about convenience! If your customers have to navigate through numerous pages in order to book their stay, you've made it too complicated and risk losing them! Remember the KISS principle - Keep is simple silly!

So you’ve compiled your list of top keywords and intricately woven them into your site copy. You’ve optimized your meta titles and written keyword-friendly H1 and H2 tags. You’ve reached out to several bloggers, relevant directories, product review sites and popular local attractions to acquire inbound links and increase your referral traffic. You’ve claimed and optimized your Google Places listing. You are confident that your site’s SEO deserves an A+. You check your Google Analytics and, yep, you are truly an SEO mastermind. You’re site’s traffic is skyrocketing!

But, something’s fishy… you’re recent sales don’t seem to reflect this recent traffic growth. You shake your head in confusion—that just doesn’t make any sense! You have the keywords, you have the inbound links and you have the traffic. Hello website visitors, why are you not purchasing my awesome product!?

Here’s the catch: having a fabulously optimized website is only half the battle. Once you’ve hooked the line and feel the tug, you have less than 5 seconds reel them in.

Here are some key web design elements to help convert your website traffic:

Usability: Keep it Simple

There is no denying it; the instantaneous nature of the World Wide Web has provoked us internet-dependent creatures to become greedy. We want what we want when we want it. Nobody has the time to be bothered. Keep this in mind as you (re)design your website to maximize your conversion rate.

• Have your contact information displayed very clearly near the top of every page. As a visitor absentmindedly clicks through your pages, he or she will be more likely to call or email the company if the information is visibly displayed than if he or she has to go digging and scrolling through clutter.
• Provide a comprehensive contact form on your contact page and/or a “Get in touch” widget on your home page to collect valuable contact information from interested visitors. If you have the ability to customize the fields on your form, ask as many relevant and specific questions as possible so you can address the issue and have a well-prepared response. Make sure your site states a realistic timeframe for when you plan to get back in touch.
• Think like a customer, navigate like a customer. How does a customer search for your product or service? Do they search through various product categories? Are the searches typically brand-specific? Whether you’re B2B or B2C, keep the customer in mind as you’re creating your menu bar navigation layout. Establish your set of main categories and branch each of them off into more specific categories, ensuring there is a smooth navigational flow. If a website has poor navigation, it might as well hold a sign that reads: "get lost and don’t come back." Your visitor will revert back to Google and find the information elsewhere.

Trust: Keep it Real

A person's trust is hard to earn and even harder to maintain. Nobody wants to be misled. Adding some little design elements can boost your website’s credibility and ultimately improve your conversion rate.

• This may seem like an obvious one, but slap on your company logo to prove that you are a reputable and professional company or brand.
• Do you work closely with an outside vendor or partner? Do you carry or use a particular brand? Are you a member of a professional affiliation? Don’t be shy! There’s a time and a place to brag—and your website is the perfect medium. Designate a place on your website for your affiliation logos and badges to earn the trust of those cautious visitors!

Content: Keep it Fresh

• A customer clicks through your site and excitedly reads a page about the coolest new product. As his or her eyes eagerly wander to the bottom, the bold text reads: “Coming soon—July 2010!” Newsflash, it’s not 2010 and you’ve just lost a potential customer. It’s a domino effect. Once a customer finds outdated information, he or she is inevitably going to be skeptical about how recently the company updated any of the other content. Check your dates, times and facts and make sure your content is always up-to-date.
• Broken links are a dead end, and no one likes a dead end. The customer may get frustrated and click the back button a few too many times until he or she is safely out of that daunting error page and the company just lost an ideal chance to convert an interested visitor. It’s a lose-lose situation that can be easily avoided. Perform a site audit every month or so to ensure that your links are, in fact, linking.

In the digital age, people have become accustomed to performing minimal work while still expecting to receive maximum satisfaction. So, if you want your company to stay afloat in the competitive e-commerce world, your website has to provide your customers with speed, ease and trust. How long does it take you to make a first impression of a website? How do you decide if you’re going to keep clicking or find the nearest exit? Factor in how an average customer searches as you design your website to enhance your website conversion!

With over 20 million members, sites operating in 30 countries worldwide, and over 50 million reviews and opinions, it is safe to say that TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site. TripAdvisor provides a wealth of information to its users, helping travelers plan and make informed decisions on where to stay, eat, and play on their next trips and vacations. While TripAdvisor offers various tools and features to evaluate hotels, restaurants, and attractions, today’s focus is on the role that photography serves within this online travel community.

