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Reviewed By: Varnada Karriem-Norwood, MD,
SOURCES: Michael Perelman, PhD, Sex and Marital Therapist, Co-director, Human Sexuality Program Clinical Assoc. Professor of Psychiatry Reproductive Medicine and Urology, N.Y. Presbyterian Hospital/Weil Cornell Medical Center
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What is it like to come to a sex therapist's office for a consultation?
The main difference in coming to a sex therapist as opposed to any other therapist or ?? your primary care doctor,
or even your ob/gyn, is we are going to ask you much more detailed questions about your sexuality.
And while that's while perhaps interesting to everybody on one level, and embarrassing, the fact of the matter is we're like sex detectives.
The reasons we want to ask these questions is actually because it's the way you solve the problem, just like any other problem in life.
Again, I'm going to make the point that dealing with sex, is really not, is not any different than dealing with any other area. That's what I've learned in the last 35 years.
The more I can just try and solve a problem, just the same way I would any other problem, then the easier this becomes to solve.
Tips on talking to your doctor about ED.
Exercise for Better Sex
Drink Your Way To Weight Loss
Weight Loss Secret Weapon
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Male Orgasms: How They Change
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Cheap LSP to Cairo flights
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Coverage and insight from College Station.
Posts by Author
Johnny Manziel on 'Johnny Football'? 'It's funny and it fits'
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, the Heisman Trophy frontrunner, had not visited with the media all season, as per coach Kevin Sumlin's longstanding rule for newcomers. Sumlin and Manziel made up for much of that with a nearly hour long teleconference this afternoon. The feedback was immediately positive, as the former Kerrville […] [Read More]
Manziel's overwhelming showing overcomes classification
COLLEGE STATION – Crazy to think that if then-coach Mike Sherman would have trotted Johnny Manziel out for, say, one kick return a year ago – a crazy notion in its own right – this whole Heisman-freshman issue wouldn't be an issue at all for Manziel and Texas A&M. Because no freshman has won the […] [Read More]
Aggies, Manziel blast Missouri 59-29
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M exacted revenge on Missouri, which had won the last two seasons at Kyle Field, and Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel bolstered his Heisman Trophy candidacy during the Aggies' 59-29 whipping of the Tigers before 87,222 fans. Manziel finished 32 of 44 for 372 yards, with three passing touchdowns along with an […] [Read More]
Cap One Bowl scout: A&M would be 'excellent draw'
COLLEGE STATION – There's still plenty of football to play before a bowl pegs Texas A&M, but in a less-than-shocking sentiment, a representative from the Capital One Bowl on hand tonight in the Kyle Field press box said the Orlando-based bowl would love to have the Aggies. "It would be an excellent draw, it's just […] [Read More]
Video: Sumlin sums up one wild year since last Thanksgiving
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin visits with the media leading up to the No. 9 Aggies' final regular season game against Missouri starting 6 p.m. Saturday at Kyle Field. I asked him about the past year — at this time last year wrapping up an unbeaten regular season at Houston, and now […] [Read More]
Manziel and Heisman? Sumlin says compare numbers
COLLEGE STATION – I asked Kevin Sumlin at today's weekly press conference what it would mean to his program for Texas A&M to win its first Heisman Trophy since John David Crow brought home the prestigious hardware in 1957. Sumlin responded with his strongest endorsement yet of quarterback Johnny Manziel, new frontrunner for the award […] [Read More]
Aggies LB Richardson undergoes surgery
A&M issued this release on freshman linebacker Michael Richardson on Monday afternoon: COLLEGE STATION—Michael Richardson, a 6-2, 230-pound Texas A&M true freshman backup linebacker from DeSoto High School, sustained a cervical spine injury in the second half of the Aggies' 47-28 victory over Sam Houston State on Saturday (Nov. 17) and underwent surgery on Sunday […] [Read More]
Freshman Manziel sitting pretty late in Heisman race
COLLEGE STATION – Oh, man, the media bashers are going to have a field day with this one. After a wild weekend in college football, the likely leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy (and it pains me to pen this) hasn't spoken to the media all season. Let's hope coaches across the country don't read […] [Read More]
Manziel's manliness ends at kicking
By Brent Zwerneman COLLEGE STATION – When Heisman Trophy voters scan the statistics in weighing Texas A&M freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel as a candidate, they'll come across one truly setting him apart from his competition. PATs: 0-1. In plain English: zero for one on extra-point attempts. Following a stretch of three grueling Southeastern Conference road […] [Read More]
Aggies lead SHSU 7-0 early in 2nd
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M led Alabama 20-0 after one quarter a week ago, but only leads Sam Houston State 7-0 following the first quarter today at Kyle Field (and, no, that doesn't mean the Bearkats are 13 points better than the Crimson Tide). The 8-2 Aggies marched the ball 72 yards on 12 plays […] [Read More]
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Ritus is an online cooperative rpg. You and 4 of your friends take the roles of a knight, mystic, berserker, archer, and elementalist. Fight your way through enemies large and small, help villagers on quests, and unveil the story of Ritus.
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Miami Heat v Oklahoma City Thunder
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Ray Allen of the Miami Heat drives to the basket against the Oklahoma... News PhotoBasketball - NBA Pro,Basketball - Sport,Drive - Ball Sports,Miami Heat,NBA,Oklahoma City,Oklahoma City Arena,Oklahoma City Thunder,Ray Allen,Sport,USA,VerticalPhotographer Layne Murdoch Jr.Collection: National Basketball Association 2013 NBAEOKLAHOMA CITY, OK - FEBRUARY 14: Ray Allen #34 of the Miami Heat drives to the basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder during an NBA game on February 14, 2013 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images)


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Peruvians Experimented With Brain Surgery 1,000 Years Ago
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Brain surgery is a procedure so complicated that we use the term as shorthand for something almost unfathomably complex.
However, surgically opening a person's skull isn't a recent phenomenon, as a new study in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology has revealed that people living in ancient Peru spent time learning how to conduct such a delicate operation.
In the new study, University of California, Santa Barbara researcher Danielle Kurin described how native people living in Peru 1,000 years ago surgically removed a section of the cranium, a process called trepanation, for a variety of reasons.
"When you get a knock on the head that causes your brain to swell dangerously, or you have some kind of neurological, spiritual or psychosomatic illness, drilling a hole in the head becomes a reasonable thing to do," said Kurin, a visiting assistant professor at UCSB and specialist in forensic anthropology.
In her study, Kurin notes trepanations first appeared between 200 and 600 A.D. The medical procedure continued until Spanish conquistadors put an end to the practice in the early 16th century.
"For about 400 years, from 600 to 1000 AD, the area where I work — the Andahuaylas — was living as a prosperous province within an enigmatic empire known as the Wari," she said. "For reasons still unknown, the empire suddenly collapsed."
"But it is precisely during times of collapse that we see people's resilience and moxie coming to the fore," Kurin added. "In the same way that new types of bullet wounds from the Civil War resulted in the development of better glass eyes, the same way IED's are propelling research in prosthetics in the military today, so, too, did these people in Peru employ trepanation to cope with new challenges like violence, disease and depravation 1,000 years ago."
According to Kurin, these ancient surgeons spent time trying different techniques and experimenting with different ways of opening up the skull. When a patent didn't survive the procedure, their bodies were often used for medical research.
"The idea with this surgery is to go all the way through the bone, but not touch the brain," Kurin said. "That takes incredible skill and practice."
"As bioarchaeologists, we can tell that they're experimenting on recently dead bodies because we can measure the location and depths of the holes they're drilling," she added. "In one example, each hole is drilled a little deeper than the last. So you can imagine a guy in his prehistoric Peruvian medical school practicing with his hand drill to know how many times he needs to turn it to nimbly and accurately penetrate the thickness of a skull."
While having a hole drilled in your head may seem like torture, Kurin said evidence pointed to these procedures being medical in nature.
"We can see where the trepanations are. We can see that they're shaving the hair. We see the black smudge of an herbal remedy they put over the wound," she noted. "To me, those are signs that the intention was to save the life of the sick or injured individual."
Kurin's work in the Andahuaylas allowed her to find and examine the surgically altered skulls in the context of where and how they were buried. She used radiocarbon dating, multi-isotopic testing and insect casings to learn additional details about the remains.
