TravelBizBuzz

I was vaguely aware that Web sites built in Flash can be quirky when you’re trying to optimize your search engine marketing, so I further investigated the issue with Keynote Systems Inc. user experience analyst, Susan Fowler.

The easiest way to miss a search engine’s eye is to offer your Web page entirely in a program like Flash without doing your homework. “Search engines look at text,” Fowler explained. A pure Flash site does not contain any text. But there are ways to sneak it in.

1) Tag your rich media files with text information. You can do this by having your site programmer fill out the rich media’s metadata fields and alt tags, Fowler says. (The metadata field contains information such as file name and a description of the files, which gives search engine spiders text to index; the alt tag field is what creates the small tan text box that appears when you roll your mouse over a photo.)

2) Have a good site map. If the search engine spiders can’t find text on your Flash page, they will look for text links at the bottom of the page, such as contact info and a site map. And if your site map is made properly with links to each page and sufficient descriptions, the spider will know to look at the linked pages and index them, Fowler explains.

Remember: Using a Flash-only site will not only hurt your search engine performance but will also limit your site’s accessibility, Fowler notes. For example, people who use screen readers will not see the pictures on the screen, so it’s important to tag your photo and video files regardless of your search engine strategy.

** For more tips from Susan Fowler on how to build the perfect travel Web site, check out TDR’s special audioconference on April 4, The Top 10 Secrets Of A Perfect Travel Web Site. **

-- Lindsey Rushmore, Editor-In-Chief, Travel Distribution Report --

Posted by TDR at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (350)

I have to hand it to the online travel agencies that solicit their own customers' reviews, such as Travelocity. But some sites, like Priceline.com, are feeling the need for more.

The online travel agency announced March 20 an agreement with Zagat Survey LLC, a consumer survey-based leisure content provider. Under the agreement, Zagat will create exclusive online hotel reviews for priceline.com customers to access for free.

Strategy: Priceline has its own hotel star rating system and user reviews by its customers who have stayed at these properties, but it believes that adding another source of consumer reviews will “make priceline.com a premier destination for shopping and comparing top-brand hotels and prices,” said Brett Keller, priceline.com’s CMO.

Zagat Survey information will be available for hotels, restaurants and attractions in the United States and select international locations, Priceline said. The reach: The Zagat information, combined with priceline.com’s own traveler reviews, covers more than 600 cities and thousands of hotels, restaurants and attractions.

Extras: Zagat Survey will also power Priceline Destination Guides (a new feature that combines priceline.com and Zagat customer commentary on hot spots and attractions in various cities.)

In addition, Priceline promises in the near future pintable Zagat “Travel Capsules.” Priceline will electronically deliver these city-specific guides free of charge to customers who have booked trips to top travel destinations. The printable Travel Capsules will feature Zagat ratings and reviews for restaurants, hotels, nightlife attractions and shopping, Priceline said.

So what do you think? Do online travel agencies need to round up more reviews ouside of their own customer circles to better please the customer?

--Lindsey Rushmore, Editor-In-Chief, Travel Distribution Report--

Posted by TDR at 09:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (78)

As a periodic YouTube junkie, I can admit to spending my fair share of time watching videos ranging from Mentos-Diet Coke fountains to dogs on skateboards and child prodigies on the piano. We’re all tuned-in to our society’s desire to watch each other’s amateur creations, from the extravagant to the simple -- but can this rampantly successful trend translate into a revenue generator for the travel industry?

Companies have been hesitant to tinker with the mystique of consumer-generated content, lest they tarnish it with a commercial feel. But some pioneers have found a way to bring that mystic to their own Web sites:

Travelistic: This site is like a YouTube for travel, where travelers share videos of their trip experiences. The kicker: In its February report on travel site traffic, Hitwise dubbed Travelistic a “Fast Mover,” or, a site that’s “witnessed substantial increases in rank in the ‘Travel’ online industry.”

TripAdvisor: This online travel community announced March 6 that it now allows travelers to post their vacation videos. “Thousands of TripAdvisor travelers already uploaded their videos and hundreds of thousands more viewed them,” revealing a strong demand for more descriptive ways to tell a story or research a trip, the company points out.

Southwest Airlines: Southwest launched several months ago a contest for a consumer-generated advertising campaign, Greg Saks of Compete, told me in an interview. The best commercial for the carrier’s Wanna Get Away sweepstakes will be aired during the NBA Finals.

Now it’s time to sit back and see if different uses of consumer videos are indeed a moneymaker for travel. Drop me a line if you know of other sites experimenting with user-generated videos -- and are seeing resulting success.

--Lindsey Rushmore, Editor-In-Chief, Travel Distribution Report--

Posted by TDR at 01:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (550)

Partnering with a non-travel Web site, particularly a news source, is one way travel companies are aiming to reach thousands of potential customers -- and not just in the U.S.

Asia-Pacific travel search engine Bezurk.com announced today that it is partnering with MediaCorp Press’s “flagship newspaper,” TODAY. Bezurk has launched a new hotel search tool on the Singapore-based newspaper’s Web site, www.todayonline.com.

The tool searches, in real-time, pricing and availability of more than 100,000 hotels worldwide, according to Bezurk. Bezurk searches suppliers, hotel aggregators and online travel agents and links travelers directly to its partner Web sites to book.

The potential: “Todayonline.com is one of Singapore's most popular websites and is visited daily by many Singaporeans for their news fix,” points out Bezurk CEO, Martin Symes. “This distribution will greatly increase the exposure in Singapore of our travel partners, extending their reach to the hundreds of thousands of todayonline.com visitors.”

But Bezurk isn’t the first to spearhead this non-travel partnership trend. Travel search engine SideStep has partnered with Amazon.com to power its travel retail store’s search results. Likewise, travel search engine Kayak has partnerships with AOL (PinpointTravel.com) and cable service Comcast’s travel site. For more on these partnerships, see TDR, Vol. 14, No. 19, page 145.

These non-travel company partnerships aren’t limited to the meta searchers. Expedia has a partnership with NYTimes.com and announced last January that it would be powering Sam’s Club’s travel as well.

A necessary trend? The question is, are travel search engines lucrative enough on their own, or will they have to form new partnerships an important way to reach new customers?

Posted by TDR at 02:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)