Bo, right on! I agree with everything you said on the design and seo. I don't agree about the Reviews though, let them review yes, but won't beg..
LOL.. Joey,
OK - the begging part was inspired by the promenently featured k9's on the website. our cav are not permitted begging, but will retreat to her basket, keeping quiet while sniffing each wif of bbq about once a week.. she know she will get a bone later but....
About the reviews though, my point is that dis-satisfied guest are 10x times more likely to blog, yelp, google, TA etc their feelings about their stay.. this is why reading about a "shitty" camera on a webforum is somewhat meaningless, as all the happy users simply don't write about it. ( case in point, apple have sold close to 3 mill (thats 6 zerros) iphones, everybody is bitching, yet there is no line at any store I have been to with people returning the phones, only a line of people wanting to buy)
So. it gives big rewards to keep track of the real happy guests, send them a polite and personal email, thanking them, then saying, "I normally send a email asking guests to please rate my B&B , I have copied and pasted the links I normally use at the bottom of the email, please if you have the time, take a moment rate us and or review us on any one of these links, if you have a particular website which is more meaningful in your country for travelers to my area, that may be a ever better place for a review or rating, Joyce and I appriciate you time and thank you." (something like that anyway)
As far as I am concerned, that is begging on the web, but it results in a shocking amount of positive ratings and nice reviews from people who otherwise would never remember to write a review.
I would say that more than 30% of my bookings state something like "we read several reviews about your place and are very excited about staying with you in Los Angeles"
and a big amount of request emails say "we read the reviews about you are really hope you still have rooms on oct 15 2010"
I cater to a younger international crowd 25-45 ish, they cary crackberries and iphones and crave free wifi... and they check ratings before booking. providing the information they want have been key to staying roughly 95% booked all year.
EDIT - OMG - there is a prudency filter for shitty LOL... Im going to like this forum.
Bo
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