tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75961132423263909042011-04-21T19:48:29.239-07:00Trent Blizzardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11635752093443379617noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596113242326390904.post-44406595793141116462007-10-15T06:00:00.000-07:002008-01-16T14:30:27.878-08:00By tracking where people click on your website, you can have insights into usability. The tool is <a href="http://www.crazyegg.com">Crazy Egg</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/RxNqDXAgMaI/AAAAAAAAAFA/KRunxdx4Axs/s1600-h/emerald-pinpoint.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/RxNqDXAgMaI/AAAAAAAAAFA/KRunxdx4Axs/s400/emerald-pinpoint.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121553807198663074" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/RxNlWHAgMVI/AAAAAAAAAEY/odZqeig2iQU/s1600-h/hiltonhead-heat.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/RxNlWHAgMVI/AAAAAAAAAEY/odZqeig2iQU/s400/hiltonhead-heat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121548631763071314" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/RxNlW3AgMXI/AAAAAAAAAEo/dFHr0GfIY4g/s1600-h/vacationsinc-heat.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/RxNlW3AgMXI/AAAAAAAAAEo/dFHr0GfIY4g/s400/vacationsinc-heat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121548644647973234" border="0" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7596113242326390904-4440659579314111646?l=vrma07.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Trent Blizzardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11635752093443379617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596113242326390904.post-24360800308242632862007-10-15T05:19:00.000-07:002007-10-15T05:34:43.417-07:00<ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">VRBO Weakness:</span> Many guests are having bad and inconsistent experiences. </li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">VRM Opportunity:</span> Make those horror stories more public. Utilize Travel Reviews.<br /><br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">VRBO Weakness:</span> Difficulty in comparison shopping on VRBO website... they can be overwhelming</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">VRM Opportunity: </span>Create a website that is user friendly and makes investigating your properties and market are even easier.<br /><br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">VRBO Weakness:</span> Difficult to contact VRBO</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">VRM Opportunity:</span> Online "push" chat, Answer phones in evening, Use CRM and Email Marketing to develop lifetime customer.</li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VRM Challenge: </span>Managing their data and content out on the Internet... the more units you have, the harder. Possible Solutions:<br /><br /><ul><li>Have Data available at fingertips.</li><li>Focus on portfolio representative properties</li><li>Check out <a href="http://clipmate.com/">Clipmate</a>.com to quickly paste info into resources</li><li>Use <a href="http://picasa.google.com">Picasa</a> for your photos.</li><li>Get some properties in VRBO directories, Googlebase, Craigslist </li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7596113242326390904-2436080030824263286?l=vrma07.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Trent Blizzardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11635752093443379617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596113242326390904.post-17845522854729636652007-10-15T04:59:00.000-07:002007-10-15T05:18:52.526-07:00<h2>Google Maps</h2><ul><li>Use <a href="http://maps.google.com/">Google Maps</a> to create fun, easy and interactive maps for your website.</li></ul><ul><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=29.943556,-90.061798&amp;spn=0.02112,0.047035&amp;om=1&amp;msid=111557928530945594691.00043c86fbc30f40e697e&amp;output=embed&amp;s=AARTsJp9sHNej7ery7y88cj2t9sMIseijg" frameborder="0" height="350" scrolling="no" width="425"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=29.943556,-90.061798&amp;spn=0.02112,0.047035&amp;om=1&amp;msid=111557928530945594691.00043c86fbc30f40e697e&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;"><br /></a></small><li>Consider using <a href="http://www.communitywalk.com/">Community Walk</a>, an application to build better Google maps.</li><li>Example <a href="http://www.vacationsinc.com/maps.htm">Embedded into a website</a> or <a href="http://www.vailmanagement.com/propertymap.cfm">here</a>. <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=alphorn+condominiums">Search</a> that demonstrates how well these work.<br /></li><li><a href="http://earth.google.com/">Google Earth</a> is the dynamic 3D version of Google Maps. Community Walk creates Google Earth maps. Here is an <a href="http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/dosearch.php?Cat=&amp;Forum=All_Forums&amp;Name=885399&amp;Searchpage=0&amp;Limit=25&amp;&amp;fromsearch=1&amp;fromprof=1">Uploaded Version</a> (You have to have Google Earth installed).<br /></li><li><a href="http://adwords.google.com/">Google Adwords</a> has special features for a presence in Google Maps and Google Local.</li></ul><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NeSe2EavO-Q"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NeSe2EavO-Q" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7596113242326390904-1784552285472963665?l=vrma07.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Trent Blizzardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11635752093443379617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596113242326390904.post-17902713540865634582007-10-15T04:36:00.000-07:002007-10-15T04:49:43.647-07:00<b><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></b> <p><b> </b> <b>Corporate Blogging:</b> Blogs are Content Management Systems with enormous benefits:</p> <ul><li>Empower people in your organization to create and maintain content on your website </li><li>Increase Traffic and improve Search Engine Results. </li><li>Adds Interactivity to your website and creates community with your guests. </li><li>Look, feel and act "professional"</li><li>Having a Blog is different than being a "blogger."<br /></li></ul>Being a Successful Blogger means:<br /><ul><li>Have something to say, and the time and commitment to say it regularly.</li><li>Tightly integrated their Blog with their website. Just setting up a blog over at blogger.com doesn't deliver the same benefit.</li><li>Join the blogging community, and spend time developing relationships with other bloggers.</li><li>Focus on delivering content that is relevant and useful to their potential guests.