How Does the Prominence of TripAdvisor's Traveler Photos Affect Hotels?

TripAdvisor has provided the opportunity for travelers to post their own photos for years now, but since June, TripAdvisor’s global sites have prominently featured traveler photos right beneath the hotel-submitted professional photos. This strategic placement encourages travelers to post their own photos. In conjunction with this photo feature, TripAdvisor users can vote thumbs up or down to the photos, link back to the photographers’ TripAdvisor profiles, filter photos by specific categories, and be redirected to the posted professional photos. Earlier this year we covered the importance of professional hotel photography, and since a visitor’s initial peek into your hotel begins well before walking through the lobby doors, professional, visually appealing photography is undoubtedly important. So how does TripAdvisor’s emphasis on travelers posting their own photos fall into the equation?

TripAdvisor serves its members by providing information and reviews on hotels, restaurants, and attractions so travelers can make the most educated travel decisions.  And the 8 million-plus traveler photos featured on TripAdvisor help to do just that. Clicking through traveler-posted photos, users can get a more realistic idea of the hotel’s accommodations, services, and overall ambiance and character, but just like regular reviews, these photos should be carefully monitored and managed. While TripAdvisor’s traveler photos can help users in the travel-planning process, in a world of online user-generated content, it once again highlights the importance of managing the online reputation of your business. Just like negative comments and reviews (which are not limited to travel sites), poor-quality, unappealing photos can hurt the reputation of a hotel.  And because users trust reviews from actual hotel guests, it is that much more important to manage your online reputation, and manage it right.

Making The Most of User Generated Content

The good news is that TripAdvisor--like other sites that promote a social component with their users--gives hotels the opportunity to form relationships with their online communities to encourage repeat visitors and generate new customers. Use TripAdvisor’s services and features as tools instead of fearing the possibility of “make it or break it” opinions. By using the online community to your advantage, your hotel can create a dialog between hotel and visitor before a stay even occurs; become aware of challenges and shortcomings and address the problems quickly and effectively; and give your prospective customers a positive first impression. Because guest reviews are an important part of the search engine algorithms, encourage your visitors to leave reviews of their stay. Ideally they will accompany their review with visually appealing, realistic photos to depict their experiences with your hotel, which will also help your rankings and result in a more trustworthy TripAdvisor listing.

La did a, bum didy bum… Huh? What’s that? Google has released a new flight search platform? This is not like them at all; I thought all they did was web searches. WHAT?!!! They have mail, video, a social network, office applications, a hotel search platform, and more?!!! Wow! Google is really spreading their wings these days. It’s almost like they’re trying to take over the internet. Good thing they have that “don’t be evil” motto, otherwise I might start getting worried. It really seems like they’re following the lead of the ethically unimpeachable anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon. Thank God!

Taking Google Flights for a Test Drive

Whew, sorry for the digression. I was just a bit shocked. Anyways, let’s get down to brass tacks. Google Flights is beautiful. You type in www.google.com/flights, and Boom! You are taken to a Google map with your current location entered as a starting point and rates for a variety of different cities already populated.

Maybe you weren’t considering going to Minneapolis, but look at that rate, and it has been a while since you’ve seen Cousin Hubert. Well, you might as well check out the flights. Click on Minneapolis. Go ahead, do it.

Whoa! Look at all those flights! Stay vigilant or you’ll… Argh, too late!

Everything is ready to go and it’s so cheap; you might as well just book it.

Alright, great, you booked your flight to Minneapolis for a great rate in just a few minutes. Google Flights is great!! Wait, what’s that? The reason you went on Google Flights in the first place was to look at flights for your upcoming business trip to Keokuk? Now, you have plane tickets to Minneapolis and haven’t even looked at flights to Keokuk? (Fists raised in anguish) GOOOOOOOOOGGGGGGGLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Google, You’ve Done It Again

Overall, Google Flights is a delight to use. The UI is clean and simple, and the content is great. They even have Southwest listed, even though they cannot show their rates. Along with Google’s hotel search, OTAs should be scared…..and they are. They’re pulling out every lawsuit in the book, and they might get some results that will give them a few more years of life, but it’s not looking good for them.

