Newsletter : August 2003

NZTO Comment

by Garry Bond, General Manager, New Zealand Tourism Guide

Besides jumping in a boat, the only way to get to and from New Zealand is to fly. International air travel is paramount to this country's continued growth in tourism. We need seating capacity, regular flight schedules and our major tourism feeder countries covered.

Air New Zealand has indicated that tourism would get a big boost if the alliance with Qantas went ahead. According to executives and independent experts this could mean an extra 60,000 tourists heading to our shores. But at what cost? Having a lack of competition in the airline business would effectively mean prices are not likely to be as competitive and any increased seating capacity could be offset by a drop in tourist numbers because the price of the ticket is too high.

At the end of the day we want more tourists but besides what airlines say I'm sure they ultimately look at in a different way. They will be looking at it in a purely economical fashion and that's understandable. It's just like your own business. You don't provide your services out of charity and if you can't make a buck then you shouldn't be in the business or at the very least you'd be looking at ways of cutting costs or pooling your resources.

The way you look at the merger really does depend on which hat you wear - the business hat or the tourism hat. I don't know what the outcome will be but it will be interesting to see what happens when a few more the cards are played out.

August Member Shield Winner

Congratulations to Rosie Creighton from Mahara Boutique B&B in Dunedin. Rosie placed a Gold Member Shield on their Web site, entered our free draw and has won an extra 6 months membership on www.tourism.net.nz

You too can be a winner. Each month we draw a new name from the hat so if you haven't entered yet it's not too late. You just need to be a current paid member with us, place the applicable member shield on your Web site and register. The sooner you inform us that you have placed the shield on your site, the sooner we can place you in the monthly draw.

Next draw: Monday Sept 15th July 2003.

For more details just visit our exclusive member only business centre www.tourism.net.nz/business-centre

Here's what the two shields look like.

They are exclusive for our members and they not only look great on your Web site but help aid your search engine status by connecting with a major NZ tourism portal. To check your member status with us, visit our site and pull up your listing. If you have a gold star by your name the you can use the gold member shield. If you have a silver or bronze star by your name then use the official member shield.

Bringing Your Web Site to Life

by Mark Rocket and Nick Butler, Avatar Web Promotions

If your site were a person, who would it be? Here are a few tips on how to bring your Web site to life.

The trick is to create a personality for your site. You want a site that stands out from the crowd and one that makes your target audience feel right at home.

Here are some things that reflect the personality of a site:

• The Language. Avoid Frankenstein writing. Too many sites cobble together their content out of dead phrases and marketing cliches from the graveyard of English. Use your own words and your Web site will stand out. Talk to your customers in the kind of language they would use and they'll relate to your site. And if you do have to use jargon, make sure it is jargon that your target audience uses and understands.



• Images. If a picture is worth a thousand words what does your imagery say about your site? Inappropriate pics can really put off the punters. The cartoon that rulez on a kidz site could ruin a corporate page. Think of visual cues that reflect your message.



• Fonts. Are your site's types right for your type of site?



• Colour scheme. Colour combos can have a powerful emotional effect. A woodburner Web site might use reds, oranges and yellows, while an air conditioning site would tend towards blues, whites and grays.



• Style to substance ratio. As a rule content is king but in some industries (design, technology) you can afford to show off a bit.



• Interactivity. How chatty is your site? The nice thing about the Web is that you can interact with your customers. Ask them questions. "Would you like to subscribe to our newsletter?" "Has this page helped you?" And if a visitor answers make sure you have a thank you page.

Cash for Content - Getting Google Ads on Your Site

by Mark Rocket and Nick Butler, Avatar Web Promotions

Got a Web site with lots of useful content and good traffic? Google might have the deal for you. AdSense uses Google's knack for knowing what a Web page is about to generate ads that are relevant to that page. You put AdSense ads on your site and you get a cut of the cash.

The ads look a bit like the AdWords boxes you see under the heading Sponsored Links on the right hand side of a Google search results page.

Every time a visitor to your site clicks on an AdSense ad you get a percentage of the per-click price that Google charges the advertiser.

Here's how you join up.

1. Apply.
2. If the AdSense team accept your site they will give you a login account. Sites with lots of content are most likely to be accepted.
3. You or your Webmaster then copy and paste some HTML code onto your Web pages.
4. Once you've earned $100 Google will mail you a cheque. Mind you, if you get fewer than 5,000 page views per month then you probably won't be getting a cheque in a hurry.

The advantages of AdSense include:

• Unobtrusive text based ads. No more flashers.
• Relevant ads. Helps visitors by providing ad links they might find useful, and helps you because visitors are more likely to click on relevant ads.
• Google's name adds credibility.
• It's easy. Let Google sell ads while you publish cool content.

Overture have unveiled a similar programme called Content Match but this is currently only running ads on a few of the Web publishing heavyweights.