<br /></li></ul> <p><b> </b> </p> <p><b>Examples: </b></p> <ul><li><a href="http://www.mpmjh.com/">Mountain Property Management</a> and <a href="http://www.meadbrown.com">Mead Brown</a> and <a href="http://www.skaneatelessuites.com/">Skaneateles Lodging</a> are entire websites that are blog. Can you tell? </li><li><a href="http://www.homeranch.com/">Home Ranch:</a> A blog integrated into a website. Can you tell? </li><li><a href="http://seegulfshores.kaiserrealty.com/">See Gulf Shores</a> and <a href="http://www.glenwoodblog.com">Glenwood Blog</a> are blog driven community portal website.<br /></li><li>Blog content can easily be pushed into other websites, or, pulled into your website:<br /></li></ul> <p><b> </b> </p> <p><b>Blogosphere:</b> There are over 70 Million Blogs. People are out there talking about you and your destination. What is your strategy?</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7596113242326390904-1790271354086563458?l=vrma07.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Trent Blizzardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11635752093443379617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596113242326390904.post-83575350855491801722007-10-14T06:30:00.000-07:002007-10-15T11:27:34.550-07:00<p>Travel and Hospitality Industry Research:<br /></p><ul><li>80% of website visits begin in a search engine or a directory service. (Forrester)</li><li>72% of online travel buyers made travel relevant keyword searches in the weeks prior to their online booking. (comScore Networks.</li><li>60% of online travel shoppers claim to use search engines to research their vacations. (PhoCusWright)<br /></li><li>Check out our <a href="http://www.blizzardinternet.com/whitepapers">whitepaper with travel industry research</a></li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7596113242326390904-8357535085549180172?l=vrma07.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Trent Blizzardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11635752093443379617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596113242326390904.post-13431698246042882682007-10-14T06:20:00.000-07:002007-10-15T11:58:24.916-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/RvoCOnAgMRI/AAAAAAAAAD8/j1F82W1IznQ/s1600-h/sample-search3jpg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/RvoCOnAgMRI/AAAAAAAAAD8/j1F82W1IznQ/s1600-h/sample-search3jpg.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Local Search is a vital Component of SEO<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/RxNtq3AgMcI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/h-JOWLXkG7k/s1600-h/sample-search3jpg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/RxNtq3AgMcI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/h-JOWLXkG7k/s400/sample-search3jpg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121557784338379202" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><ol><li>Claim your business on Google local and Yahoo Local.<br /><br /></li><li>Don’t ever just link to yourself… links from pages with all of your contact info<br /><br /></li><li>Online Yellowpage distribution. <a href="http://www.localeze.com">www.localeze.com</a><br /><br /></li><li>Using online mapping and Travel Review sites when possible.<br /><br /></li><li>GDS/Net Rate listings Increase your Local</li></ol><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7596113242326390904-1343169824604288268?l=vrma07.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Trent Blizzardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11635752093443379617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596113242326390904.post-19689093128743193752007-10-14T06:10:00.000-07:002007-10-15T06:42:05.072-07:00<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Image Search</span> can drive a lot of traffic and is worth a bit of attention. Sometimes Google ads image search right into its search results.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/Rvn9LnAgMKI/AAAAAAAAADE/rIM3CCdNSQQ/s1600-h/sample-search2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_6VBNQgI5vVA/Rvn9LnAgMKI/AAAAAAAAADE/rIM3CCdNSQQ/s400/sample-search2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114397227747389602" border="0" /></a><br /></p><ol><li>The more important your page, the better the images can do… so focus image optimization FIRST on 10 powerful pages on your website.<br /><br /></li><li>Images should be surrounded by related keywords on the page and use a short alt tag (image tag).<br /><br /></li><li>Create an image sitemap that link directly to image files instead of html files.</li></ol><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7596113242326390904-1968909312874319375?l=vrma07.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Trent Blizzardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11635752093443379617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596113242326390904.post-68237619605222240412007-10-14T06:00:00.000-07:002007-10-15T07:00:39.817-07:00Video delivered by <a href="http://video.google.com/">Google</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/">Youtube</a> is growing fast and offers several benefits:<br /><br /><ul><li>A large community of users watching video. If you have a quality video, expect good numbers.</li><li>SEO benefits from videos. <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=gunnison+gorge+fly+fishing">Example Search</a><br /></li><li>Videos are easy to embed into your websites.</li></ul><br /><br /><embed style="width:400px; height:326px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-1064994893122003362&hl=en" flashvars=""> </embed><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7596113242326390904-6823761960522224041?l=vrma07.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Trent Blizzardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11635752093443379617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596113242326390904.post-24825164361910633042007-10-14T05:04:00.000-07:002007-11-28T10:43:13.319-08:00The other components of Vertical Search:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://news.google.com/">Google News</a></li><li><a href="http://blizzard.trent.googlepages.com/home">Google Base</a></li><li><a href="http://blogsearch.google.com/">Blog Search</a></li><li><a href="http://rezfest.blogspot.com/2007/09/mobile-search.html">Mobile Search</a></li><li><a href="http://desktop.google.com/">Desktop</a></li></ul>Also, <a href="http://www.google.com/webmasters">Google Webmaster Tools</a> are worth checking out!<br /><br />Learn more about <a href="http://rezfest.blogspot.com/2007/09/website-analytics.html">analytics for tracking revenue</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7596113242326390904-2482516436191063304?l=vrma07.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Trent Blizzardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11635752093443379617noreply@blogger.com0