If it’s any consolation to the OTAs, Google is on track to put the entire internet out of business, and thereby, become synonymous with the web. “Hey Barry, did you get Google in your new apartment yet? My Google is out, and I really need it.”

Oh, and a little birdie (I made this up) told me that Google is looking into buying airplane and auto manufacturing plants. Poor Detroit.

New to online marketing? In addition to the Blue Magnet blog, here are 5 other online marketing blogs to make you feel (or at least speak like) an SEO expert!

When I was a fresh face in the online marketing world, I found myself looking for resources to quickly bring me up to speed in online marketing trends and tips. After a quick search, and a lot of time sifting through many we-say-we're-a-marketing-blog-but-this-is-actually-a-sales-pitch-with-no-valuable-information pages, I found a solid group of helpful resources.

Here are 5 blogs that will help you become an online marketing expert, or at least be able to have informed conversations by the water-cooler with the experts:

1. SEOmoz Blog - According to SEOmoz, they have the internet's most vibrant SEO community. With a team of experts to discuss every trend, tip and issue relating to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and a network of over 250,000 members to join the conversation, this is a one-stop shop for everything SEO. One of their recent posts that I bookmarked is Should I Change my URLs for SEO?. The great thing about the SEOmoz Blog is that not only do they have informative blog posts, but the comments section is a wealth of information in itself!
2. SEO by the Sea - SEO by the Sea provides consulting and internet marketing services to websites across the country, and manages to keep a dang good blog while they're at it. This blog focuses on search engine trends and technology, so the content tends to be pretty Google-centric sometimes. This blog also features Outside Resources that can be helpful in your journey to becoming an SEO expert.
3. HubSpot Blog - HubSpot is a marketing software company who focus on in-bound marketing. Their blog covers all aspects of in-bound marketing, including SEO, social media, landing pages and more. What is great about the HubSpot Blog is that they frequently have guest bloggers who discuss a wide range of topics, and they provide links to their free eBooks at the end of most blog posts. It's a great resource for SEO beginners.
4. Simply Zesty - The goal of the Simply Zesty blog, according to the blog founders, is to be an outlet to share tips on how to grow your company using free online tools. They do a great job covering not only fresh marketing ideas, but information that affects all online marketers. If you ever find yourself in a creative rut, this is a great place to browse to get those creative juices flowing again.
5. Google Blog - To be an expert in online marketing, it's a good idea to know what Google is up to. Google uses their official blog to announce new products, trends and technology. Blog posts range from vital information for SEO to interesting search trends, and they publish new blog posts regularly. The Google Blog is not only a good resource as an online marketer, but is also helpful as a general Google user. I've taken away many tips for optimizing my Chrome browser and personal Gmail account. Now, I look and feel like an expert personally and professionally!

Is it just a coincidence that every time I am about to write a blog post Google decides to release a new product or make a big announcement? The answer is “Yes, of course it is.” Why would Google be timing their announcements to my blog schedule? And if they are, how did they get BMI’s blog schedule? …Oh wait! They do own the Internet and all its data, so I guess we’ve answered the second question, but we will probably always remain in the dark in regards to the first. Oh well, such is Google.

Google “Secures” Your Privacy

Google’s newest shocker is about Google Analytics and the data that it will provide in the future. Now, if you do not do the Internet professionally, you probably have never used Google Analytics, and you might have never even heard of it; however, it is probably the most important tool that Google offers Internet marketing professionals in their war against Google. For those that are unfamiliar, the product gives (for Free! Classic Google!) extensive and extremely detailed data about who is visiting your website, where they are coming from, how they got there, what they did there, where they went after, and a lot of other equally creepy sounding information.

Now, Google has announced that they will no longer tell you what keywords users searched to get to your site if they were signed into their Google account when they made the search. Google’s cited reasons for this change are a bit technical, but they boil down to one big claim – This change is to improve the security and privacy of their users. Wow, Google looks out for everybody’s best interest once again...classic Google. BUT WAIT! Before we make any judgments, we need to first use….. (Drumroll) THE GOOGLE TEST!

The Google Test

If you read my last blog post, then, you probably know about “Patrick McCarthy’s 100% Foolproof Google Test” (it also cures warts). Basically, the test runs Google’s actions through three (top secret) algorithms and breaks them down into three categories:

1. What is Google ostensibly up to?
2. What shady stuff are they possibly up to?
3. What are they really most likely up to?

