Newsletter : August 2004

brought to you by New Zealand Tourism Online www.tourism.net.nz

In this August Newsletter:

• NZTO Comment
• Has Your Site Been Hijacked?
• Using Search Engines to Power Up Your P.R.
• MSN Searches For a New Look

NZTO Comment

by Garry Bond, General Manager, New Zealand Tourism Online

Do you know exactly where your business is being marketed on the Internet? Do you have a marketing file or at least bookmark sites that you have on-line listings, links or advertising with? If not, then I'd suggest you start searching the Web to see exactly who's Web sites you are on. The following article "Has Your Site Been Hijacked" should be a strong enough reason to start looking, however it's good business practice to keep track of on-line marketing together with your off-line advertising. After all, Internet marketing is becoming stronger and for many businesses the income generated from their on-line exposure is significant.

The problem with not knowing where you are being marketed on the Web is that you can easily loose control. By this I mean that you may in fact be represented in a way you are not happy with or worse, details about your business are no longer correct i.e. pricing information, services that you provide, contact details etc.

And the moral of the story... make sure you know where and how you are represented on the Internet. Don't just say "yes" to a free link or listing thinking it's a good thing. Make a judgment call on a case by case basis. As the old adage goes "there's no such thing as a free lunch". And make sure you keep track of all of your listings. Trying to get your site removed or details altered can be very difficult later on.

Well that's it for this month. I'd better get myself organised for next weeks New Zealand Tourism Awards in Taupo. I might see you there. Wonder what I'll wear...

Has Your Site Been Hijacked?

Has your site been hijacked? The people at www.nzti.co.nz and www.nzti.com (New Zealand Travel Information Network Ltd) are making near exact copies of tourism operator Web sites and from numerous accounts this is purely to obtain commissions from bookings.

At first glance it seems to be a basic Web directory that lists various operators in areas such as accommodation, rental cars etc. The only difference is that when you click on the listing, it doesn't open up your Web site, instead it opens a copy of your Web site. You can spot the difference because all of your contact details have been removed and replaced with contact phone numbers and email addresses that all go to New Zealand Travel Information Network (nzti).

This hijacking raises several serious issues:

1. Visitors may well believe they are dealing directly with you, the tourism operator.
2. Copyright on your site's images and text may have been breached.
3. You may not have authorised them to take bookings on your behalf (wholesale/trade agreement).
4. Any changes on your Web site may not be updated i.e. you put your price up but the "copy" site has the old prices.
5. Having a complete copy of your Web site may adversely affect your rankings in search engines. If someone makes a duplicate copy of your site then that can dramatically affect your Google rankings because Google will usually only list one version or copy of the same page.
6. We contacted several operators that are represented on the nzti Web site and none of them were aware of the situation. In fact Heritage and Character Inns now know that 30 of their members are on the nzti site and they want them all removed. I believe that possible legal proceeding may be taken if nzti continues to display their Web sites.

If you find you are listed in their directories (and don't want to be) then we suggest you...

• Ask them to remove you and failing that,
• Make a complaint to the Commerce Commission under the Fair Trading Act

Using Search Engines to Power Up Your P.R.

by Nick Butler, Avatar Web Promotions

Plugging your PR efforts into search engines gives your press releases a bigger audience, faster and for longer.

News search engines give your PR message near instant exposure, while archiving the press release on your own site keeps the message working for you, and adds keyword rich content to your site.

Here's how you do it...

Unlock Your Keywords

What would your customers type into a search engine if they were looking for the product or service that your press release is promoting?

Plug In Your Keywords

Add the keywords to your press release in the:

• Headline
• Intro paragraph
• Body copy
• Subheadings (for example "The benefits of keyword phrases" or "How a keyword phrase works")

Think Links

Here's what to do:

1. What do you want visitors to do once they have read the version of the press release that you have posted on your site? Maybe you want them to make an enquiry. In that case, include a prominent link to the enquiry page beside the press release.
2. Feature your site's full URL, including the "http://" (e.g. http://www.mydomain.co.nz). It makes it easier for the punters to get to your web pages from the external sites that publish the release.

Launch Your News Missile

The easiest way to get your press release into the big news search engines is to find a stepping stone site, an online press release publisher that the news search engines use as a source. Go to sites like Google News and Yahoo News and type your keywords into the news search box. The results will show the sites that provide the stories. Dig down until you find one that meets your needs. Ideally you're looking for a free service that specialises in your specific field.

For New Zealand organisations Scoop is a good place to start, internationally PRWeb offer a free distribution service.

MSN Searches For a New Look

The recent changes at Bing Search are good news for site owners with a well-optimised Web presence.

The results pages have been cleaned up, replacing the confusing Featured Sites advert listings that often monopolised the top of the page with limited numbers of clearly marked Sponsored Sites.

This has two effects. Natural/organic/algorithmic results are more prominent on the page and searchers are able to tell which results are ads and which aren't. Research suggests that more searchers trust algorithmic listings but, at the old MSN Search, couldn't tell them from the ads.

Another major change is the end of paid inclusion, killed off because of the suspicion, hotly denied but hard to quell, that paying for inclusion also bought better rankings. Yahoo! took a lot of stick when they rejigged their paid inclusion scheme and MSN decided they could do without the negative publicity.

"The biggest reason we removed it is the user perception that there's something bad," said Yusuf Mehdi, MSN corporate VP.

The MSN Search home page has also had a spring clean. The new look is more than a little Googlesque, pared back and uncluttered. There's a drop down menu offering searches on the Web, news, the Encarta dictionary and encyclopedia, stock quotes, movies and shopping. There are also links to MSN services like Hotmail and Messenger.

We welcome any feedback or contributions for our next newsletter - just email our team web@tourism.net.nz

Regards,

The Team
Ph. 0800 14 65 47
https://www.tourism.net.nz
New Zealand Tourism Online Limited
Head Office: 208 Cashel Street, Christchurch