Advertising was a so much simpler before the Internet. Right?  ...Well maybe.  Because of the Internet, market intelligence is much more accurate and real-time but, on the other hand, audiences are more fragmented. That means you have to be found in more places to attract the same number of prospective guests.  If you are a new innkeeper, an aspiring innkeeper or just want to rethink your approach, here are some basic tips.  

Question: Matt S. from PA asks "Are too many keywords on a page a bad thing?"

Answer:  Although many different keywords can be a good thing, there can be too many repeat keywords on a page. 

Email list management programs such as Constant Contact and our Innkeeper's Email Advantage list manager perform several important functions that email programs like Outlook cannot perform.

There are five basic but essential Internet Marketing steps we recommend for B&B's:

1. Get your own Website with professional photography
2. Join your local B&B association and get listed on their Website
3. Register with the major B&B directories
4. Use printed material such as rack cards and magazines to advertise your B&B. Make sure to include your web address.
5. Consider search engine optimization (SEO) after reading the following section

B&B’s may or may not benefit from Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Here are some things to consider:

Did you know that failing to renew your domain name at the expiration date can result in someone else gaining control of it? Something as simple as failing to pay a $10 annual renewal can put your internet marketing efforts into turmoil. All of your links, ranking reviews and past guests’ bookmarks will be lost to the new domain owner, not to mention any printed material such as tour guides and kiosk flyers that may be floating around for years.

You can create a Google Notification account which will trigger an automatic email when new links to your B&B or reviews about your B&B are posted anywhere on the Internet. First you must establish a Google account. After establishing an account, sign up for Google Alerts and identify both your B&B's name and Web address as search terms to be monitored.

Guest Reviews

Trip Advisor is one of the most powerful travel sites on the internet, but there are many other places where people may be talking online about you. Know immediately what others are saying about your B&B and react positively when a bad review is posted. Many people will avoid a direct conflict but are more than willing to issue their complaints from the comfort of their own keyboard. One bad review out of many good reviews may not ruin you, but if you hear the same complaint from two or more people, you can immediately address the issue on your Website and take care of any real problems that have not been reported to you directly.

Bed and Breakfast directory listings are still an important part of B&B Internet marketing.  If you are already listing with the major B&B directories and with your local B&B association, then you are on the right track.  If your occupancy rates are still below expectations or you think you are spending too much on directories, then it might be time to figure out which directory listings to drop and perhaps replace with another bed and breakfast listing.

Understanding where your bed and breakfast Website traffic comes from will empower you to make good Internet marketing decisions. Every B&B owner should have a Google Analytics account and know how to use it. Google Analytics is a free tool that allows both you and your Webmaster or SEO specialist to monitor sources of traffic to your site.  You can see which B&B directories and search engines have sent visitors to your site and how many people directly typed in your Web address into the browser.  Direct traffic usually comes from word of mouth referrals or printed materials. Analytics also allows you to compare traffic from different time periods and even to calculate the exact sources of online bookings and phone or email inquiries via "Contact" page access.

There are several steps to obtaining a Google Analytics account. You can ask your Webmaster to help you or do the following:

At the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) Conference in NYC which I attended this past October, Google announced its intention to implement something called “personalization” via their new Chrome browser.  Personalization is the process of profiling searchers by their demographics and interests based on past searches. The purpose is to return search results that are likely to be of more interest to each individual.  For example, if a potential guest types into Google “New York City B&B” and they have also searched for “yoga” in the past, the searc