Web Site Promotion Checklist.

At SCRUMPY one of the most frequent questions we get is "how do I improve traffic to my web site?" 

We have put a huge amount of thought and time into this and have provided you with all the tools we can in order to help you make the most of your site and assist in getting even more visitors to your site. And lets be frank about this, more visitors equals more bookings!

In this article we will give you a basic overview off all the various tips and techniques that we can to promote your site. We have also expanded on a few of these points in other articles which you will find linked to below. 

So lets kick things off with your web site promotion checklist. All of these will boost the exposure and traffic to your site. 

So let's look at these in turn...

Site Content & On-Page SEO

By far the most important part of any site is the content on the pages themselves. Not only is this vital to get right for a good search presence but far more importantly, if your content is no good then you are guaranteed to lose sales because potential customers will leave your site if they can't find what they want or don't understand what you have written. 

On-page SEO is the practice of optimising individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic on the search engines. "On-page" refers to both the content and HTML source of a page that can be optimised, as opposed to "off-page SEO" which refers to links and other external signals that search engines use to rank your site. On-page SEO has changed over the years (and continues to do so), so it's important to keep up with the latest practices. 

For a more detailed look at this topic please see the following help articles:

Adding Blog Articles

Blogs have gained a reputation as having the potential to boost your search rankings, but it's important to understand what a blog does and why it helps. A blog is nothing more than a collection of articles, generally appearing on a website in reverse chronological order — meaning the newest posts show up first. The key phrase there is "nothing more than a collection of articles." That's right, a blog is not some magical thing that will score you all kinds of love from Google; it's nothing more than a collection of articles.

The key here is understanding that it is both WHAT is in the articles and then knowing WHAT TO DO with them after you have written them.

If you're reading this, I assume you're either considering adding a blog to your SCRUMPY site or have already done it. Good for you! Just remember, that a little bit of preparation and understanding of the process can go a long way to ensure you reap the maximum benefit. Obviously, blogging isn't a magical cure-all for your SEO woes, but done properly, blogging can have a significant impact on your bottom line. Now get out there and start writing!

See our full article on  adding a blog to your SCRUMPY site.

Making the Most of Email Broadcasts

Broadcasts are a great way to send emails to large audiences. Scrumpy allows you to send broadcasts straight from your admin to your current subscribers. There are a number of ways for people to become subscribers:

  • All previous guests
  • Sign up from the contact page
  • Added as part of an uploaded subscriber list

A well maintained mailing list can become the cornerstone of future and repeat business.

See our help article on  How to Create and Send Email Broadcasts for more details.

Landing Pages

Landing pages are called such because they are the pages that people "land" on when they arrive on your site via an external link (usually Google). In most cases this will be your homepage but the more pages of unique content your site contains the more likely you are to show up in search results. This is where landing pages come in - Now in SCRUMPY we can automatically generate a number of different landing pages, such as Holiday Ideas & Destination Pages (see below) and as mentioned above, every blog article is in effect a landing page. 
However it might also be a good idea for you to create some landing pages of your own - perhaps this could be to do with some interesting local event (e.g. the great village cheese rolling day) or some useful guide that visitors might find useful (e.g. ten great walks in the Mendips). Every one of these pages will serve as a new landing pages and potentially a new route into your website from the search engines.
See our guide on  Adding Content Pages to your Site for more details.

Holiday Idea Pages

In order to improve discoverability in search engines you can put together Holiday Ideas to group together properties by features, availability and more. Examples of Holiday Ideas could include; beach holidays, romantic holidays, walking holidays etc. Holiday Ideas come together as pages on the front-end of your website that list out the properties that they target alongside the content and images you provide. Holiday ideas are a powerful tool in generating unique landing pages to help improve search engine exposure for your website. We have written a little  more detail on Holiday Ideas in this article.

Destination Pages

In order to improve search engine exposure for your website you can supply your own content to describe the area around your property. For example, in order to increase your search visibility for terms such as ‘Holiday properties in Somerset’. You could create a destination page for Somerset.  These pages will add valuable new landing pages to your SCRUMPY site. 

Take a look at our  Destination Pages guide.

Social Media

We all know that social media is a must these days and that a massive and ever growing number of businesses are using social media as part of their marketing strategy, but for those that aren’t yet on board; what are the real benefits of investing in social media?

