Internet Marketing Overview
Internet marketing is a complex science designed to increase the visibility of a website in search engines. Internet marketing (IM) encompasses many critical functions for success. These include search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC) accounts, website design critiques, website performance tracking, link building, link reputation, content building, competitor analysis, online reputation management and more. Internet marketing involves the use of specific skills, dedicated time and diligence to complete the work it takes to outperform your business competition.
Why RezStream Internet Marketing Plans Are Different
RezStream’s Internet marketing success lies in the fact that this seasoned company specializes solely in the travel/hospitality industry.
RezStream improves the visibility of your website in the major search engines by increasing your “targeted traffic” and thus, boosting your website’s online revenue. RezStream’s goal is to direct the right people to your website—not just increase overall website traffic.
RezStream Internet marketing plans typically yield a very high return on investment (ROI). Because we focus on increasing online revenue, it is not uncommon for clients to achieve 500% to 2,000% ROI.
RezStream provides highly customized marketing plans managed by dedicated account managers to ensure the best results with personal service.
RezStream conveniently tracks ALL revenue generated by your website, monitors online visitor patterns, and provides valuable monthly reporting that demonstrates that you are getting the highest ROI possible.
RezStream offers compatible products for your Internet marketing plan with property management software, online booking engine software, custom website design and website hosting. RezStream delivers the peace of mind of working with just one company who understands all your unique business requirements!
RezStream Internet Marketing
The purpose of this guide is to help explain the services that RezStream provides for your business when we market your website. Internet marketing is not a tangible commodity and how it is implemented is an ever-changing process. With that concept in mind, many people often have difficulty grasping the different facets of successful Internet marketing. By becoming familiar with the basics of this field, RezStream’s expertise will demonstrate how to achieve the best results possible for your website marketing budget.
- Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility and quality of traffic to your website within the major search engines. Visibility in the search engines is multifaceted and success involves monitoring and modifying many different elements of a website that affect visibility. The goal of search engine optimization is for the website to become visible for targeted keywords in the natural (organic) searches.
Natural Search Services
Below is an example of a natural (organic) search result that a potential customer might see when the term “Denver Colorado Hotel” is typed in the Google.com search field. The natural search results most often show up beneath the sponsored (or paid for “pay per click”) listings. Generally, these organic search results (the ones that resulted from using “Denver Colorado Hotel” as our search terms) can be categorized as the results that flow down the center of the search engines. Since very few people look beyond the first two to three pages of search result listings, it is important that your business listing appears within these influential pages. While you cannot expect to land in the top few pages overnight, RezStream’s Internet marketing team regularly optimizes your website to improve its position toward the top of the search engine’s natural listings.
RezStream utilizes highly specialized tools not only to evaluate your website’s keywords for SEO but also those used by your competition. These tools enable us to continuously assess and measure the traffic coming to your website, which allows us to seek opportunities throughout the year to better optimize your web pages as keyword searches and competition change. RezStream optimizes by strategically placing certain terms, phrases and keywords throughout your website including specific Meta tags so that the search engines associate your website with those terms. There are several different elements to SEO such as incoming links, keyword density, number of pages on the website, meta tags, H1 tags, link reputation, strategic linking and age of your website. As these elements constantly change, so should your website’s SEO elements adjust to ensure optimal positioning while also incorporating the latest SEO trends and IM techniques.
To correctly evaluate SEO, one must also take into consideration the age of a website. Often, a brand new website, or one without ranking, will take longer to do well in search results. For these new or younger websites, RezStream employs proven techniques to make certain the search engines recognize the website as quickly as possible.