"These ancient people can't speak to us directly, but they do give us information that allows us to reconstruct some aspect of their lives and their deaths and even what happened after they died," Kurin said. "Importantly, we shouldn't look at a state of collapse as the beginning of a 'dark age,' but rather view it as an era that breeds resilience and foments stunning innovation within the population."


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Fresh-from-the-Garden Tomato Soup
Published January 30, 2013 | Written by The Healthline Editorial Team
If your tomatoes are really ripe, as end of the season tomatoes usually are, you can reduce the amount sugar or eliminate it altogether.
|Nutrition Facts
|Serving size:
|Approximately 2 cups
|Calories per serving:
|Total Fat 1.2g
|Sodium 128mg
- 4 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
Step by Step:
- In a large Dutch oven or stockpot sprayed with vegetable cooking spray, cook onion over medium-high heat until tender, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and cook 3 to 4 minutes, or just until tomatoes start to break down. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat and using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth.
- Return soup to a simmer over medium-low heat and stir in basil. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Adjust seasoning with sugar and soy sauce.


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Mon January 6, 2014
Sex Trafficking At The Sturgis Rally
By Charles Michael Ray
We begin now a series of reports looking at sex trafficking in South Dakota. It's an issue you might not think occurs in a rural state like this. But experts note that human trafficking could be happening right under your nose.
On today's Dakota Digest – SDPB's Charles Michael Ray takes us to the Sturgis Rally –where a number of arrests made for sex trafficking this year.
We need to issue a warning-- the descriptions in this story are graphic.
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jujuyehaw wrote:
OKAY GUYS, hi
I made this account specifically so I could make new friends before the new Animal Crossing & Pokemon games come out. So please add me. I wanna impatiently wait with you all and eventually play them with you all!
0817-4051-4419 & my name is JuJu.
I love AC!!! I will add you


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- Sawyer Fredericks is the winner of season 8 of The Voice! Which winner from the past five seasons is your favorite?
- Tate Donovan (Tom Shayes, Damages) will guest star on two episodes of Showtime's Masters of Sex. Which current cast member is your favorite?
- Which 2015 summer blockbuster are you putting on your must-watch list?
- Stevie Wonder and Imagine Dragons will headline the third annual Life Is Beautiful festival in Las Vegas this September. Which performer do you want to see?


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Last May, Dr Bitange Ndemo curated ourfirst Entrepreneurship Forum at the iHub which was quite an eye opener for many of those who attended. This series of sessions on entrepreneurship facilitated by Dr Ndemo came about as a result ofone of hisweekly articles in the Daily Nation. We're finally done editing the videos from the first session and now have them up on our YouTube channel.
We are now very excited to announce that the next Entrepreneurship Forum with Dr Ndemo will take place at the iHub on Saturday the 28th of June at 10am inconjunctionwith ChaseBank.
On our post on the first forum last month we indicated that they would be a series of 'lectures'. They are really more than just a presentation by a single person. They are thought stimulating, status quo challenging and potentially revolutionary. The forum is open to all, not just people in tech (despite being held at the iHub). Please ensure that you sign up hereandkeep time!


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- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
All (5) from $1.99
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An ideal accompaniment to any civil procedure casebook, including the authors' own Civil Procedure: Doctrine, Practice, and Context, Third Edition , this statutory supplement presents each of the current Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Useful cross-references to proposed amendments, Advisory Committee Notes, Restatement sections, and Transnational Rules have been integrated into the Federal Rules to help students explore the larger context of each Rule.
Complete features include:


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Mon-Fri: 7am-1am EST / Sat-Sun: 7am-11pm EST
ApplianceGeneral Electric Refrigerator
Level of DifficultyEasy
Time to do repair30 - 60 mins
Age of Appliance5 - 10 years
Screw drivers
At first, I tried it myself and could not figure out how to remove the metal teeth from the Auger. Finally, my wife, bless her heart, suggested I review the video. Imagine, a man having to review a video to perform a repair, but once I realized the plastic nut needed to be removed from the front of the old auger, the repair was pretty easy after that. I was also really surprised at how fast I received the part after I placed the order. Good on you PartSelect - I'll be using you again. David
Help other customers find the most helpful instructions.
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Part Number: PS1017147
Part Number: PS1018130
All brand logos are trademarks of their respective owners.
The PartSelect logo is a Registered Trademark of Atlantic Laundry Centres, Ltd.
Copyright © 1999-2015 , Eldis Group Partnership. All rights reserved.


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Family of three massacred in their Pampanga home, police say
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Three members of a family living in L&S Subdivision north of this Pampanga capital were massacred early evening Friday, Supt. Ricardo David, San Fernando police chief, said.
The names of the victims were not immediately available but David said investigators are looking at robbery as a motive for the killing.
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Arnold Rolfes
Arnold B. Rolfes, 88, of Le Mars, Iowa passed away on Sunday, March 15, 2015 at Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City, Iowa. Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 19, 2015 at All Saint's Parish-St. James Catholic Church in Le Mars. Father Jim Tigges will celebrate Mass. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery in Le Mars. Visitation will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at the Mauer – Johnson Funeral Home. There will be Rosary at 4:00 p.m., the family will be present from 4-8 p.m. with a Scriptural Prayer Service at 7:00 p.m. There will also be one hour of visitation at the church prior to Mass on Thursday. Expressions of sympathy may be directed through www.mauerjohnsonfh.com


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Best friends become ya enemies,
from Jay Z (Ft. Travi$ Scott) – Crown Lyrics on Genius
On his road to success, people he thought he was cool with have turned sides on him. This theme of betrayal on the road to the top is also touched upon in Why I Love You.
In "Success," Nas dropped a similar line.
Jay also references this idea in "A Week Ago" and "Black Republican," and it definitely could be attributed to De-Haven and other friends turned foe.
To help improve the quality of the lyrics, visit Jay Z (Ft. Travi$ Scott) – Crown Lyrics and leave a suggestion at the bottom of the page


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Loic Bruni 2:57.223
Rachel Atherton 3:28.653
MCFlow's Comments
Added a comment about feature Over $2000 in Prizes - Vital OTB, Lourdes World Cup - Win a RockShox BoXXer and Birzman Studio Tool Kit 4/11/2015 9:49 PM
Loic Bruni 2:57.223
This feature has 580 comments.
Added a comment to MCFlow's bike check 12/29/2014 5:41 AM
Thanks Iceman!
This setup has 4 comments.
Added a comment about feature Win SRAM GUIDE RSC Brakes - Vital OTB Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec World Cup 8/1/2014 8:39 PM
Aaron Gwin 4:14.786
Manon Carpenter 4.39.746
This feature has 283 comments.
Added a comment about photo WINNING BIKE: Jared Graves' Yeti SB66c 6/22/2014 4:49 PM
Proof again that 26 ain't dead! Way to go Grubby!
Members who like this comment
- 10866 cofattire http://p.vitalmtb.com/photos/users/10866/avatar/c50_IMG_2342.jpg?1316791237 http://www.vitalmtb.com/community/cofattire,10866/all 09/23/11 9 25 108 1 4
- 8186 judgerider68 /images/default/avatar/c50.png http://www.vitalmtb.com/community/judgerider68,8186/all 05/18/11 1 5 78 2
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Added a comment about feature Win a SRAM X01 DH Drivetrain - Vital OTB 2014 Pietermaritzburg World Cup 4/11/2014 7:54 PM
Greg Minnaar 3:58.88
Manon Carpenter 4:34.27
This feature has 511 comments.
Added a comment to moffas's profile 10/14/2013 1:42 PM
I'm 6' tall and I'm running a large frame with a 50mm stem. This setup is perfect for me and I would assume it would be for you as well. This bike won't disappoint if you ride aggressively. Check out the review I added to Vital's review of the SB66c
This user profile has 1 comment.
Added a comment about feature Win a RockShox Vivid Rear Shock - Vital OTB Val di Sole 6/15/2013 8:36 PM
Steve Smith: 3:10.56
Rachel Atherton: 3:48.17
This feature has 498 comments.
Added a comment about slideshow CALM BEFORE THE STORM, Val di Sole World Cup Action 6/15/2013 7:15 PM
Another superb slideshow by the Vital crew!
This slideshow has 6 comments.
Added a comment about feature Win a RockShox BoXXer World Cup and Vivid Rear Shock - Vital OTB Fort William 6/8/2013 7:10 PM
Stevie Smith 4:39.67
Rachel Atherton 5:15.12
This feature has 682 comments.
