Websites

Can I trust you? How do I know that you're trustworthy?

Does it matter? If you're running a business, yes. It really does: you can't build a business without building trust.

Few of us are ready to pay good money for something that we're not certain of, or don't trust. We may seem to happily hand over our cash for goods and services online. In our sub-conscious we're constantly asking ourselves questions.

Is this really as good as it looks?

Is it worth the money?

Is the company genuine? Is it…

I’ve been asked several questions this week, all with a common theme: comparisons.

What’s a normal level of direct bookings for an accommodation provider?

What sort of level of repeat bookings should I aim for? 

What would be a usual bounce rate on Google?

How are bookings looking for everyone else over the next few months?

Are others experiencing a higher than usual level of cancellations?

How good is my social media compared to others?

I’ll answer each of these in a little more detail l…

I very rarely recommend paying for advertising. It's worth getting every other aspect of your marketing right before you start paying for ad space, particularly as it's so hard to judge how effective it is. But sometimes you need results quickly.

Google Adwords is different to traditional advertising. It's a really useful and cost-effective tool, whether you want to raise your profile or attract some last-minute bookings. 

Most advertising costs a lot, and you won't have a clue whether some on…

Do you know what information you need to include on the home page of your website to get results? 

Most people don't.

We could have a long conversation about search engine optimisation and how using lots of headings and putting the most important information at the top of the page is essential... but there are some other very straight forward things you also need to do. 

Of course every site is different and has varied objectives but it's worth checking that you're doing all these. A lot of…

I've had several messages recently from people who say that they've had more visitors to their website but it hasn't necessarily resulted in more bookings.

Why? Is there anything you can do? 

Quick answer: yes!

First of all, it's worth establishing that people aren't just coming to your website for five seconds and then 'bouncing out' because they don't at all like what they see. Google Analytics will help you with this.

Let's assume there's nothing fundamentally wrong with your website, a…