RezStream SEO Services*
1. Keyword research (ongoing throughout the year)
2. Competitor research (ongoing throughout the year)
3. Meta tag and H1 analysis and writing (ongoing throughout the year)
4. Content building (ongoing throughout the year)
5. Internal linking analysis (ongoing throughout the year)
6. External linking analysis (ongoing throughout the year)
7. Site map generating
8. Link building (ongoing throughout the year)
9. Keyword density and text analysis (ongoing throughout the year)
10.Google site map
11. DMOZ/Yahoo Dir tag
12. Content analysis and changes
13. Design critique
14. Continuous monitoring and adjustments throughout the year
*included services depend on the IM level purchased with RezStream - Pay Per Click Management
Pay per click (PPC) marketing is paid advertisement for certain key words in search engines. RezStream will set up a PPC account for your website using a budget (read third party fee section) we determine together, in addition to your normal monthly RezStream Internet marketing plan fees. Depending on the allotted budget, the PPC account can be used in one or more of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, & MSN). RezStream completes keyword research, places bids, and writes specialized ads to send targeted traffic your website. In addition, we constantly monitor your PPC account and make ongoing adjustments as needed. PPC is an effective marketing component, which yields immediate results and revenue from your website.
PPCs ads are essential marketing elements because they allow RezStream to establish your website’s presence immediately. When potential customers enter a keyword phrase in a search engine, that keyword guarantees that your website listing will come up (depending on bid and budget) in the search engine we use to run the ad campaigns. There is a lot of revenue to be gained by using PPC advertising in addition to traditional search engine optimization. Furthermore, people search the Internet differently. Some businesses utilize pay per click more than the free listings and it is important to have both search engine optimization and pay per click strategies to capture as much of the market as possible.
RezStream PPC Services
1. Keyword research (ongoing throughout the year)
2. Setting up the PPC accounts
3. Writing at least three ads per ad group (ads adjusted as necessary)
4. ROI tracking
5. Weekly PPC monitoring and maintenance.
6. Competitor research (ongoing throughout the year)
7. Event and holiday targeting
8. Geo-targeting: local ads, unique geographic locations, with unique ad groups
9. Continuous monitoring and modifying throughout the year - Link Building
RezStream has additional ways of optimizing your website. One of the most critical methods is through the process of link building. This is simply the practice of creating inbound links to your website. Google and other search engines count links to your website as votes of popularity and relevance of your website. This also helps the search engines find and credit you with all the pages on your site. The more quality inbound links a website has the better your website is ranked. RezStream will evaluate the inbound links your website already has in place to check their link text, relevancy, popularity and ROI.
RezStream also continuously researches new sources of links to maintain the necessary ongoing link building throughout the year. There are many items we consider when evaluating links: What does the text say? What is the rank of the website page containing the link? What is the page about? RezStream will conduct this research and make sure the highest quality links possible are inserted. It is important to remember that incoming links are valuable not only for possible incoming bookings, but also for search engine optimization purposes.
RezStream Link Building Services
1. Directory research (ongoing throughout the year)
2. Submitting your listing for the link
3. Adding internal links to pages on your site
4. Link optimization
5. Strategic linking
6. Competitor research (ongoing throughout the year)
7. Audit of existing links
8. Link analysis
9. Continuous monitoring and modifying throughout the year
- Content Building
Another important component of search engine optimization is content building. In a search engine’s eyes, the more relevant pages a website has, the better. It is content that search engines analyze when determining the significance of your pages for the keywords you target. Good original content helps establish your site’s services and product.
RezStream works with you to get new pages on your website regarding attractions, events, packages, history of the area, and so on. We research the area of your business to get ideas and then aim to make each web page consist of 250 to 500 words as this amount of text is the optimal size to trigger search engines. In some cases, RezStream will need you to provide us with the content for a page. This usually pertains to specific details about items such as weddings at your site, the history of your property, on site dining availability and more. Building out your web page content is an ongoing process for RezStream and its development continues throughout the year.
RezStream Content Building Services
1. Relative information research (ongoing throughout the year)
2. Writing copy
3. Existing content analysis
4. Adding to existing text on a page
5. Suggesting new items to incorporate
6. Competitor research (ongoing throughout the year)
7. Continuous monitoring and modifying throughout the year
- Other RezStream Internet Marketing Services
RezStream ROI Tracker This highly specialized tool is used to accurately measure and track revenue from your website. The RezStream ROI Tracker is placed on every page of your website and collects real time data, is password protected and is customizable. We use the RezStream ROI Tracker to measure online revenue from other sources such as pay per click accounts, directory submissions, organic listings, newsletters, and email marketing campaigns. It also allows us to assess your website’s design and efficiency.