Added a comment about video Greg Minnaar, Five Ten Video Premiere and Exclusive Interview 4/22/2013 7:48 PM
Minnaar is the man!
This video has 7 comments.
Added a comment to MCFlow's bike check 4/21/2013 4:38 AM
Thanks Erik! Yeah, the Zee derailleur works great. It's the FR version, and it's designed to work with a 36.
This setup has 3 comments.
Added a comment about video Marcelo Gutierrez's Winning Run Valparaiso Cerro Abajo 2013 2/28/2013 5:15 AM
Man! I've watched a bunch of Valpo videos over the last few years, but none where the rider was so f'n pinned. Way to go Marcelo!!
This video has 8 comments.
Added a comment to edgewrench's bike check 2/9/2013 8:29 AM
If you want to shred some trail even when they are covered in snow, there may not be a better bike to do it on!
This setup has 2 comments.
Added a comment to MCFlow's bike check 2/6/2013 1:31 PM
Those doodads are the compression and rebound circuit adjustments...they're actually pretty functional. The brace was an aftermarket piece made by TWP.
This setup has 13 comments.
Added a comment to gus.michaels's bike check 12/30/2012 4:45 PM
Sweet rig dude!!
This setup has 1 comment.


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Hotel SEO FAQ #1: What is the best name for my hotel?
Posted in SEO on November 19, 2013 by Patrick McCarthy
How to Choose a Hotel Name
As you might have guessed from the title of this post, "What is the best name for my hotel?" is one of the most common questions that current and potential clients ask us. On top of that, a past post on this topic by my dearly departed colleague Ashley Boss (she's not dead, she just doesn't work for Blue Magnet anymore – the same thing in my book) is one of our most viewed posts. Add up these two facts, and it becomes pretty clear that hotel names are pretty important to hoteliers (hotel names, and ya know, money), and with good reason - a hotel's name greatly affects the way current and potential guests perceive the hotel and can have a huge impact on the hotel's performance. With all of this as well as the many big changes in the online marketing game over the past two years in mind, I figured the world was ready (perhaps even desperate) for an updated guide on how to best name a hotel. Giddy-up!
Rule #1 Do Pick a Name That is Relevant to Your Hotel
The first rule is the simplest and most obvious, but for that reason, often the most difficult to follow. There should be nothing easier than choosing a relevant name for your hotel. Just think about the essence of your hotel and then follow the simple formula: Brand Name/Independent Hotel Name + City + Relevant Descriptor = Hotel Name. Right? Unfortunately, in many cases, it is not so easy.
It is a simple fact that location plays a huge part in a hotel's success, both on and off-line; and in the online world, the importance of location often manifests itself in ways that can appear unfair. For instance, you could have two hotels across the street from each other but with postal addresses in two different cities, and because one of them has a bigger city in their name that hotel has the potential to rank better than the other for keywords related to the big city. In a case like this, a matter of 50 feet can seem like a million miles when viewed from a certain perspective, and it is just such a perspective that causes hoteliers to start stretching the truth in hotel name descriptors and ultimately give their hotels irrelevant names.
In the long run, giving your hotel an irrelevant name (e.g. including the word "Downtown" in the name of a hotel that is 20 miles outside of the city center) will produce two results. First, not only will your hotel never rank well for the irrelevant keyword included in the hotel name (see Rule #2 for more details), but also it is likely that your hotel will never rank as well as it should for the keywords that it is relevant for. Second, guests who didn't check your actual location before booking will feel misled when they arrive at the hotel, leading them to leave negative reviews which will hurt your rankings and online performance even more.
To put it simply, give your hotel a name that accurately describes its location and includes one descriptor that reflects the most important characteristic of your hotel. Possible descriptors include directions, neighborhoods, nearby attractions, etc., just as long as they are relevant.
Rule #1 for appropriately naming your hotel is best applied to hotels before they open, so if your hotel is already open and you find yourself thinking, "If I change my hotel name to include [insert descriptor that is somewhat close to your hotel but that 20 other hotels are much more relevant for], I could probably rank better for X keyword", then, my friend, Rule #2 is just for you!
Rule #2 Do Not Change Hotel Name Just for SEO Reasons
There are plenty of good reasons for changing a hotel's name – rebranding your hotel, adapting to changes in the surrounding area, and fixing an irrelevant name are just a few of them; however, changing a hotel's name just to try to perform better in search engine rankings is not only not a good reason, it is a downright bad reason. Allow me to explain.
A few years ago, changing your name for SEO was not a bad idea at all. Depending on your hotel and your market, changing your name to exactly include a valuable keyword phrase (e.g. "Downtown Chicago hotel") could give you the competitive edge over similar hotels in your area or help you rank for location based terms that weren't 100% relevant to your hotel. Over the years, I have seen many hotels benefit from having such phrases in their names. For instance many Embassy Suites hotels have ranked very well for Suites keywords because it is right there in the name. However for a few reasons, this is just not the case anymore.
First, exact keyword phrases are becoming less and less important as search engines (particularly Google) become more adept at understanding that searches for "Chicago hotels" and "hotels Chicago" are pretty much the same thing. In fact, over-use of exact phrases can actually harm your search engine performance.
Second, search engines have become much smarter at understanding where your hotel is located and are much less likely to believe you when you include an irrelevant location-based descriptor in your name. A disconnect between what your site tells search engines about your hotel and what search engines learn about your hotel from other sources can create issues with search engines properly understanding your hotel and site which can harm the trustworthiness of your site.
Third, Local SEO, something that barely existed a few years ago, has become of paramount importance to hotels, and one of the key elements in Local SEO is consistency of Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) in citations across the web. And as your embarrassed Auntie Milicent found out during the infamous "Cancun Debacle", once something is on the internet, it is almost impossible to remove it. So every time a hotel changes its name (or flag – something else to consider), it becomes more and more difficult to maintain consistency in local citations.
So please, do not change your hotel name just for SEO, but if for whatever reason, you are going to change your hotel name, don't do it without understanding Rule #3
Rule #3 Do Not Choose a Name that is Too Long
Before I go any further, I would like to make one thing clear – Just because I advise against choosing a certain hotel name only for its perceived SEO value does not mean that you should totally disregard SEO considerations when selecting a hotel name. If you have a pre-open hotel and you haven't precisely figured out your hotel's niche, looking into which terms internet users are searching for most can help you find the best way to brand your hotel. Or if you decide that you need to rebrand your hotel, it can be very useful to do keyword research to help choose between equally relevant descriptors or to determine the hotel name that will best fit the overall rebranding strategy. As long as you are not changing your hotel name just for SEO, there is nothing wrong with looking into keyword phrase search volumes when deciding on a name, just don't make search volume the only or final consideration in your name changing process.
Now, you are probably asking, "What does the above paragraph have to do with Rule #3?" Given dispensation to take SEO into consideration when choosing a hotel name, some hoteliers might be tempted to stuff their hotel name with all sorts of relevant descriptors that have high search volume. I completely understand the impulse. "As long as the descriptors are relevant," misguided, but good-intentioned hoteliers conjecture, "what is the harm in putting a bunch of them in my hotel name?" The harm is that it violates Rule #3 – Do Not Choose a Name that is Too Long. What is wrong with a long name, you ask? Let me count the ways.
First, as mentioned above, NAP consistency is an extremely important factor in Local SEO success, and every additional word in a hotel's name increases the difficulty of maintaining that consistency. Some local listing sites and data aggregators have character limits for business names, which means that for some of these sites you will not be able to input all of a long name, which will automatically introduce inconsistency into your citations; not to mention that the local search universe is interconnected so a truncated name on one site can spread to other sites like malaria in a jungle. In addition, the longer your hotel name is the more likely it is that the name will be inputted incorrectly somewhere along the line, again adding to inconsistency.
Second, along with getting better at knowing exactly where your hotel is located, search engines are also getting better at knowing where everything else (attractions, businesses, neighborhoods, etc.) is located. Therefore, adding all sorts of descriptors to your name does nothing to help the search engines because they already know that you are close to those things, but it does makes your hotel name appear over-optimized and unnatural. This is what we in the business call the "Double Whammy". If you want to rank well for all of the descriptors relevant to your hotel, don't stuff them all in your hotel name. Instead, choose the most important one (1) to include in the hotel name, and then create pages on your hotel site with useful content about the additional descriptors. Search engines already largely know what is relevant to your hotel; your job is to prove to them that you are an authoritative and trustworthy source of information regarding those relevant topics, and stuffing your hotel name full of valuable descriptors is decidedly not the way to prove it.