  1. Social media helps improve customer service - Twitter is often a first port of call for many customers who have pre-sales question or query. Real-time communication helps to make happy customers - being active on social media really is a great way of positively influencing sales.
  2. Social media drives your brand - Social media makes it easy to improve brand awareness and build your brands identity. 
  3. Social media helps you to manage your reputation - Managing your reputation online is a critical part of any marketing strategy and social media provides you with a fast and effective way to do this. 
  4. Social media helps increase trust - With so many to choose from, customers are often overwhelmed and want an easy way to authenticate a business that they are dealing with for the first time.
  5. Social media reveals real customer insights - Social media makes it quick and easy for you to obtain feedback from your customers, which will give you a clearer idea of brand sentiment and help you identify common pain points you can address.
  6. Social media is a great way of promoting your content - Help increase awareness of each new blog article or news post that you publish, by sharing them on social media.
  7. Social media helps you keep customers engaged with you - Social media is a great way of keeping your business or brand in the mind of your customers. 
  8. Social media will drive website traffic - Successful social media activities will always improve the amount of traffic referrals your website receives, playing an essential initial role in your sales funnel.
Social media as an SEO ranking signal is increasing in importance. Being talked about and mentioned on social media is a positive signal that shows you are popular and have content worth sharing and talking about. This in turn drives Google to regard your website as being more authoritative, which is one of the many signals that helps your website rank better in organic SEO.
We have a number of articles showing you how to integrate social media into your SCRUMPY site.

Pay-per-Click 

Pay-per-Click or PPC is a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Essentially, it’s a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to “earn” those visits organically. Other than word-of-mouth it is the most cost effective form of advertising that exists as you are not paying for the advertising itself, but more that you are paying for the results of that advertising i.e. a visit to your web site.
PPC turns traditional advertising on it's head - It would be like advertising in a magazine or newspaper but only paying for it when someone walks through your shop door holding the newspaper and saying "I just saw your ad". All you have to do (or rather your website) is let that visitor know that they are in the right place and that you are what they were looking for.
However it is vital to remember that you need to be able to measure the success of any paid advertising campaign to assess it's effectiveness and return on investment. With PPC this is done using tracking codes or in the case of Facebook, a  Facebook PIXEL. All of which are fully integrated with SCRUMPY.
See the full article on PPC for more details.

Third Party Web Sites (Commission, Paid & Free)

This is the big one! What other websites should you advertise on? Which pay model is right for you? Is it worth it?
Being on a third party listing site can be a great way of getting bookings and enquiries. It can also drive traffic to your own site and also help with SEO ranking. Lets deal firstly with the different payment models - There are various types of model and then there are are sites like Owners Direct who use a hybrid. The main models are:
  • Commission - These websites will advertise your property for free. You pay nothing unless they take a booking on your behalf. When they do, a sales commission (anything from 1% - 30%) is deducted at source and the balance paid to you. The main advantage of these types of site are obvious, there are no up-front fees, you only pay when you make a sale and it is in their interest to sell your stays otherwise they earn nothing either. The disadvantages are that if they become very successful and you come to rely on them then you could be losing a huge chunk of your potential earnings. They are also usually very protective over allowing you direct access to the client (to prevent them from dealing with you directly) and in some cases will contractually insist on exclusivity, pricing and even decor and housekeeping! 
  • Commission + Booking Fee - There is a version of the above that not only charges you, the owner, a booking percentage but also charges the guest a percentage based booking fee. Basically allowing the site two bites of the cherry. The downside here is that in order to be competitive your pricing needs to allow for this additional guest cost and usually that just equates to you earning less. AirBnB and Home Away both use this model.
  • Paid - On a paid listing site you pay just to appear on the site. The advantage of this is that you may well, for a relatively small annual fee (typically between £50-£300), find yourself receiving multiple bookings and enquiries. Just 1 booking would typically cover the annual fees many times over. These types of site very often pass the guest directly to your website, which if you have a nice website is great news as it gets the users eyes away from your competitors. The disadvantage of this type of site is that a) you may never receive an enquiry or (more commonly) b) it is very difficult to be sure if you received an enquiry from the site - thus making it very hard to demonstrate your return on investment. See our list of third party listing web sites for some examples.
  • Free - Believe it or not there are a number of sites out there that will allow you to advertise your property absolutely free of charge. Some of these sites offer a free service alongside a paid premium service, some don't. The advantages are obvious, in that it's free! The only downside is that many of these sites are poorly funded and thus poorly maintained - which can lead to a very unprofessional first impression of your business. Some sites will ask for reciprocal links or banners in return for your free listing, we would recommend against this. See our list of third party listing web sites for some examples. 
  • Hybrid Model - It is worth mentioning the hybrid model here. In these cases you not only pay a membership fee but also pay commission on every booking and in some cases so does the guest! The only sites who even attempt to get away with this model are the very largest and most powerful. 
Some third party websites (in various models) will put themselves in a niche area, either specialising in the type of property they market (castles, beach houses, lodges etc) or they cater to a specific industry (weddings etc). Some of these website are incredibly popular and get great press and high traffic but because they are niche have relatively low numbers of properties listed.
At SCRUMPY we have put together a  list of third party listing web sites. Our view of this is try out a number of different options, monitor the results (SCRUMPY tracks and reports on all referrals), keep the best and ditch those that don't work for you. Remember that whatever you choose, ideally your own website is where you want the booking to end up.

