The presentation for the AmCham France Hospitality and Travel Working Committee, and the AmCham France Retail Working Committee, are pleased to invite you to: Optimizing online sales for the Tourism industry Acquire and retain guests in an Online Travel Agency (OTA) dominated environment by maintaining control of your brand on Google and engaging your clients The Internet landscape is constantly changing and it is difficult to remain current on how to grow business from online sales. Today, when U.S. tourists are searching online, there are so many choices that often your company website is nowhere to be found. Instead, large travel websites are found when tourists are looking and they require that you surrender a higher profit in order to acquire those customers. What if you could build your own direct relationship with passionate consumers through online word of mouth? What if you were more frequently found when U.S. tourists are looking? What if you could increase your profits by driving more reservations directly through your own website, avoiding large travel portal sites that take a significant piece of your margins? Speaker: Jay Feitlinger, American Digital Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Expert and CEO of StringCan Interactive, a US-based digital marketing agency with an office in Paris will share what changes have happened with the Internet, specifically with Google, why these changes were made, and ideas on how your Tourism, Hotel or Restaurant can leverage best practices on how to improve your profit and relationship with U.S. tourists. About the event: Most American travelers today use Google to find and make reservations online when traveling to Europe. The majority of these international visitors will ultimately find and use large travel portal sites like TripAdvisor, Orbitz, and Expedia, which decrease the profits made by the service provider. However, the digital tools exist to compete effectively with these portal websites especially with repeat customers and referral opportunities. In his presentation, Mr. Feitlinger will discuss how hotels, restaurants and travel service providers can leverage recent changes from Google on how to drive more traffic to their site and increase the number of reservations made directly on site. He will also discuss how to create awareness and build loyalty through online word of mouth, how to use content to increase your findability, and how to build an online bra

1. Complex Made Simple
Optimizing Online Sales
For The Tourism Industry
image source: stockvault.com
@stringcanagency

2. Generating Results Globally
+
@stringcanagency

3. Our Volunteer
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4. GETTING FOUND
website.fr
WEBSITE
DURING
image source: Flickr CC @DasNickus, @Yellowstone & @Door Concepts
AFTER
1 2
3 4
@stringcanagency

5. image source: Flickr CC @DasNickus
GETTING FOUND
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6. 6 BILLION searches per day
source: google.com 1/2014
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7. source: cnet.com 5/2013
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8. source: cnet.com 5/2013
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9. PLEASE
DON’T
DO
THIS

10. image source: twitter.com

11. image source: twitter.com

12. Proper Linking
“The philosophy that we've always had is if
you make something that's compelling
then it would be much easier to get people
to write about it and to link to it.”
~ Matt Cutts,
Head of Google Webspam
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13. image source: Flickr CC @Henry’s Travel, @Bee happy123 & @Dan Ripplinger
PAGE QUALITY
SPAM
SEMANTICS
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14. Every day, 78%
of search results
have some
ranking change.
source: moz.com

16. @stringcanagency
source: moz.com
2009

17. @stringcanagency
source: moz.com

18. The Big Changes
• Social Signals
• Reviews
• Local Optimization
• Relevant New Content
@stringcanagency

19. Getting The Most Out Of Paid Search
• OTA Contracts
• Using Branded Keywords
• Optimized for your audience
• Focus on longtail keywords
• Landing pages
@stringcanagency
800,000,000+

20. Google Hotel Finder
Google Hotel Finder Optimization
• Google Places Page
• Google Business Photos
• No duplicate pages
• Google+ account
• Directories updated (i.e. TripAdvisor, Yelp)
• Connection to a Global Distribution System
@stringcanagency

21. website.fr
LEVERAGING YOUR WEBSITE

22. INFORMATION
EASY TO USE
VALIDATION
image source: Flickr CC @Horia Varlan, @Zen Sutherland & @newsusacontent
SALES
1 2
3 4
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23. Informational
Aspects of Website
Information:
• Text content
• Image Content
• Brand /
Ambiance
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24. Easy to Use
Your competition is Booking.com and Expedia, is
your website easier to use?
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25. Validating
Can a visitor validate their decision without leaving your site?
@stringcanagency

26. Sales Driven
Is your site the best salesman on your team?
• Sales Speak
• Understands the audience
• Not everyone is ready to sign up on the 1st visit
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27. DURING THE INTERACTION
image source: Flickr CC @Yellowstone

28. 3 Goals During the Interaction
• Likes
• Reviews
• Attach - emails
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29. Like
Getting the guest to Like, Follow, Pin or +1
Be creative
Be exclusive
Be active
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30. Attach
Find a way to collect an email address
Free WiFi
Check-In
START
Kiosk
Rewards Cards
@stringcanagency

31. Review
Reviews are vital to search ranking and
purchase validation
Check-in
Deals
Ask your guest
Email them
request
@stringcanagency

32. AFTER THE INTERACTION

33. Getting Them Back
Dynamic follow up strategy
Guest
Departure
Email
–
Receipt
Business
Guest
Thank
you
email
–
Leave
a
review
+2
days
Special
Business
Guest
Deal
in
May
Family
Guest
+2
days
Thank
you
email
–
Leave
a
review
+7
days
–
free
desert
if
you
book
again
+38
days
-­‐
72
hour
Summer
Deals
American
Guest
Thank
you
email
–
Leave
a
review
+2
days
+
35
Days
Share
with
a
friend
Deal
+65
days
Special
Facebook
Access
to
the
Chef
@stringcanagency

34. Create Brand Advocates
Develop and garner brand advocates
• Invite online influential people to experience your
brand
• Interact when brand is mentioned
• Offer deals for advocates
@stringcanagency

35. 6 Key Points
• Google is constantly changing
• Relevant content is king
• Leverage & Optimize getting found
• Make sure your website is as user friendly as
the OTA’s
• Your website should be your best sales
person with content, reviews & call to actions
• Engage with your guests during and after their
visit with social media, reviews and email

36. Q&A
THANK YOU!
@stringcanagency