Blue Magnet Golden Rule: Common Sense
Despite the beliefs of our respected colleague T.W. Adorno, common sense does not always reflect the hegemony of the consumer culture. Sometimes common sense is downright good sense, and in our fight to provide above-board strategies for great hotels, Blue Magnet has found that good old fashioned common sense is the often the best guide for creating successful, long-term strategies. If you look at potential hotel name and there is something awkward or off about it, it is probably violating one of the 3 Rules of Naming a Hotel and is certainly violating the rule of common sense. So remember – when choosing a hotel name, follow your heart and you shall prevail (or follow this handy formula:
Perfect Hotel Name = Brand Name (or Hotel Name for Independents) + City + One Relevant Descriptor
Hotel Website FAQ #1: Should our hotel website be built on a proprietary CMS or an open source CMS?
Posted in Development on November 04, 2013 by Andrea Mann
Before building a website, you will have two options to discuss with your web developer: creating the site with or without a Content Management System (CMS). If you are not familiar with HTML coding, then I recommend you build your hotel's website with a CMS because it will provide a user-friendly interface that allows you to add or revise content and graphics much more easily than a site built without a CMS. A CMS typically integrates a formatting toolbar (similar to Microsoft Word's editing toolbar) into each page, allowing you to bold or italicize text, add hyperlinks or images, and arrange the page's layout without knowing HTML.
Custom CMS vs Open Source CMS
Once you understand the benefits of building your hotel's website on a CMS, you will need to determine whether you are going to use a custom CMS or an open source CMS. What's the difference? A custom CMS is a unique management system created and programmed in-house by a web development company, usually to simplify content updates for companies with very complex sites. An open source CMS, such as Wordpress, Joomla!, and Drupal, is a free content management system that has been developed and somewhat homogenized by web developers all over the world and is continuously supported and improved by the entire community that uses it. Many website development companies create a custom CMS, add branding to make it their proprietary CMS, and then build all of their clients' sites on it. A proprietary CMS is usually an over-simplified management system that is expected to make the daunting behind-the-scenes labyrinth of the interwebs seem extremely user-friendly, even moreso than an open source CMS. When you hear that a company can quickly deliver a website on their proprietary CMS, providing a foolproof solution for maintaining your site's content without knowing any HTML jargon, it's hard not to pull out your pen and sign on the dotted line. However, while working at Blue Magnet Interactive, I have learned the hard way that a website built on a propriety CMS will usually result in more trouble and accrue more costs in the long term than a website built on an open source CMS.
Controlling the fate of your hotel's website
It is important to understand that building your hotel's website on an open source CMS allows the hotel to maintain full ownership of its site. Using a proprietary CMS gives the web development company full ownership and control over your hotel's site.
An open source CMS is continuously improved by the community of users, who all have a vested interest in enhancing the CMS framework, fixing bugs, correcting security flaws, and adding new usability or functionality features. A proprietary CMS relies on a single company for updates and improvements, so the fate of your website ultimately lies in the hands of that company. If the company goes out of business, you will likely lose your website. If the company decides to discontinue their proprietary CMS product because it's no longer profitable, you will likely lose your website. If the company decides they no long want to work with you as a client, you will likely lose your website.
Of course, the client-vendor relationship works both ways. The website development company might build you a beautiful new website on a proprietary CMS, but what if your hotel decides to switch marketing vendors or take its marketing in-house? How will a change in vendors impact your website? Unfortunately, you will most likely be tied to the original agency that created your website on its proprietary CMS. In some instances, you may be able to simply lease the use of the CMS while your hotel team manages and markets the site. You will essentially just be paying for the vendor to host your site and use their CMS. This scenario, however, comes with its own set of challenges.
For instance, while you will have some access to make basic content updates in the proprietary CMS, your capabilities will be extremely limited. Many proprietary CMSs will allow you to modify body text and some photography, but you are limited to those minimal changes. Considering many vendors design their CMS for simplified website editing, some of the most important features of your website may be hidden from the user's view, requiring you to call the original CMS company and pay a considerable hourly fee to make technical updates on your behalf. If your hotel or marketing team decides to target a new keyword, how can you update the meta-content to tackle this new SEO strategy? Chances are you can't -- at least not without the help of your previous vendor. How can you add tracking code to integrate Google Analytics? What if you want to add event tracking on all call-to-actions (check availability buttons or banner ads) so that your hotel can determine which special offers are performing exceptionally well and which packages may need some additional strategizing? More likely than not, you will have to jump through the same hoops and pay the same fee as I mentioned above. The point is: when your hotel's website is built on a proprietary CMS, you don't have control of your own website, so when you need to make changes, well, more often than not, you can't. At least not without paying the development company with whom you thought you had severed all ties.
Controlling the fate of your hotel's hosting
When building a website, you also need to consider how your site will be hosted. While this may not always be the case, it is likely that if a web company builds a site on a proprietary CMS, the company will also own the hosting for the site. It's possible, and perhaps likely, that you don't know or care where your site is being hosted; as long as your hotel's website is up and running smoothly so that guests can book a hotel room, you are content. However, these same "what if" scenarios that I brought to your attention previously will also apply to hosting. If you leave your current web development company for a new vendor, will the new vendor be able to access the hosting platform to troubleshoot if your website goes down? If you build a new 'things to do" page to replace an old events page, will your new vendor be able to access the correct file on the hosting cpanel to set up the proper redirect so that Google doesn't penalize you for duplicate content or index an outdated paged, both of which will negatively impact your SEO?
If not, your hotel and your new web team will still have to rely on your previous vendor to ensure that the technical SEO is up to Google's strict standards and that your website is properly functioning.
Why Blue Magnet Interactive designs websites on open source CMS platforms
Just last month a former client, who had recently relocated to a new hotel as the General Manager, called me up and said, "I'm firing my current online marketing company. I want Blue Magnet to take over our hotel's website. I need to impress the big guys fast! Can you make our crappy site look really hip and cool?" While I am ecstatic to hear that a former client wants to take his Blue Magnet team to his new hotel and Blue Magnet is excited to welcome new business, I was immediately hesitant to begin making promises until I could figure out the logistics of the previous vendor's proprietary CMS.
Fortunately for us, most marketing vendors that have transitioned hotel clients to Blue Magnet have been fairly cordial in the process, but why should they feel obligated to help transfer their client to a new web developer? In the case of my returning client, both the hotel and I were limited to using the parts of the proprietary CMS that only allowed for very basic changes to the body text and photos on the pages. Unfortunately, this only gets you so far, particularly when you are responsible for improving the SEO of a site from a technical standpoint. After using my client's login information to peruse the proprietary CMS, I was dismayed to learn that there was very little I could do to improve their site without having access to the full code of the site. I could not make many aesthetic changes. I could not add new plug-ins or modules that might make the site load faster or might add a useful new feature. I could not access the meta-content to implement a fresh SEO strategy. I could not access the cpanel to fix any technical SEO issues or set up redirects.
Needless to say, the best solution I could offer my client was a brand new website built on an open source CMS and hosted on third-party hosting platform. Redesigning the site from scratch was more cost-effective and efficient than stripping out the old proprietary CMS to add an open source one (which would have created a Frankenstein of a site, patched together with duct tape). While the client was unhappy to learn that they would have to scrap their old site and start over, the benefits of having Blue Magnet design and manage a website built on an open source platform outweighed the negatives of remaining with their current marketing vendor. If the hotel's website had been built on an open source CMS from the get-go, the transition between vendors would have been much more seamless and much less expensive, as it would likely not have required a completely new site build.
Designing and building websites on an open source design platform allows Blue Magnet to maintain transparency when working with our hotel clients. We do not own your hotel's website. Your hotel owns it. You can walk away with your website, and any web geek who knows how to use an open source CMS like Joomla, Drupal, or Wordpress can make content and technical changes to your website. All web designers are familiar, and many are experts, in these popular open source platforms that are regularly improved by the development community. Blue Magnet also does not lock you into hosting or mask hosting fees that leave you wondering what you are really paying for. Rather, we host your site on a third-party hosting company so that you can log-in at your convenience and take it with you, should you choose to. The bottom line? In my experience, a beautifully designed website built on an open source CMS and hosted on a third-party vendor will provide a transferrable website solution at a lower cost and will prove to be a valuable long term investment.
