Marketing Advice

[Happy Harpie]

Hello Folks;
Thank you so much for all your candid suggestions and comments. They were greatly appreciated. As we speak the webmaster is getting rid of the snowflakes and ensuring that the location or our B&B is easily found and large enough so you don't have to search for it. I will be making other changes thanks to your inputs.
Have a great winter
Harry and Carol

 

[Copperhead]

Glad we could all be a help and sorry about the snow flakes, they were nice for the first 5 seconds.
You mentioned using pictures to describe places to visit and distance. Please keep in mind the following: while pictures speak 1000 words to those looking at your website, words are needed for the spiders to pick up the keywords to help promote your site in connection to those cities or attractions.
Good luck - hope the changes bring you lots of visitors!

 

[Penelope]

I have to agree with the others about the snowflakes. Sorry...
Beautiful place you have there!!!
Congrats on a good first year.
This is my opinion:
You say: "Every imaginable winter sport is at your beckoning and within close proximity to Tucked Inn the Harbour Bed and Breakfast." LIKE WHAT????? Based on that one page alone, I have no idea what there is to do there.
I have noticed that a lot of people who call us have no idea what they are trying to ask. They might have a random, nebulous thought floating around in their head about a getaway, but they don't know exactly what that includes. It is up to us to sell it to them. If they don't call, they need to be able to find what they are looking for on the website, even though they might not know exactly what they are looking for.
Maybe a sample itinerary. I would love to be able to see a possibility of what I could do around your area all tied in with a two night stay with you..

Thanks for the input Penelope.
I tried to show the things to do in a pictorial format with a timeline of how long it takes to get to these venues. So far I have had some positive feedback on this format. I am not sure what you were asking when you mentioned "Like What"
Cheers, Harry
.

I am not sure what you were asking when you mentioned "Like What"

As in, I live in Ohio...my version of "winter wonderland" and your version are probably totally different. I can't go ice-fishing around here (as a general rule). I can't go snowshoeing around here (as a general rule). I can barely make a snowman most winters (as a general rule). Winter where I am and winter where you are differ.
What I mean is this: If you say that you live in a winter wonderland where every possible type of winter activity is available to you and close by, give me an idea of what I want. I don't exactly KNOW what I want, I want you to tell me. If I want to get away for a winter-time getaway, I need to know what I can do. If I don't know what I can do and you DO know what there is to do, you have to sell it to me. I think the old adage "I'll know it when I see it" would be appropriate. As a guest: SHOW ME. Give me ideas, point me in the right direction.
Recently, we have had some discussion about innkeepers being seen as the "chambers of commerce" because popular convention holds that innkeepers know what there is to do in the area. Well, if that's the case, be the chamber. Make people want to come to you because of your knowledge of what there is to offer. I would venture a guess that most people are kind of in the dark about vacations until they do a lot of research about a place. Imagine if your website was the place they did the research about your area. All tied in with a two night stay at your place...how cool would that be?
Now, I understand that there are going to be a lot of members on this forum who will lambaste me for suggesting that they have enough to do anyway, and why spend the time on one more 'to do' thing for their list, and their website isn't meant to get people to the area, but to their inn. And I understand all of that, too. However, I know when I answer the phone and the person on the other end of the line says, "I would like to make a reservation with you, but what is there to do around you?" I better have an answer that will get the me reservation. I have to sell them on the area as well as the inn. They aren't going to spend every waking minute in their room (unless they are newlyweds )
ETA: Just my 2 cents

 

[gillumhouse]

I have to agree with the others about the snowflakes. Sorry...
Beautiful place you have there!!!
Congrats on a good first year.
This is my opinion:
You say: "Every imaginable winter sport is at your beckoning and within close proximity to Tucked Inn the Harbour Bed and Breakfast." LIKE WHAT????? Based on that one page alone, I have no idea what there is to do there.
I have noticed that a lot of people who call us have no idea what they are trying to ask. They might have a random, nebulous thought floating around in their head about a getaway, but they don't know exactly what that includes. It is up to us to sell it to them. If they don't call, they need to be able to find what they are looking for on the website, even though they might not know exactly what they are looking for.
Maybe a sample itinerary. I would love to be able to see a possibility of what I could do around your area all tied in with a two night stay with you..