Being able to measure the revenue and traffic coming to your website is extremely important as it allows RezStream to evaluate what is working, what’s not productive and how we can change it. Below are some examples of how RezStream ROI Tracker works and how we analyze the information it provides:
Pay Per Click Accounts: Many companies wrongfully steer clear of pay per click accounts because they are fearful it is a waste of money. With a quality revenue calculating tracker in place, businesses can precisely monitor what they spend on their pay per click accounts and 99% will see a high return on investment if the PPC account is properly managed.
In this example below, we can see that this client has made $3,335 this month in online bookings from the Google per click account. We can then analyze which keywords in the pay per click accounts are producing results and can adjust the PPC budget and bids accordingly. Most importantly, RezStream ROI Tracker enables us to determine whether or not to increase or decrease the PPC budget for optimal return on investment.
Travel Directories
Ever wonder whether your membership in a specific travel directory is worth the yearly cost? RezStream will evaulate your various memberships and give advice on how to efficently manage your online marketing budget. RezStream will assist you with link building, new directory submissions, and free listings. The amount a business spends for effective link building and search engine optimization can be costly depending on the competition in a given area. Since most businesses do not have unlimited budgets, it is imperative that your business has assistance in separating the good investments from the bad ones. While some directories or links are good for search engine optimization purposes, some should be analyzed strictly on their revenue producing capabilities.
In the example below, we can see this client has made $5,655 in the free listings of Google. We can also see that the paid listing in the travel directory www.bedandbreakfast.com has produced $1,798 in online bookings so far this year. This information allows us to recognize that this paid listing is a good investment for the sample client.
Website Jump Pages
In the example below, we are tracking when website visitors jump into the online booking engine. While this tracking report does not show revenue, it does show us the number of people (potential customers) that are navigating to where we want them to go, in this case, the booking engine. If we did not see visitors jump into the booking engine from a particular campaign, we would then determine the campaign to be unsuccessful and make necessary adjustments.
Website Forms
In the example below, we display unique tracking after implementing a gift certificate form, a contact us form, and a newsletter sign up. This detailed marketing feedback further helps us recognize a successful campaign. Even if no direct sales were recorded but we were still able to see that 20 people in the last month ordered a gift certificate, this campaign would be considered an effective one. Using website forms is yet another way to determine productive online campaigns.
In summary, the RezStream ROI Tracker enables businesses to analyze all aspects of an online marketing campaign. It helps determine how to redistribute budgets more effectively resulting in better revenue online. While this technology does not track when people opt to call the business instead of book or make a sale online, using a tracking system still provides valuable information for marketing success.
Email Marketing and Newsletters RezStream offers a complete array of email marketing services. RezStream will help you create email offers, custom marketing templates, and even send your emails for you. Our sophisticated email marketing tools track open rates, click through rates and online revenue. Within 48 hours of sending special offers, RezStream will provide your business with detailed reports on the success of your special promotion. Creating online newsletters or creating email special offers are very cost effective ways to advertise your business.
Online Press Releases RezStream can also create and submit online press releases for your business. Online press releases are quick and easy ways to help your business gain visibility in the major search engines.
PPC Ad Example
Third Party Resource Fees
A resource fee is the associated cost for special marketing components such as PPC ads, directory listings, special submission fees, and link building. The budgets for these additional expenses are determined in advance by you and your RezStream sales person and account manager, and can be adjusted as necessary. RezStream Internet marketing plans do not include the cost of these expenses. The cost of pay per click campaigns is set up with a budget (we suggest a minimum of $250/month or more), although we may make recommendations throughout the year about relevant directories and link building with any related fee. RezStream can also easily adjust this PPC budget throughout the year to accommodate business fluctuations associated with high and low seasons.