I’ve already covered number one, so let’s move on to number two.

Less Google Analytics = More Google Adwords

In this case, the Google Test spat out the same results for number two and number three, which essentially means that, according to the test, Google really is up to the shady stuff that it seems like they are up to. This is an extremely rare and distressing result. The test spat out this report - “Google values your privacy. In fact, they value it so highly that, golly gee, if they ain’t gonna keep it for themselves and mine it for all it is worth.”

Noted “Internet Doer” Ian Lurie (Rumor has it he’s actually been to The Internet and that it is somewhere in Morocco) seems to agree with the PM100%FGT in a blog post in which he declares war on the Internet... *ahem* ...sorry, I meant “on Google.” Yeah, that’s the ticket.

In his letter to Google, Luries states,

“You've [Google] done this for one reason, and one reason only: To shut out competing ad networks. By removing this data from the referring query string (oh, you didn't think we'd notice?!) you've made it far harder for third-party ad networks to measure and quantify traffic quality.

Plus, you no longer have to justify ranking results, OR Adwords data. Personalization already scrambles the crap out of them. Without accurate search query data, we have no way to check your math on Google Adwords search counts. I guess we have to trust you. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Cough. Sniff. Sob."

Google wants to be the only one that knows what people are really searching for on Google, and if you want to get some of that info, you’re going to have to pay for it by using Google AdWords to run PPC campaigns. That’s right, Google will still give advertisers keyword data on signed-in users if they click on a paid listing.

In essence, Google is telling all of us – “We value your privacy and want to make your information as secure as possible… unless of course, someone pays us for it. In which case, we’d love nothing more than to give away as much of your data as possible.” Or maybe that’s not what they’re saying at all. “Patrick McCarthy’s 100% Foolproof Google Test” isn’t perfect.

As technology continues to grow at an exponential rate, we are rapidly becoming a tech-savvy mobile world.Even grandpa knows what email is now and it’s common to see a young child with a cell phone.As our methods of communicating and interacting evolve, so must our businesses…and hotels are no exception. What does this mean? This means that not only is it important to have an optimized, user-friendly desktop website but it’s almost more profitable for hotels to design a properly functioning mobile-specific website (not to be confused with mobile-friendly). According to Vikram Singh, CEO of eVision Worldwide, user intent is five times higher when clicking on mobile ads than ads on the desktop.It’s also becoming a widely understood fact that mobile users are ready to make a purchase than to merely browse on their phones.

Let’s look at the facts:

• 97% of searches performed on mobile devices are conducted through Google (Techleash.com)
• Click-through-rates are 75% higher for mobile optimized pages than non-optimized pages (Google Mobile Ads)
• 19% of hotel queries are made on a mobile device (Google Mobile Ads)

How can you take advantage of this growing trend?

Not many hoteliers understand the full impact a mobile-specific site can have on their revenue yet, so hotels that do jump on this trend have a good shot at leading the pack. There are a few guidelines to follow to ensure that you optimize your mobile site to its fullest extent.

1. Check Your Site's Mobile Friendliness - To determine the level of your site’s “mobile friendliness,” use W3C’s mobileOK Checker tool. This tool evaluates your site’s basic usability, efficiency, and interoperability and provides you with a “PASS” or “FAIL” result. If your site fails, W3C also provides tips for rectifying any errors so you can run the test again.
2. Simplify Your Mobile Site - Make your mobile site a simplified version of the full-site, including a visible phone number with a click-to-call button and easy booking functionality. Try keeping content above the fold (meaning, architecting your site so everything fits in the screen space without scrolling down), which will require you to only include essential components for mobile users. Most importantly, the steps from entry to booking should be as simple as possible to quickly give users what they’re looking for. Remember, most mobile users are ready to reserve a room, so make it easy for these on-the-go users.
3. Offer Exclusive Deals - Go even further by using the mobile site to offer exclusive deals. Some offers could be receiving a discount for booking through the mobile site, offering guests to opt-in to text message marketing programs, or having guests “check-in,” “Like” or comment on hotel’s Facebook page.
4. No Java. No Flash. - Avoid using Java or Flash at all costs. The main reason for this is that Apple products do not support Flash, so you would be missing out on a big portion of your users. Java needs to be avoided not only because many phones don’t support Java, either, but mostly because it takes too long to load pages. Keep in mind, mobile users want to quickly perform their actions and they simply don’t have time to wait for your page to load. There’s a very good chance you’ll lose that potential booking before they even open your site.
5. Avoid Pop-up Windows - There are several reasons for this, but the most significant reason is that you don’t want to lose your user. Your mobile site should be designed to guide the user to booking a room as swiftly, painlessly, and user-friendly as possible. Pop-ups on a mobile device are not user-friendly. It’s difficult enough to navigate through different tabs and pages on a mobile device, let alone figuring out how to get back to the page the users wanted after a pop-up appears. If nothing else, pop-ups decrease page load speed which also causes the potential for users to leave your site before making a reservation.