Thanks for the input Penelope.
I tried to show the things to do in a pictorial format with a timeline of how long it takes to get to these venues. So far I have had some positive feedback on this format. I am not sure what you were asking when you mentioned "Like What"
Cheers, Harry
.

I am not sure what you were asking when you mentioned "Like What"

As in, I live in Ohio...my version of "winter wonderland" and your version are probably totally different. I can't go ice-fishing around here (as a general rule). I can't go snowshoeing around here (as a general rule). I can barely make a snowman most winters (as a general rule). Winter where I am and winter where you are differ.
What I mean is this: If you say that you live in a winter wonderland where every possible type of winter activity is available to you and close by, give me an idea of what I want. I don't exactly KNOW what I want, I want you to tell me. If I want to get away for a winter-time getaway, I need to know what I can do. If I don't know what I can do and you DO know what there is to do, you have to sell it to me. I think the old adage "I'll know it when I see it" would be appropriate. As a guest: SHOW ME. Give me ideas, point me in the right direction.
Recently, we have had some discussion about innkeepers being seen as the "chambers of commerce" because popular convention holds that innkeepers know what there is to do in the area. Well, if that's the case, be the chamber. Make people want to come to you because of your knowledge of what there is to offer. I would venture a guess that most people are kind of in the dark about vacations until they do a lot of research about a place. Imagine if your website was the place they did the research about your area. All tied in with a two night stay at your place...how cool would that be?
Now, I understand that there are going to be a lot of members on this forum who will lambaste me for suggesting that they have enough to do anyway, and why spend the time on one more 'to do' thing for their list, and their website isn't meant to get people to the area, but to their inn. And I understand all of that, too. However, I know when I answer the phone and the person on the other end of the line says, "I would like to make a reservation with you, but what is there to do around you?" I better have an answer that will get the me reservation. I have to sell them on the area as well as the inn. They aren't going to spend every waking minute in their room (unless they are newlyweds )
ETA: Just my 2 cents
.

Penelope, you are totally correct in this statement. Unless the B & B is THE DESTINATION you had best be selling something other than the B & B. It is just the place to stay - not a small part of the equation, but not the reason.
I market West Virginia first - if I get them into my State to spend money, I benefit in the long run becuse the economy of the State was bettered. Then I market my region - same reason as above BUT I also have a chance to get them to stay with me IF I am closest to what they need - I once sent a potential guest to another inn that was closer to his activity, when I was starving for guests...
Then I sell my City and County and my inn. I put together packages to show what there is to do in the area - and tell them I am located to easily access 5 ot teh State's Tourism regions and the wild, wonders in them.
The mantra is inventory your area and use EVERYTHING!!! Remember I have told you about an inn that gets people who want to just sit on the porch and watch the trains go by all day. I have had crowds stand around me watching me darn socks (to me = to watching paint dry) so do not discount anything, Harry.

 

[swirt]

Many have already commented on the visible stuff, I'm a little late joining in on here but here are some of the invisible things.
1) Every web page is supposed to start with a doctype. Many visual designers miss putting them in. Yours didn't miss putting one in, but they put it in the wrong spot. The doctype declaration is supposed to be the very first line in the code for the page. On your site it the third (coming after <html> and <head> instead of before it.
2) Your page titles are nearly the same on every page. They should be unique and targetted on each page. Bad B&B website page titles . Your titles also use a & instead of &amp; Your meta keywords and meta description are also the same on every page. Same target on every page . Here is an overview of optimizing the entire B&B website.
3) These metatags are of no value

<meta name="rating" content="General">
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">
<meta name="revisit-after" content="10 days">

and should be removed.