(Please note that RezStream does not make any profit on third party fees.)
RezStream Internet Marketing Plans
RezStream offers numerous Internet marketing plans to satisfy a variety of budgets. Below is a comparative list to show what services are provided at each level. Please call RezStream at 866-360-8210 if you have additional questions about our Internet marketing services.
**Includes ongoing maintenance. Does not include set up, content input or implementation fees
Conclusion
RezStream Internet marketing plans are designed to increase your website’s online visibility and revenue. RezStream Internet marketing plans are different because we focus on qualified traffic, not just general traffic. In addition, having a dedicated account manager ensures that your website will consistently get the best results, accountability, and return on investment. Each month you will also receive a detailed report on your website’s performance, work completed, and the next steps that RezStream will take to achieve your Internet marketing goals.
Internet Marketing Glossary of Terms
Back links: All the links pointing to a particular web page. Also called inbound links.
Click through rate (CTR): The percentage of those clicking on a link divided by the total number who sees the link. For example, let’s say 100 people do a web search. These 100 will see links to a variety of web pages. If thirty of the 100 people all choose one particular link, that link actualizes a 30 percent click through rate.
Conversion rate: The relationship between visitors to a website and what actions those visitors take on that website, such as a completing a sale or information request. Usually, conversion rates are expressed as a percentage. If a website has 50 visitors and 10 of them convert to whatever function, the site is known to have a 20 percent conversion rate.
Cost per click (CPC): System where an advertiser pays an agreed amount for each click someone makes on a link leading to their website.
Directories: A type of website where listings are gathered through human efforts (often times at a yearly cost), rather than by the automated crawling of the web. In directories, websites are often reviewed, summarized in about 25 words, and placed in a particular category.
Landing page: The specific web page that a visitor ultimately reaches after clicking a search engine listing. Marketers attempt to improve conversion rates by testing various landing page techniques, which encompass the entire user experience including navigation, layout, and copy.
Link popularity: A raw count of how "popular" a web page is based on the number of incoming links it has. This does not factor in link context or link quality, both of which are important elements in how search engines make use of links to impact rankings. Link popularity is calculated differently among the different search engines.
Link text: The text that is contained within a link. For example, search engine is a link that contains the link text "search engine."
Meta tags: Information placed behind the scenes in a web page. The information passes to search engine crawlers, browser software, and some other applications.
Organic listings: Listings that search engines do not sell (unlike paid directories or pay per click ads). Instead, sites appear solely because a search engine has deemed it editorially important for them to be included. These results can be found listed down the center of search engines (like Google.com).
Outbound links: Links on a particular web page leading to other web pages, whether they are within the same website or other websites.
Pay per click (PPC): The act of paying for a particular listing at a search engine. This involves paying a certain cost per click based on a variety of factors. Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing are examples of pay per click.
Page Rank: How well a particular web page or website is listed in search engine results. For example, a web page about Florida hotels may be listed in response to a query for "Florida Hotels." However, "rank" indicates exactly where it was listed--be it on the first page of results, the second page, or perhaps the 200th page. Alternatively, it might also be ranked first among all results, or 12th, or 111th. Overall, saying a page is "listed" only means that it can be found within a search engine in response to a query, not that it necessarily ranks well for that query. Also called position.
Reciprocal link: A link exchange between two websites. This concept was popular in the past, but is not currently recommended.
RFP: Stands for “request for proposal.”
ROI: Stands for "return on investment" and refers to the percentage of profit or revenue generated from a specific activity. For example, one might measure the ROI of a paid listing campaign by adding up the total amount spent on the campaign minus the cost divided by the cost. For example, a pay per click campaign: Cost = $2,000; Revenue = $10,000; ROI = 400%. ($10,000-$2,000/$2,000 * 100.)
Search engine optimization (SEO): The act of altering a website so that it does well in the organic, crawler-based listings of search engines.
Search terms: The words (or word) a searcher enters into a search engine's search box. Also used to refer to the terms a search engine marketer hopes a particular page will be found for. Also called keywords, query terms, or query.
