When was the last time you took a good look at your business's web presence and digital marketing strategy? Right now, while there is less happening from a sales standpoint, it might be time to step up your digital game. One of the most controllable factors of your business right now is your web presence.
Some of the major players in your web presence include your SEO, customer reviews, and your social media content. How do you make your business easy to find? How do you make yourself more prominent when it comes to search engines and review sites? Focus on these now to positively impact your future.
SEO is the way for your business to get noticed in search results. It takes carefully crafted keyword optimization in your web page content in order to rank high enough in your customers' search results. It is always a good idea to begin with an audit (many sites do this for free or for very low cost). This audit will take a more in-depth look at your website structure, accessibility, and content. Next, you'll want to dig deep into your site to ensure the easiest navigation and flawless experience for the user. Finally, make your website easy to use on a mobile device. People are turning farther away from surfing the web strictly via computer because with phones in the palms of our hands, why wouldn’t we just use them? So, your site needs to work just as well on a mobile device as it does on a computer in order for customers to flow through your booking process.
The tourism industry is no stranger to the fact that reviews are important. TripAdvisor, Facebook, Google, and Yelp are just a few to focus on. During this time, it is important that you use your positive reviews to your advantage. Take the time to go through your reviews, respond to them, and use them for your website. It is very encouraging to see tourists, just like you, who have spoken about the amazing time they had. Customers are compelled to book with you over others. It is also important to take value in all your reviews. Listen to feedback and act on it.
TripAdvisor has a popularity ranking module that is completely based on user reviews to reflect where you stand within their site. They rely on the quality of reviews, quantity of reviews, and the recency of reviews as the largest factors when determining this ranking. This break in business should give you time to brainstorm how to generate more reviews. This could mean looking at what kind of follow-up you do with customers or even the memorable ways you are influencing customers to go home and write a review.
Finally, social media is crucial. The more you communicate with your customers via social media, the more memorable you become as a tour operator. Make use of hashtags and encourage your customers to check in using hashtags to run incentive programs, and donations, and to have a bit of fun competition. Reach out to your followers and engage with them. Be an advocate for shopping local, and while our lives have somewhat returned to normal after Covid 19, make sure the consumer knows you continue to take precautionary measures against the COVID-19 virus.
Your online presence is a factor of your business that you can focus your energy on right now.
“Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”
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