Backlinks

Having a significant number of backlinks to your website is a great way to boost your SEO and appear to be a trustworthy website with high-quality content; but what exactly are backlinks? Backlinks are links on a website that lead to an external website. There are many types of websites that may include a self-catering property backlink. Firstly, you can add your business to a directory website, which is a catalog of websites being promoted, such as https://www.yell.com/, that includes information about your services and a backlink to your website. Also, your property can be added to a self-catering listing website, which are often more specific and can generate more website visits. For example, https://www.thegooddogguide.com/ can be used when a dog-friendly holiday is being offered. Your property may also be mentioned in a blog post, for example when an influencer that documents their life stays at your property. 

Why are backlinks important? Your website being linked in a range of websites is a great way to improve your SEO ranking, but why? Well, a high volume of backlinks suggests that the content of the website is relevant and of high quality, since many find it useful; and links from reputable sites increase the credibility of an unknown website, making it more trustworthy and therefore being prioritised by the SEO, allowing it to appear higher in the search results. 

Why are backlinks used? There are many reasons for using backlinks: often they link to a website that provides relevant content on the topic being presented, other times they link to websites that have been found helpful and contain useful information; it may even be that a product was purchased from a website, and the customer enjoyed the service, which may be mentioned in their blog. In reality, the reasons are endless.

However, there are also websites designed specifically to include backlinks to other websites, some of which are free; however it's important to be careful with these, and trust your intuition, as links from what may be considered "spammy" sites, may be more harmful than helpful. Although, if used properly, this is often a great way to begin the process of link building. 

Can you have too many backlinks? The answer is no, as long as they come from genuine websites that in no way appear to be "spammy"; in a sense, the end goal is to have "too many" backlinks, as this will signify that the website offers something unique and of good quality that many find useful.

Google "My Business"

Almost 70% of online searches are conducted via Google, and one out of every five of those searches is regarding a business or place. That’s where Google My Business comes in. It’s a service that allows the physical location of your business to be found on Google Maps, letting customers track you down more easily. If you don’t have your business listed on Google My Business, you need to put this on the top of your “to do” list immediately.

  • It’s the New Yellow Pages - Google My Business serves as the Yellow Pages today, especially for local businesses. 
  • You’re Easier to Find - When your business is listed with Google Maps, your exact address and contact details are given to customers. 
  • It’s Free Advertising - Take advantage of everything you can, and advertise to customers in your area for no charge.

Here is  our guide on how to get yourself listed or visit  Google's page.

Reviews & Testimonials

Genuine reviews and testimonials are a fantastic way to help you get more business. Not only do they create a genuine buzz about your business but they can also help to "seal the deal" at that crucial moment of decision. It all comes down to one thing ... trust! By seeing a genuine review, your visitors begin to see you as someone they can trust, not just in terms of being a real business but also someone who can deliver what they want. 

So, what is a "genuine review"? Well it could be a testimonial on your website, or feedback on TripAdvisor or a five stars on Google or a thank you message on Facebook. All of these count. Of course there is no real way to be 100% sure a review is real but it is pretty obvious (to a half intelligent person) when they are all made up. Bottom line... Don't even think about faking reviews! 

Believe it or not even bad reviews can be useful - if you see them as a way of improving your customer service and address the issues raised then it simply means you are just doing your job better. And the odd poor review actually goes a long way to validate all the good reviews, especially if you transparently deal with the issues raised. 

SCRUMPY allows you to request feedback, add reviews, ratings and awards to your properties -  find out more in this article.

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