Be a leader in the hotel industry and design your mobile-specific site today. The benefit will quickly be evident and your guests will appreciate the convenience.

Are you a Twebie (Twitter newbie) and looking for ways to better your hotel’s Twitter strategy? Sending a message in 140 characters or less seems simple enough, but there are many actions you can take to grow your followers and create interest about your hotel on Twitter. Follow these seven steps and soon you will be on your way to being twitficient (knowledgeable when using Twitter)!

1.) It's All In The Name!

Create a username that is closest to your business name and easy to remember. You will want other twitter users to be able to know what you represent just by seeing your Twitter handle. Consider including the brand name and location in your username. As you grow and connect with other Twitter users you will be mentioned and your messages will be retweeted. It’s best if people remember your name and who you are; the more simple and clear the name the better!

2.) Appearance Is Everything!

Just like your hotel's website, you want your Twitter profile page to clearly represent the atmosphere of the actual hotel. Create friendly background colors and textures and include easy-to-view pictures of your hotel. Let followers know what your hotel looks like and give a picture to your Twitter voice!

3.) Content is King!

This can't be said enough and it's so incredibly true. What you post on Twitter must be relevant and interesting to your followers. Engage your audience with interesting content and you will find more people responding, retweeting, and mentioning you on the network. Tweet about happenings at your hotel, new specials, highlight the on-site restaurant, feature star employees, and anything else exciting about your hotel. Position yourself on Twitter as an expert on the local area. Make recommendations for local attractions, the best spots to dine, and all upcoming events in the area. Within your tweets include links to informative sites, pictures, hashtags and Twitter lingo to connect with your followers and gain even more!

4.) Interact!

There’s more to just sending messages on Twitter; it’s a great place to listen to other Tweeters and join in on the conversation. Connect with past guests, current guests, potential guests, travel enthusiasts, other hotels, local businesses and attractions, sports teams…the list is endless! Respond directly to their tweets, ask them questions, retweet interesting messages, give a shout out to another Tweeter in a message, and follow back other accounts. There are many ways to interact with other Tweeters and it only helps to establish your hotel as a significant Twitter account. Twitterers will easily find you on the network, see you are an active and captivating Twitter account and quickly hit the follow button.

5.) Talk to Your Guests!

It’s as simple as asking your guests to follow you on Twitter. Just like you want a good review left on TripAdvisor, you want your guests to follow you on Twitter. Let the front desk be an additional voice and advocate of your Twitter account. When you have a satisfied guest inform them of your Twitter account and ask them to follow you! Stay in front of your past guests on Twitter, and they will remember you and make you the hotel of choice in your area. Plus past guests can recommend your hotel with a mention on Twitter and continue to interact with your tweets about the hotel.

6.) Create Hype!

What better way to grow your network than create an incentive to follow you. Offering a prize will grow interest and followers on your page. You will find new followers that are interested in the prize, but create a new customer by captivating them with your content, promotions, hotel specials, and events.

7.) Promote!

Go beyond creating your account, tweeting good content and connecting with travelers, businesses, and community. Promote your Twitter account through offline channels and sites apart from Twitter. As mentioned above, gain followers from guests at your property. Besides asking guests to follow, create flyers to place on property with information about your Twitter page. Even direct them with a link or use QR codes for guests with smart phones to immediately connect with your page. Add a link to your Twitter page on all hotel personnel’s email signatures. Add Twitter widgets to the hotel’s webpage for travelers searching the hotel to connect with on Twitter. Don’t forget about other social media networks. Use Facebook as a platform to direct current fans to your Twitter page. Get creative and promote your Twitter page through different channels and watch your followers grow and interactions increase!