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Has Facebook's Integration Of The Hashtag Been An #EpicFail?
Posted in Social Media on November 01, 2013 by Maddy Fuller
A hashtag (#) is a symbol that is being used across social media channels to organize, search, as well as expand the reach of different content. On June 12, 2013, the hashtag invaded Facebook. The pressure to stay relevant and the desire to fit in forced Facebook to succumb to the ever-popular hashtag. Since it originated on Twitter, I am inclined to compare the success of hashtags on Twitter to that of Facebook. Although a valiant effort, Facebook has not had the same success seamlessly integrating hashtags into their content as Twitter has had - at least thus far.
Why should you incorporate hashtags into your social media content? On Twitter, users incoroprate hashtags to categorize their tweets, create searchable terms, and form a sense of community around a particular topic. Below are 5 enticing reasons to appreciate the use of hashtags on Twitter:
Ideally, the benefits of using hashtags on Twitter should roll over to Facebook seamlessly, but thus far, I do not think the hashtag has had the same impact on Facebook as it does on Twitter. Although the components of what makes a hashtag so beneficial that I outlined above still play a pivotal role across social channels, Facebook has had a difficult time successfully integrating the hashtag into it's platform. Here are some reasons why I think the hashtag is destined to be doomed on Facebook:
Facebook put forth a gallant effort to stay trendy by implementing the use of the hashtag. Unfortunately, I think that Facebook's efforts thus far have fallen short on this trending topic. With the great probability of misuse, the lack of presence on mobile devices, and the rigorous privacy settings getting in the way of tracking information freely, the odds are against Facebook. Hashtags just don't translate as well to the nature of Facebook as they do to the Twitter-verse. Facebook is a network for people to connect with acquaintances and friends, while Twitter is more commonly used for sharing news or conversing online with faceless strangers. However, if Facebook is able to adapt their strategy and integrate the hashtag successfully, meaning it becomes mobile-friendly and the older generation begins to understand the benefit and use of a hashtag, then Facebook may have the potential to allow users to categorize, sort, and filter their posts much more efficiently. That said, it is my opinion that Facebook should stick to what they know works well for the over 1.1 billion users they currently have, and that is not hashtags. It seems other Facebook users may share my sentiments on the hashtag - one user even began a public backlash with the invention of this Facebook page named "This is not Twitter. Hashtag's don't work here".
*Update - Facebook has finally added some basic functionality on the mobile platform. Hashtags are now clickable on mobile devices, but users are still not able to proactively search for a particular hashtag.
4 Creepy Google Tools That Can Benefit Your Hotel
Posted in Online Marketing on October 28, 2013 by Tim Dale
I love Halloween for three reasons: candy, costumes, and television specials. So, with the approaching holiday in mind, I thought it may be timely to follow the Treehouse of Horror motif and explore the spookier aspects of online marketing. After digging deep beneath Google's multicolored surface, I chose to shed some light on 4 Google tools that may creep out the average Internet surfer but can greatly benefit your hotel's online marketing strategy.
Google Adwords Remarketing
Have you ever wondered why Google keeps insisting you're looking for single Jewish girls in your area? Or why a display ad featuring those Nike running shoes that you put in your online shopping cart and never purchased is repeatedly showing up on every website? You were most likely another target of Google Adword's remarketing. This Adwords feature helps businesses serve extremely targeted ads to people who have previously visited their sites. The ads pull images or text that is relevant to particular individuals. For example, let's say you read a review about a Hilton hotel in Chicago while on Expedia. You might then begin to see Expedia ads featuring the exact same Hilton hotel on Google's search engine results or on various websites that are part of Google's search network partners.
How To Use It:
First, you need to add remarketing tags to all the pages of your hotel's website. When people visit that site but don't complete a specified conversion in a certain time period, they will be added to a list. The lists are just collections of cookies from the people that have visited your site. Though the marketers cannot see what IP address those cookies are from, Google can, and Google uses that information to send remarketing ads. The users on these remarketing lists will begin to see ads from the previously visited site through Google Display or Google Search networks until they do make a conversion within a given amount of time or exposures. It is important to create a separate ad group just for these remarketed potential customers to show them a specially tailored message.
Why Is It Creepy?
There is a fine line separating persistence from creepiness. Just like the weird guy that keeps insisting that you need to hang out, remarketing a message too many times can cause user aversion.
Why Is It Helpful?
While it can easily be seen as a creepy marketing tool, remarketing can help businesses successfully convert shoppers by pinpointing users who have expressed some kind of interest in a specific product and customizing the message delivered to them. Remarketing can be a great way to drive conversions, build awareness to your brand, and improve your ad campaign's quality score. But just how effective is remarketing in the hospitality industry? According to Google, when Loews Hotels revamped their adword strategy to include remarketing, they saw an increase of 60% in revenue, a 57% lift in bookings, and a 9% lower cost per conversion. A common rule of thumb is to assume that people visit 8-10 hotel sites before booking. If potential guests visit your site, don't convert, but continue to see your hotel in display ads throughout the remainder of their search, they are more likely to be influenced to select your hotel in their final purchase decision.
Google Analytics
The amount of free "behind-the-scenes" data available in Google Analytics is astonishing. If you have Google Analytics installed on your website, you can monitor the most visited pages, traffic filtered down to the type of browser your visitors are using, time spent on every page, percentage of people making a designated conversion, along with many other useful variables and metrics. When you log into Google Analytics, you can even monitor in real time how many people are on your website at any given moment.
How To Use It:
Google Analytics is surprisingly easy to set up. All you need to do is visit analytics.google.com to add your website and retrieve a snippet of code that is specific to your hotel. Then, have your web developer paste the snippet of tracking code in your website's HTML right before the end of the tag. Google also provides easy instructions for setting up goals and event tracking on all your key performance indicators in your site.
Why Is It Creepy?
People tend to forget that marketers can see loads of information regarding how visitors interact with websites. So, while I am lazily scrolling through endless Buzzfeed articles, my every movement is being silently observed, and my behavioral data is then interpreted to create new marketing strategies. Very sneaky, Buzzfeed.
Why Is It Helpful?
When a hotel nearly instantaneously receives the raw visitor data from their Google Analytics account, they can analyze the visitor behavior and improve their website to better serve their visitors. Google Analytics helps companies draw conclusions on how to make a better user experience, whether that means redesigning the main navigation to create a more intuitive visitor flow or developing a mobile site that is better optimized for your vastly growing mobile traffic. For example, if you saw a high bounce rate on your holiday specials landing page, it would raise a red flag because it may mean that visitors were not finding what they were looking for. Maybe your landing page did not have robust copy. Maybe it did not have enough relevant information about the amenities included and the package price point. Or, maybe you needed to implement a stronger call-to-action that clearly explained "click this button to book the limited time offer." Every piece of data tells a story of how a user interacted with your site, so your hotel marketing team should continuously dive into the reports to better enhance your website's performance.
Dynamic Keyword Insertion
Dynamic Keyword Insertion is another Google Adwords tactic that allows marketers to dynamically generate ad copy including exact words or phrases that the searcher typed into Google. The marketer can tell Google that it should replace the word "sneakers" with "running shoes" or "tennis shoes" in your ad copy if the search query included that exact word.
How To Use It
This pay-per-click advertising tactic works for text-based ads, local ads, and mobile ads across all Google networks. You can add the keyword insertion code with any component of your text ad: headline, description lines, display URL or destination URL. Simply include a snippet of code in your ad that will insert any keyword from your keyword list if it has been searched by someone on Google.
The code looks like this:
{Keyword: Luxury} San Fran Hotel
Display URL: www.sfhotel.com/LuxuryHotel
Ad Copy Line 1
Ad Copy Line 2
The default text, "luxury," will be used if a searched keyword exceeds your adwords character limit or if no search term triggers a match.
Why Is It Creepy?
The searchers are usually unaware of what is happening, so rather than understanding that Google is serving them a dynamically inserted keyword based on their query, the innocent Google users are seeing ads that seem to address the exact need that began their initial search. Ads that name specific products or services instead of using broader, generic copy appear more trustworthy, thereby winning more clicks from unsuspecting Google users.
Why Is It Helpful?
