Category Archives: Google

Google has officially announced that they’ve rolled out the penalty that affects pages where content is not easily accessible to the user on mobile. The heads up on this has been on the webmaster blog since August 23, 2016.

The penalty only impacts intrusive interstitial that appear right after tapping the mobile search result. It does not impact pages that come up later. The search engine giant also stresses on the fact that this new signal is just one of hundreds that are used in ranking.

Understanding What Intrusive Interstitials Are

In the blog post, the search engine giant has given three good examples of interstitials that they consider intrusive. The following techniques make the content less accessible to mobile users and will therefore be affected:

• A popup...

Have you jumped on the mobile bandwagon yet? If you haven’t yet, you are missing out big time! Mobile continues its ascend up the ladder of importance for internet users. Most website owners are starting to see the percentage of mobile as a channel grow month on month.

Google is at the forefront of this paradigm shift as they continue to push for the perfect mobile experience. In 2014, they added the mobile-friendly label to search results to help users “find pages where the text and content were readable without zooming in.” While plans for removal of this label are already underway, Google will continue to include the mobile-friendly criteria as a ranking signal. 

Get Started on Mobile

First things first, if you’re not yet mobile-friendly, call Tomahawk now. We can help...

Our big prediction for 2017 is the rise of interactive content. Gone are the days when internet users are happy consuming just big chunks of text. The popularity of infographics started a trend towards content that uses imagery. This year, we will see people wanting to interact more with content – possibly by choosing different paths in that content.

A good example that would bode well for the travel industry is the use of maps. Ahrefs recently published an article related to this, showing how it can be used for link building. It doesn’t have to be overly complicated and can focus on the following: data/research, trending topics, pop culture, funny facts and fully interactive maps.

Another form of interactive content users are just consuming like mad are those that offer a...

It's time to throw away previous models of online distribution! Tomahawk Director and tourism marketing expert Gina Paladini presents the drastic changes in online distribution for tourism, and how your business can stay ahead of the curve.

Download the whitepaper as a PDF

Let’s start by looking back to the 1990 era of travel distribution.

“Those were the days.” The distribution chain was an easy, single flat line with the novel addition of a supplier having their first website.

Today the available distribution "chain" is more like a bicycle wheel with spokes than a chain!\

The increase of distribution channels options requires an deep understanding of your customers, and which channels are best for each stage of the travel purchase...

Over the past month Google has changed the way Adwords is displayed on desktop search results. Have you noticed the difference yet? Here's how the changes may affect your business.

What changed?

1. No more text ads shown on the right-hand side.
2. Up to four ads are now shown above organic (natural) search results – when previously the maximum was three.
3. Three ads are also now shown at the bottom of the page.
4. This means the number of maximum text ads has been reduced to seven whereas before there could be 11.

Why did it change?

Many people will say the answer is money, but by removing the ads on the right, Google has created a cleaner user experience that is more consistent with how mobile search is displayed. The right-hand space is also now used for other...

Learn how to recapture visitors who have abandoned your website and turn them into bookings!

Introducing New and Returning Traffic

There are two types of traffic that comes to your website: “new” and “returning”. If you have the chance, login to Google Analytics and take a look under Audience > Behaviour. How does your new and returning traffic compare?

Commonly, you’ll find your returning traffic stays on your website longer, viewing more pages. This is because the people who have come back for another look are those who are more interested in your product or service. Hence, your chances of converting returning traffic into a lead or sale is higher than with new traffic.

Therefore it makes sense to increase your returning traffic by encouraging more visitors back...