In this month's issue:
1. Welcome to All New Members
A very warm welcome to all of you that have joined us recently from Visit Wales as basic members and whose first bulletin this is. Earlier bulletins and tutorials can be downloaded from the archive so you won’t have missed anything.
2. Free Trial Offer
Heads up all basic members who have yet to upgrade. We’re offering a free trial from now until the end of June so you can see just how well Staying in Wales performs. All you have to do is click here to register your property name and we shall do the rest. You will get support throughout from the Staying in Wales team and a progress report at the end of the period. A great opportunity to learn more about Internet marketing and its power to produce results, with no obligation to subscribe.
3. More Pictures
Subscription members are no longer confined to just two pictures at their microsites. Another six can now be displayed and these only need be available at Visit Wales for the new feature to work. No additional uploading is needed and the new page will contain yet another link to members’ own websites (see next item).
4. New ‘Visit Our Website’ Link
The link from subscription members' microsites to their own website has been changed to read Visit Our Website. The link is repeated in the new page for more pictures to help increase the numbers of clickthroughs. Members can easily track these by using the Microsite Stats link in their MyAccount Admin pages.
For subscription members that do not have their own website, the link will go to their own Wales.info website, one of the many benefits available to basic members when they upgrade.
5. April Performance
The total number of visits to members’ microsites in April was consistent with the previous month despite a slowdown in overall visits following record months in January and March.
12,182 overall visits were made in April by a total of 9,787 unique visitors. They viewed 37,277 pages between them, registering .85m hits – on par with February.
Records were still broken however. The strongest performing site in April was http://countryside.wales.info, with visit rates up 12% on March’s record.
6. Internet Marketing Campaigns
Eight campaigns down this year and eleven to go including the new one detailed below! Three of the first eight, however, run continuously throughout the year so it’s not too late to join in. All members simply log in to your MyAccount Admin page, select the 'My Campaigns' link and mark off the campaigns you’d like to take part in. If you’re unsure of your membership status simply click on the 'My Status' link to find out.
7. PayPal Marketing Campaign
 The new PayPal accommodation search button at Staying in Wales will list all accommodation in Wales accepting payment by PayPal as part of a new campaign that kicks off this month. Remember, there are over 100 million PayPal account holders worldwide that can be reached through well-targeted Internet marketing.
Please click here to tell us that are able to accept payment by PayPal. You will be added to the list accordingly and the PayPal logo will be displayed in both your microsite and Wales.info website. To open a PayPal account first, please click here.
8. Enquiry Tracking
Members often tell us it’s difficult to track where enquiries and bookings come from. Short of having their own websites with built-in analytics, search-engine marketing and a booking engine – an expensive proposition with few small businesses having the means – tracking is not a simple business and far from accurate.
Research has shown that visitors make their enquiries after accumulating knowledge from a number of different sources but may only recall the last one when asked ‘where did you hear about us?’
Meanwhile, Staying in Wales works because subscription members share high technology costs via their microsites and, as a result, benefit from affordable rates, good levels of traffic, ability to track performance and the regular introduction of new features.
We do as much as we can to help this process by encouraging members to use the simple tools provided in their MyAccount Admin pages. Members can check the number of visitors to their microsites over any period of time and also the number of clickthroughs to their own website if they have one. Monthly performance reports are then emailed to members summarising traffic to their microsites for the previous month and the calendar year to date.
An online enquiry form is embedded in each microsite so the source of the enquiry can be clearly seen from the email address it’s sent from. It’s then up to members to keep their microsite content up to date with any special offers or features to encourage such enquiries.
It’s the telephone enquiries, however, that are the most difficult to track with any accuracy. Dedicated phone numbers from any given source have been tried but they are not only expensive but simply don’t work as well as they might.
So what does the future hold? We’re working on it – please watch this space.
9. Archive
The archive contains back issues of all Members Bulletins and
Online Tutorials to date.
10. Next Bulletin
The next Members Bulletin will be published in June. Any views should be emailed to us by the end of May at info@stayinginwales.com.
Click here to unsubscribe
Staying in Wales-Aros yng Nghymru
Unit 4, Penamser Business Park, Porthmadog LL49 9GB Wales UK
|
|
|