Using dynamically inserted keywords will make the matched text in your ad bold, thus helping it stand out from the rest of the page. Because the ad looks more helpful and seems to exactly match the searcher's query, it will increase your Click through Rate (CTR) and, in turn, raise your Quality Score. Marketers beware, though. If your ad is bringing people searching for "San Francisco hotels" to a landing page about your Oakland property, and those visitors are bouncing off your site, your Quality Score could actually be adversely affected. It's best to use dynamically-inserted-keyword-tailored ads with a variety of keywords that already convert for your hotel.
The initially criticized social site has gained significance in the world of SEO recently. Google has long been secretive about exactly what components contribute to their search algorithm. Though it hasn't been confirmed, there is an eerie correlation between +1s and SERP ranking. Currently, if the user or somebody in the user's circle has +1ed a particular hotel, that particular property will appear higher in Google's search rankings.
How To Use It:
Now, more than ever, it's important for hotels to create a Google+ page, make it public, encourage guests to +1 the property, and boost your positive reviews. The Google+ page should also be merged with Google Places. This might happen automatically, or you may need to update to the newest Google Places listing. Merging these two should make it easier to control your hotel's information and content.
Why Is It Creepy?
I know what you're thinking. How could Google+, the lovable loser of social networking sites, take creepiness to the next level? Here's how. Starting November 11th, Google+ will roll out a new form of advertisements called Shared Endorsements. Shared Endorsements will use names, photos, and snippets of reviews from actual Google+ users in ads for different businesses. To be fair, there will be a way to opt out and Google will follow their privacy guidelines. In reality, the world's leading social site, Facebook, already does something similar to shared endorsements with their sponsored stories, where brands pay Facebook to prominently display their pages to users whose friends have already like the page.
Why Is It Useful?
Google+ is optimized for semantic relevance, an initiative of Google's new algorithm Hummingbird. As time goes on, we can only assume that Google+ will play a larger role in SEO. Optimizing your hotel's Google+ now will help your hotel stay ahead of the curve.
Coming Up in Google's Tales from the Crypt:
Google has a lot of things coming down the pipeline that seem to be ripped out of Larry Page's science fiction novel. Though not necessarily related to hospitality online marketing, they are entertaining ideas nonetheless. Google Now is already up and running and can step in as your personal assistant instantly. While Google Glasses are still in their infancy, Google has already patented Pay-Per-Gaze, an ad model similar to pay-per-click that will monitor how long an ad is looked at and what sort of emotional response it produces. Finally and best of all, Google's moon-shot program Calico is venturing into the medical field with the intention of increasing the human life span.
Eerie or Effective?
We are in the age of big-data. The more data available, the more effective marketers can be. With Google's amazing free resources available to the public, every business should continuously tailor their online marketing strategies to their target audience.
One very important note remains. With great power comes great responsibility. Consumers are not idiots. If I have noticed these tactics, they have too. It's important to stress transparent marketing, and use these tools to create the best user-experience possible. If you try to trick people, Google will catch you. If you provide great content and answers to real questions, Google will reward you. I'm willing to bet your consumers will reward you too.
Well, I hope you are all now sufficiently creeped out and equally impressed by Google. One thing that you learn very quickly in the world of SEO is that Google is always one step ahead. Unless someone can out "Google" Google, they are going to be a large part of our lives for years to come. The good news is, Google is dedicated to providing the next great products and services to its audience. Though sometimes it might not seem like it at first glance, Google abides by their unofficial motto: Don't be Evil.
Don't Punish Your Customers For Opting Out Of Your Email Marketing Campaign
Posted in Email Marketing on October 23, 2013 by Matt Bitzer
This morning I received a marketing email from Hertz car rental. Marketing emails are fine if I like the product and use it often. But in this case, I simply don't rent nearly enough cars to warrant registering in one of their rewards program. Somehow I had gotten on Hertz's email marketing list and I wanted out...now. But it seemed as though the marketing team at Hertz had other plans for my desired unsubscription. This is where I quickly changed from "Matt the happy Hertz customer" to "Matt the happy Enterprise or Alamo or Dollar or [other car rental company here] customer."
It all started off so well
I had just taken a two week vacation driving all across Italy, and upon my return it seems that Hertz wanted to reward me for my patronage by offering me 250 of their "bonus points" if I registered for their Gold Plus Rewards program. Typical email marketing stuff. I had had an excellent experience with Hertz over in Italy, despite the fact that the massive American super-sized car that they assigned to us completely dwarfed all the tiny Italian smart cars, Vespas and other toy-sized vehicles that are ubiquitous throughout the country. Not to mention the fact that American-sized behemoth cars are ill suited for the extremely narrow, winding roads that carve through the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast.
So the car handled well, the Hertz folks were pleasant and helpful during the initial rental, and returning the car at the Marco Polo Airport's Hertz lot was a breeze. I was a happy Hertz customer and would probably rent a car from them again, which is a pretty significant feat for any company, considering I'm brand agnostic when it comes to things like car rentals. I usually select based on price--so the cheapest vehicle with 4 wheels will do. I don't need to travel in style--I just need to cart myself from point A to point B.
The email follow up
Whether you're a car rental company, a hotel or any other business, email marketing can be a great way to reach your customers. They can inform customers about special offers, discounts, policy changes, company improvements, new features, helpful tips or other useful information relevant to the business. In Hertz's case, their email offered me some loyalty points in exchange for registering for their rewards program.
But here's where Hertz took a wrong turn with their marketing.
How did I end up on this marketing list?
First of all, I never recall providing my email address to Hertz for the purposes of marketing. Now, I know that I had to provide them with my email address as part of the rental process, but it seems I must have overlooked the fine print about how they can use my information to market to me. Bad move. I, like many folks, do not like being auto-enrolled in various marketing campaigns. If you want to add me to your distribution list, ask me. If I write my email address on a rental form, then have a checkbox next to my email address that says "Check this box if you'd like to receive special offers from our company." If I like your company enough and use your products/services frequently then I will check the box. If I'm not interested then I won't check the box. As a business, it's probably in your best interest to ask first because sending me unsolicited emails is likely a recipe for aggravation anyway.
Ugh. So, I fell into your marketing trap. Now how do I get out of it?
Ok fine. Hertz tricked me into signing up for their email campaign. Shame on me for not reading the unintelligible legalese in 5 point font. While I hate receiving unwanted emails, at least most companies give their customers an easy out: the unsubscribe link. Ah yes, the unsubscribe link! The last hope a company has in redeeming themselves. You've forced me onto your marketing list, but for the love of all things holy, please let me go without a struggle. In the best scenario, which is fortunately more common these days, unsubscribing can be achieved with one click. The customer clicks the unsubscribe link in their email and it automatically opens a browser window that simply says that you're no longer on their list. Problem solved.
Unfortunately, some email programs make it more difficult to unsubscribe than a single click of the mouse. Sometimes clicking the unsubscribe link takes you to a webpage that requires that you uncheck a subscription box, retype your email address to confirm that it is indeed you who is unsubscribing, or sometimes you may have to log into your online account with the company in order to change your settings. All of these are frustrating for the user who just wants to escape the clutches of your marketing campaign. One click is all it should take to opt-out of unwanted email subscriptions.
Hertz, on the other hand, decided it would rather make it's customers jump through a few hoops before they let them have their freedom. My first clue to the challenge that lay ahead of me was this friendly little paragraph at the bottom of their marketing email:
To stop receiving any electronic mail message from The Hertz Corporation and its subsidiaries, the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or solicitation of a commercial product or service, please paste this address into your browser: unsubscribe.hertz.com.
That statement was clearly written by a lawyer. It is very formal and cumbersome, and it doesn't get to the point quickly or make it easy for the consumer to unsubscribe. The entire 39-word sentence could have easily been replaced with, "Click here to unsubscribe," and the same goal would have been achieved.
Compare Hertz's message with the simplified version found on the MailChimp email marketing system:
This email was sent to email@example.com
I removed the links from the excerpt above, but if I were to click the 3 underlined items they would take me to various options: I can find out why I received this email; I can unsubscribe from this list; Or I can update my subscription preferences.
If I'm ready to be done with this company once and for all, I can click the "unsubscribe from this list" link and this simple message pops up to greet me:
This is perfect! One click to unsubscribe and it's over. No long, drawn out, painful goodbyes. I've made up my mind to leave and the company has opened the exit door for me. This is the way good email marketing should be done. No hassle. No frustration. No contempt for a company that tries to lock their customers into their email distribution lists. And, if I'm so inclined, I can explain my reason for unsubscribing by completing the optional survey.
