==content_digital==

Solving tourism website questions and online marketing problems with Google: #2

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This is the second question in our blog series from the TourWriter Assemblage.

First time reader? Check out the first google question here or watch the full video on youtube.

Question 2: I'm told I am getting a lot of traffic to my site, but I'm not getting many enquiries. What's going on?

This question is all about converting the eye-balls on the page into actions, and often happens when there are barriers which are preventing someone moving from a passive viewer, to being inspired by your product, and placing a booking.

Google's website analytics and webmaster tools are two useful and totally FREE programs which you can use to answer some of the following questions, make adjustments and measure the impact and results.

1. Are my visitors qualified before arriving?

To find out what the relevancy and influence of your site in Google results, head to Google Webmaster Tools. (You'll need to get your webmaster to install it for you which might mean they will charge you their time - or already have it running and be able to give you access.)

Using this, we'll be able to see what Google sees as the relevant keywords on your site, and for what queries you show up for in Google's results, as well as the position on average you rank at.

Things to watch out for:

  • Phrases or keywords are not relevant to your product and service showing up on your results.
  • Keywords and phrases that are relevant, but not showing up as being present or returning any visits.

 

online marketing for tourism

Google Webmaster Tools tells you where you rank for search queries on Google. That's helpful!

Google Webmaster Tools can help you identify unqualified visitors coming through to your website.

 

2. Where are they leaving?

To find out, we use Google Analytics, and take a look at both "Exit pages" and "Bounce Rates".

These are meaningful statistics about how people interact with your website.

Essentially, a "bounce rate" is a percentage of people who have visited your site, and only had one interaction. It doesn't have to be the home page, it's the page that they entered across the whole site.

An example would be a guest who came through to your site expecting a luxury touring company and what they have been presented with does not appear to fulfil their expectation. They leave after looking at only one page of your site.

Exit pages: are any of the pages on your website which a website visitor leaves; they close your website and end their session.

Things to watch out for:

  • If the bounce rate is high, and many people leave only after viewing one page, find out what is that page and what could be the cause? Is it difficult to navigate to the next page?
  • Does the page provide the information a visitor would expect based on the keywords they typed into their Google search?
  • Where are you getting your unresponsive traffic from? Are you running AdWords campaigns in locations where your product isn't relevant? Is there a referral site sending you traffic which is misleading?

 

Online marketing for Tourism

Bounce rates are a meaningful statistic about your site engagement and your visitor interactions.

 

3. What do my website visitors do when they get to my site, and what barriers might prevent people wanting to enquire?

To find out what your website visitors do and how they engage with your site, Google Analytics has a feature which can help you visualise the path that a website visitor takes through your site.

In your Google Analytics, head to "conversions" and take a look at "goals". Here, you'll be able to map out your ideal goal, and see where people exit, turn back or move forward through the process.

You'll be able to spot usability errors, perhaps your booking form has too many questions and people give up? Or you have too many tour options and people tend to not move past this point? Are you pricing yourself out of the market, or are you missing vital calls to action which encourage visitors to book online?

Funneling your sales and setting up goals is a great way to visualize what is going on with your website.

Online Marketing with Google Goals and Funnels

Goals and Funnels will help visualise how visitors navigate through your site, and reach your desired outcome.

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