SEO strategies and Techniques for 2008

All About Google

2007-09-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Heat Mapping and Usability tool

Online Mapping and Google Earth

Video Search

Click Here to go to Google's "Page Creator" to learn more about Google

10 Trends

Online Specialists Gain Market Share
Google Creep
Reviews (and web 2.0)
Luxury Specialists
Multi-Market Players
International Travel
Increased Spending in Online Marketing
Rich Media
VRBO comes to head?
Content is King... Best Website Wins.

Importance of Search

2007-09-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

Travel and Hospitality Industry Research:

80% of website visits begin in a search engine or a directory service. (Forrester)
72% of online travel buyers made travel relevant keyword searches in the weeks prior to their online booking. (comScore Networks.
60% of online travel shoppers claim to use search engines to research their vacations. (PhoCusWright)
Check out our whitepaper with travel industry research

On-Page Keyword Techniques.

2007-09-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

There are several areas where most VRM websites could improve from a keyword optimization persective:

Optimizing interior pages towards specific keyword phrases.
Many VRMS seem to overlink and over-optimize.

It is enough to repeat the keyword phrase once only in the title, meta description, keywords and h1 tag. Also, A few times typically in the body text.

Over-keywording lowers conversion rates by making your website unappealing.
Google XML and Yahoo XML sitemaps should be in place. Their reporting can provide good diagnosis.

Image Optimization

2007-09-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

Image Search can drive a lot of traffic and is worth a bit of attention. Sometimes Google ads image search right into its search results.

The more important your page, the better the images can do… so focus image optimization FIRST on 10 powerful pages on your website.
Images should be surrounded by related keywords on the page and use a short alt tag (image tag).
Create an image sitemap that link directly to image files instead of html files.

Link Building

2007-09-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

Link-building works better if you do it smart. Work Smarter not harder.

Stop linking to unrelated businesses you don’t know.
Don’t buy links.
Asking related websites to add a page on their website, with all kinds of information about your market and services and contact info and a link to your website mixed in. Give them a logo too. It is better to have a page out there linking to you than just a link.
A little reciprocal linking is OK and a lot is not.
It is healthy to have deep links.
Check out Google's Guidelines
Yahoo Site Explorer is a good tool to research your links and your competitors.

Website Analytics

2007-09-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

Conversion and ROI Tracking is Vital. Sample Reports:

Key Performance Metrics:

Visitor Details for every online booking:

Campaign Based Summary Results:

Changes in Search Engine Traffic, by Keyword:

Local Search

2007-09-21T23:52:00.000-07:00

Local Search is a vital component of SEO:

Claim your business on Google local and Yahoo Local.
Don’t ever just link to yourself… links from pages with all of your contact info
Online Yellowpage distribution.
Using online mapping and Travel Review sites when possible.
GDS/Net Rate listings Increase your Local

Mobile Search

2007-09-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Mobile phone searching is growing fast. Witness the iphone, mobile.google.com and your own stats. Mobile is the place to be in 2008 if you are in a competitive or Urban environment.