Trying to escape
So, after receiving the Hertz loyalty reward email, I have decided to unsubscribe from Hertz emails altogether. I've parsed through the legalese in my Hertz promotional email and I've clicked the unsubscribe link. That's when this eyesore flashes onto my screen:
It appears that Hertz, in an effort retain their email distribution list, has provided a 5-part unsubscribe form in hopes that customers will simply give up from exhaustion. Let me break down for you the problems I have with this form:
The consequences of trapping your customers
As a consumer, I should not have had to go through all of these unnecessary hurdles just to avoid being hassled with unwanted emails. If you run a company that uses emails to market to your customers, then remember to keep the consumer's best interests in mind throughout the entire email marketing campaign. Making it as cumbersome as possible for your customers to gracefully exit your marketing messages is not a way to grow customer databases.
We never recommend that our hotel clients purchase email distributions lists for a similar reason: those people didn't sign up to receive emails from your business. They are unqualified. And while purchasing email addresses from marketing companies can certainly inflate the size of your email distribution lists, you are ultimately marketing your company to disinterested people who may not even be familiar with your product. Making it hard for those users to then exit your marketing trap only compounds the damage you're ultimately doing to your brand reputation. And in the world of online social sharing, your reputation can change in a heartbeat.
If you present your customers with the option to join your email distribution list (rather than forcing them onto your email list) and if you give them an easy way to opt out of your marketing campaigns, you will prevent that person from going from a disinterested customer to a frustrated and angry former customer--and one who is now looking to your competitor as the more accommodating option. Trapping your customers is never a good solution. It only pisses them off. As the saying goes: if it's truly love, set it free; and if it returns you'll know it was meant to be. And so it goes with your customers.
So Hertz, thanks for my travels throughout Italy, but this is the last time you'll be taking me for a ride.
Google Hummingbird for Hotels: Why You Shouldn't Panic
Posted in SEO on October 21, 2013 by Kelsey Nupnau
By now, you've probably heard the latest buzz from Google and it all involves a 'little' animal we call the Hummingbird. Personally, I think Google should have named their newest algorithm after a much larger animal, considering how big of a change this is for searchers everywhere. However, it's been rumored that Google chose the name to reflect how "precise" and "fast" their new Hummingbird algorithm is.
So, what the heck is Google Hummingbird?
It is a completely new search algorithm, not just an update (Google says that it affects 90% of all searches). Hummingbird looks at a searcher's intent such as the question they ask or the problem they are trying to solve (i.e. Where is the closest hotel to Soldier Field in Chicago?) and tries to provide them the best response in the shortest amount of time. Rather than focusing on individual keywords as Google's old algorithm did, the Hummingbird search algorithm now focuses on the entire query that a person types (or says!). This is what Google calls conversational search.
What was Google's intent by introducing Hummingbird?
Unlike the Google Panda and Google Penguin updates, Google does not intend for Hummingbird to penalize sites. While Panda and Penguin were SPAM related algorithm updates meant to filter out black hat SEO (keyword stuffing and spammy inbound links, anyone?), Hummingbird is a brand new algorithm that takes these previous updates into consideration and creates a whole new search experience around searcher intent. Basically, Google wants to get the searcher the best information to solve their query based on their intent. Take note hotels: is the searcher looking for a hotel in your city from their phone because they are there right now or are they planning a future trip to your area from their desktop? Each of these queries has a different intent and Hummingbird will therefore display different results accordingly.
What are Hummingbird's implications on SEO and how does this change my hotel's strategy?
Now, just because Hummingbird doesn't focus on a single keyword combination that you worked so hard to research and rank for does NOT mean you should stop doing SEO. Hummingbird understands meaning - not individual words - and is looking to websites to provide meaningful content to pull from when tailoring results to a searcher's query. As a hotel, you do not need to panic! Embrace Google's brand new search engine algorithm and fine-tune your SEO tactics. Below is a list of important search engine optimization initiatives, an overview of how the Hummingbird algorithm affects each of them and suggestions on how hotels can adjust their SEO strategies to improve their rankings:
Link Building
Implications for SEO: If Google sees that relevant, related websites are linking to your hotel's site, they will see you as an authority on that particular content, thus helping them collect the best information to formulate an answer (search result) for the searcher. Google will also be looking at the type of value those links provide; for instance when people click through to your site from a referring website do they stay on the site, showing Google that it sent the visitor where they intended to go, or do they jump off of your site quickly, causing your site's bounce rate to increase? High bounce rates from numerous inbound links to your website can send signals to Google that you have a poor quality site. Hummingbird does not affect link building - it has Google Panda to take care of low quality links. So, continue to include link building as a part of your SEO efforts by focusing on relevant, quality inbound links.
Hotel SEO Strategy: Hopefully, you know not to trust SEO companies that claim they can improve your hotel's search engine ranking by obtaining a ton of links to your site in a short amount of time. What you need to do is focus on which websites would be best at driving revenue to your website. If you have an excellent water park package and you're working with the local water park to promote it, it would make sense to have a direct link on the water park's website guiding visitors to that special offer residing on your hotel's website as it will most likely lead to bookings. Overall, focus your link building efforts on building quality links to your website and spend less time and money worrying about spammy inbound links; Google's Panda update already works hard on finding these low quality sites and often penalizes these sites by knocking them down. If, however, you do have a lot of low quality links pointing to you, here is how you can get rid of them.
Keyword Research
Implications for SEO: Exploring the search volume and competition for your target keywords is the first step to creating relevant, quality content and cannot be ignored. If Google's Hummingbird algorithm sees a lot of traffic around a particular group of keywords, it can associate those with a particular intent based on the searcher's query. Keyword research is the starting point of building meaningful content. You need to first make sure there is actually search volume for keywords you want to be found for before developing a page around them. Continue to research the keywords that you want to rank well for, but put less emphasis on how well you rank for that one keyword. Instead, develop informative content that incorporates a tight keyword theme to show Google that your site is a relevant resource.
Hotel SEO Strategy: As a hotel, you still need to figure out what people are searching for before you create any landing pages on your hotel's site (don't blindly choose keywords). Hummingbird challenges hotel marketers to think outside the box when it comes to your hotel's SEO strategy. Consider looking into keywords beyond the typical 'hotels in [city].' If you're writing a page that targets business travelers, ask yourself, "If I was a business traveler and needed a hotel, what type of things would I be looking for?" This might inspire you to look for a variety of keywords like 'hotels in [city] with free Wi-Fi access' or 'hotels near [insert corporate business]'. Combining these long-tail keywords specific to business travelers could really help someone intending to search for a hotel that offers free Wi-Fi and is located near McDonald's headquarters. It's important to note here that Google continues to take away our keyword data in Analytics; not only does this tell us that keywords aren't all the rage anymore but it also forces us to focus on developing higher quality content. So, keyword themes that are naturally integrated within your well-written page copy will be more beneficial for SEO.
Local Listings
Implications for SEO: If your business information is not consistent across the web, you will confuse Google's Hummingbird algorithm. The more sources that give the same location information, the more likely your hotel will be found. Google Hummingbird works to collect enough information from various listings across the web to give the searcher the best response. Searcher intent is the key element of Hummingbird, so if someone is performing a local search it will be crucial that you have updated local listings Hummingbird can pull from. Hummingbird shouldn't affect how you optimize your hotel for local search, you just need to make sure that you still include local listing updates as part of your SEO strategy.
Hotel SEO Strategy: While it's important to check all of your local listings, I cannot stress how important it is that you verify your Google+ Page. If anything, this is the most important local listing you need. Considering Google pulls information it has from its own database (i.e. verified Google+ pages) and utilizes it in local search results through the new Google Carousel (the bar at the top of search results), you need to make sure your Google+ page is verified and updated as much as possible.
It is also important to point out here that when you click on a hotel in the carousel, Google's search results change to pull in specific pages from that hotel's website. This is important for your hotel because the person searching now sees more details about your hotel and links to the various landing pages within your website, increasing the likelihood that they will click through and book a reservation on your website. Likewise, the online travel agencies (OTAs) that may have been organically ranking above a hotel before are now pushed further down the results while the hotel's landing pages, like maps & directions or dining, fly to the top of the results.
