Home
>
Web Site Promotion
>
Keeping Focused: Marketing Your Site During a Tough Tourist Economy

Keeping Focused: Marketing Your Site During a Tough Tourist Economy

In the current competitive climate, tourism-dependant businesses in Coastal Maine are looking for every possible edge to set themselves above their competition. The internet has quickly become the ubiquitous marketing venue for tourism and travel, and our local businesses have jumped into this venue with both feet forward.

For several years, search engine marketing firms have sold pay-per-click, link farms, and meta-tags as the must-do's for increasing web visibility. Tactics such as tag-stuffing, hiding keyword instances, or creating unintelligible site content in order to trigger higher pageranking have served to increase traffic for some, but have severely decreased the quality of search results for the consumer. Over time, vanguards in the industry have come to understand that it is the searcher whose needs should be the focus, not the business that wants desperately to be found.

The increasingly jaded public, through such daily delights as spam and pop-up ads, has learned quickly to dismiss businesses that force themselves on them. I know from my own search experience that I tend to ignore both sponsored ads and even the highest ranked search results if the description looks or smells anything like either a paid placement or a keyword-jammed "information portal". Now don't get me wrong, all of these sights get tons of traffic, but that's not my point. My point is that consumers are becoming more hip to the game, and the trust that is necessary to produce a financial transaction with them can be severely inhibited through seemingly disingenuous marketing techniques.

Companies like Google have pivoted left and right to shake the rigging of search results. Their mission has re-focused lately , and they are developing brilliant techniques to make sure their users are delivered PERTINENT search results. They still generate revenue from paid advertisers, thats true, but look where they put the ads. They are clearly seperated from the search results, and are clearly labeled 'sponsored links'. As a matter of fact, the majority of these links are placed in the right column of the page, a veritable no-man's land for browsers, according to eye-tracking studies.

Anyhow the important thing to keep in mind is that, rather than trying to 'beat the system", businesses would be better served if they moved toward creating the pertinent site search engines are trying to return to their users. Instead of jamming tags and buying links, businesses should be making sure their sites are chock full of good, pertinent content. If you own a gas station, your website should strive to be the end-all, be-all location for gas related information in your area. Not only will the mass of content help the search engines find you and rank you higher, but visitors will be happier, more satisfied, and consider you the expert in your field. Others will link to you as an expert, and this is probably the most effective single way to increase traffic to your site.

Lance Dutson runs Maine Coast Design, an internet design and marketing firm catering to tourist-oriented businesses on the coast of Maine. http://www.mainecoastdesign.com

disinfecting cleaning services Arlington Heights ..

In The News:

Android rolls out Emergency Live Video for 911 calls, letting dispatchers see real-time scenes during emergencies. Great for holiday travel safety.

Malicious Chrome and Edge extensions collected browsing history, keystrokes and personal data from millions of users before Google and Microsoft removed them.

Google's new Call Reason feature lets Android users mark calls as urgent before dialing, displaying an urgent label to recipients using Phone by Google app.

Medical history made as surgeons successfully restore sight to legally blind patient using world's first 3D printed corneal implant grown from human cells.

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Keeping Focused: Marketing Your Site During a Tough Tourist Economy

Web Site Promotion