Keeping Focused: Marketing Your Site During a Tough Tourist Economy

In the current competitive climate, tourism-dependant businesses in Coastal Maine are looking for every possible edge to set themselves above their competition. The internet has quickly become the ubiquitous marketing venue for tourism and travel, and our local businesses have jumped into this venue with both feet forward.

For several years, search engine marketing firms have sold pay-per-click, link farms, and meta-tags as the must-do's for increasing web visibility. Tactics such as tag-stuffing, hiding keyword instances, or creating unintelligible site content in order to trigger higher pageranking have served to increase traffic for some, but have severely decreased the quality of search results for the consumer. Over time, vanguards in the industry have come to understand that it is the searcher whose needs should be the focus, not the business that wants desperately to be found.

The increasingly jaded public, through such daily delights as spam and pop-up ads, has learned quickly to dismiss businesses that force themselves on them. I know from my own search experience that I tend to ignore both sponsored ads and even the highest ranked search results if the description looks or smells anything like either a paid placement or a keyword-jammed "information portal". Now don't get me wrong, all of these sights get tons of traffic, but that's not my point. My point is that consumers are becoming more hip to the game, and the trust that is necessary to produce a financial transaction with them can be severely inhibited through seemingly disingenuous marketing techniques.

Companies like Google have pivoted left and right to shake the rigging of search results. Their mission has re-focused lately , and they are developing brilliant techniques to make sure their users are delivered PERTINENT search results. They still generate revenue from paid advertisers, thats true, but look where they put the ads. They are clearly seperated from the search results, and are clearly labeled 'sponsored links'. As a matter of fact, the majority of these links are placed in the right column of the page, a veritable no-man's land for browsers, according to eye-tracking studies.

Anyhow the important thing to keep in mind is that, rather than trying to 'beat the system", businesses would be better served if they moved toward creating the pertinent site search engines are trying to return to their users. Instead of jamming tags and buying links, businesses should be making sure their sites are chock full of good, pertinent content. If you own a gas station, your website should strive to be the end-all, be-all location for gas related information in your area. Not only will the mass of content help the search engines find you and rank you higher, but visitors will be happier, more satisfied, and consider you the expert in your field. Others will link to you as an expert, and this is probably the most effective single way to increase traffic to your site.

Lance Dutson runs Maine Coast Design, an internet design and marketing firm catering to tourist-oriented businesses on the coast of Maine. http://www.mainecoastdesign.com

---

Web Site Promotion: Use Web Site Awards To Increase Your Credibility

Web Site Awards are given from other sites to reward... Read More

6 Ways to Keep Them Coming Back

It is estimated that it can take the average consumer... Read More

The Best Way To Promote Your Website

Everyone would like an increase in traffic to their website... Read More

Whats The First Thing Your Prospects See When They Visit Your Website?

I just reviewed a new website and I'm in shock.... Read More

A Successful Link Exchange

Interested in boosting your link popularity, raising your Google PR,... Read More

Create a Google Sitemap for Your Web Site

Google Sitemaps is a simple and fast way for your... Read More

Website Promotion: 10 Power Secrets To Keep Your Profits Rolling

Here are 10 power secrets to help your website promotion... Read More

Competition Freebies and Sponsorship For Free Advertising and Link Popularity

How many competitions are there running on the net at... Read More

Web Advertising: Hold An Online Contest Or Sweepstakes And Make Your Website Magnetic To Visitors

Contests and Sweepstakes.They are web advertising magnets that draw huge... Read More

Eight Simple Ways To Use Promotional Products Online

With the increase competition on the Internet, it can be... Read More

Website Promotion: 10 Volcanic Tactics To Ignite Your Profits

If your website sales are down and you desire to... Read More

Write It and They Will Come

Write it, offer it for free on your site and... Read More

Increase Traffic With a Good Title

There's such a thing as taking search engine optimization too... Read More

The Power of News!

Have you even been to CNN's website? Odds are you... Read More

How to Get Targeted Web Site Traffic from Other Peoples Sites

Getting targeted web site traffic from other people's websites is... Read More

How To Get Your Visitors To Tell A Friend

Does your website offer visitors a quick and easy way... Read More

Promote Your Web Store

After spending substantial time and efforts the big day came... Read More

Top 7 Ways To Promote Your Website, NOW

We will start with the best, than make our way... Read More

Website Submission to Open Directory Project - DMOZ

As an authorative hub a link from a DMOZ directory... Read More

Online Website Promotion: Five Fantastic Breakthrough Marketing Ideas To Enrich You

Good Ideas.They are the stuff that form the foundation of... Read More

Streamline Your Training Costs with Streaming Media

Streaming Media?now a well accepted Internet technology. Yet streaming is... Read More

Cross Promote Online For Maximum Profits

Cross promoting is when two or more businesses promote their... Read More

Why Directories Might Save Your Websites Life

Many business owners and online marketing experts focus their efforts... Read More

Internet Web Site Marketing: The Secrets Of Endorsement Marketing

What is endorsement marketing?Endorsement marketing is having famous or reputable... Read More

Online Advertising: 10 Smart Ways To Increase The Perceived Value Of Your Product

If you have a website promoting any product or service,... Read More

The 7 Habits of a Successful Web-Marketing Plan

What is web-marketing? Why does your business need it?The best... Read More

The Sure-Fire Ways To Attract New Customers Now

1. Give Away An Electronic Information Product The product could... Read More

3 Reasons Your Website Might Fail To Attract Enough Customers

Virtually all website owners concentrate their efforts and energy into... Read More

Make Your Web Site Work More So You Can Work Less

Do you know how your web site fits into the... Read More

Web Site Promotion: 10 Eye-opening Secrets To Sky-rocket Your Sales

If you're having problems generating a lot of sales at... Read More

How To Obtain Free Advertising For Your Online Business

The beauty of the Internet is that it allows you... Read More

Free Online Advertising: 10 Dynamic Secrets To Make Your Ad Stand Out And Ignite Sales

No matter what you're marketing or promoting, if your Ad... Read More

8 Killer Ways to Improve the Effect of Testimonials on Your Customers!

Every web business should be using testimonials. Testimonials are extremely... Read More