Additionally, the knowledge graph card from the hotel's verified Google+ page pops up on the right hand side of results, providing the searcher with easy-to-read information. An example of Google's search result page before clicking on a hotel in the carousel and after clicking on one of the hotels in the carousel is below:
Content Writing
Implications for SEO: Use keyword research as a starting point for the topic your new content will cover. Next, build relevant, original and high quality content by taking your keyword research and constantly asking yourself: "How does this page provide answers to someone running a search for [this topic]?" Danny Sullivan from Search Engine Land says it best, "Pages matching the meaning do better, rather than pages matching just a few words." Hummingbird affects websites who have irrelevant content; If your page is simply full of keywords you want to rank for and doesn't offer helpful information to the visitor (resulting in a high bounce rate) then Hummingbird will have a hard time considering it a quality resource. While you should have already been writing great content, you now have more of a reason to do so. Focus on building each page on your website with this in mind: How is this page a great resource for someone looking for answers on [insert page topic]?
Hotel SEO Strategy: Remember, you need to constantly ask yourself how the landing page you are writing will provide the best answers to someone conducting a search on the topic you are covering. Let's say you are writing an attractions page and you want people to know how close your hotel is to a particular sports arena. Rather than just writing "Our hotel is close to PNC Arena", provide the searcher with more information about how guests can get to the arena from your hotel, how visitors can purchase tickets to the game or concert, what types of packages your hotel may offer those attending an upcoming game, etc. Review your page's content and think about what a user's intention may be for clicking your site. For example, what hotels near the [insert sports arena] have special offers and how close are they to the [sports arena]. Does the hotel offer a complimentary shuttle service?
Assuming your hotel has followed all SEO best practices and not gone down the black-hat road, Google Hummingbird should not negatively impact your hotel. It has always been extremely important for your hotel's website to have outstanding, relevant, and helpful content that answers potential guests' most common questions - not just about your hotel but also about the area and experience they would get by staying with you. Now, it is essential.
What if I have no control over the content I can provide potential guests?
If your hotel has limited control over your brand site content and SEO, Hummingbird can still help improve your standalone website traffic as long as you are following SEO best practices. By having more control over the type of information you are sharing with potential guests online (i.e. through additional landing pages with related area information), your hotel will have a better chance of being found and booked. Learn more here by understanding how your standalone website can benefit your hotel from an SEO standpoint.
I invite all of your Google Hummingbird questions, concerns, or comments, so please connect with the Blue Magnet team on Twitter at @Blue_Magnet or with me at @KNupMktg!
Stephanie Conquers The September 2013 Blue Magneteer Award--Next Month, The World!
Posted in Blue Magnet News on October 16, 2013 by Matt Bitzer
From the look on her face, you might think that Associate Account Manager Stephanie Hilger's grin is a result of her recently having claimed the September Blue Magneteer Award! And you would be wrong. If you look closely at the photo below you will see that she is actually staring past the Prize Wheel of Destiny and is, in fact, focusing her attention on the map of the United States. Like Alexander the Great surveying his expanding empire, Stephanie is plotting her next move, eyes gleaming with the possibility of more. Having already conquered the online world, she now hungers for the real one.
That's right. Stephanie has single-handedly conquered the online world. Facebook? Twitter? Google+? She practically invented them. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg actually calls Stephanie when he has trouble changing his Facebook privacy settings. Foursquare even has a "Stephanie Hilger badge," which you earn by just being as awesome as Stephanie at online marketing--you don't even have to check in anywhere! Legend has it, Stephanie was also the one who convinced Twitter to use the number sign instead of the ampersand for trending Twitter topics. And, as far as I can tell, it was Stephanie who was chic enough to then start referring to the "number sign" as the "hashtag." Until she came around to class it up, Twitter was still referring to it as the number sign and was #totallylost...or as they would have called it: number sign totallylost.
Besides rewriting online history as though it were nothing more than a Wikipedia page, what lead Stephanie down this path to glory and the cherished Blue Magneteer Award? Well, it all started with a client's social media campaign. The goal was to generate consumer interest in a portfolio of hotels by encouraging the social community to vote on their favorite hotel in various categories. Her social media wizardry generated the following impressive stats for the 6 week promotion:
Not only did Stephanie bring new ideas to the table this year, but she was very proactive in setting up the campaign and also very organized in managing the reporting throughout. In addition, once the campaign was over she put together an incredibly thorough report that truly shows how much analysis and thought she puts into every campaign that she manages.
Congratulations to Stephanie Hilger, champion of the September 2013 Blue Magneteer Award! Thank you, Stephanie, for all your hard work and for your drive and determination to conquer any online challenge that crosses your path!
Google MapMaker Workshop – Social Media Week Chicago 2013
Posted in Local Search on October 04, 2013 by Abby Heft
Times are changing - the pound sign is now a hashtag, tweets aren't just for birds, and brands want things shared more than a kindergarten teacher. This past week, the Blue Magnet Interactive team set off to explore several educational seminars hosted by Chicago's Social Media Week to stay on the forefront of the everchanging online social landscape. Our online marketing team is eager to share how their key takeaways from these sessions can translate into successful hotel social media marketing campaigns.
What Social Media Week Chicago 2013 session did you attend?
Abby stopped by Google's Chicago office for their Google MapMaker Workshop.
At this session…
The Google MapMaker team explained the importance of Google Maps for small business owners. Not many folks know that they are able to edit information on Google Maps, whether it's updating an address, marking a business as closed or updating a street name. It's important for business owners especially to be aware of how their information is displayed on Google Maps. This is the information that leads potential clients, customers and guests straight to your doors. This session went step-by-step through the Google MapMaker interface and showed how to update business information on Google Maps.
One of the most interesting things I learned at this session is…
The more accurate you are with your MapMaker edits and the more often you make quality edits, the more trusted you become in the Google Maps community. Each edit is reviewed by the MapMaker team and if your MapMaker account has a good history of edits, your future suggestions will be taken at a higher priority and your edits are more likely to be approved.
So, why should a hotel use MapMaker?
It's not only vitally important to have the correct information for your individual hotel on Google Maps, but it's important that guests are getting a good idea of what they will find in the surrounding area. As a hotel owner, you can claim your own hotel on Google Maps and have control over your information. As a member of your community, you can make updates to surrounding businesses, parks and attractions. Did a new winery open up just a block away from your hotel? Check to see if it's on Google Maps! Did a popular bakery next door close it's doors? Make sure to report it as closed so guests don't find themselves in front of an empty building. Remember to always make sure your business information is correct on Google Maps. If your hotel looks great online, go ahead and take a peek at your neighbors and make sure your community looks great!
Read more BMI highlights from other Social Media Week Chicago 2013 sessions.
Google+ and Brands – Social Media Week Chicago 2013
Posted in Social Media on September 30, 2013 by Brittany Aller
Times are changing - the pound sign is now a hashtag, tweets aren't just for birds, and brands want things shared more than a kindergarten teacher. This past week, the Blue Magnet Interactive team set off to explore several educational seminars hosted by Chicago's Social Media Week to stay on the forefront of the everchanging online social landscape. Our online marketing team is eager to share how their key takeaways from these sessions can translate into successful hotel social media marketing campaigns.
What Social Media Week Chicago 2013 session did you attend?
Brittany, Stephanie, and Matt stopped by Google's Chicago office to learn about maximizing opportunities with Google+ and Brands.
At this session…
Stephanie: The Google team explained how brands can make the most out of Google+, from getting discovered to generating engagement and driving performance across the web.
Brittany: From small, local businesses to international organizations, Google+ allows brands to engage with their customers in various ways, including reviews, hangouts, communities, and profile content. One significant feature of this channel is that brands and individuals are able to categorize their audiences and distribute content more effectively to the appropriate "groups".
One of the most interesting things I learned at this session is…
Brittany: 1 in 4 search results for the world's twenty largest brands are links to user generated content. Pairing this statistic with the added data that about 1 in 5 searches are local, it is critical for brands to establish transparent online relationships. Listening to what users are saying online and providing the best possible experience online and offline will only enhance your overall brand presence.
Stephanie: Much like individuals on Google+, brands can also write reviews. Brands are also able to start and join communities on Google+. I also found it interesting that you can use shortcuts to emphasize words and enhance the formatting on Google+ status updates - *word* = word and _word_ = word.
So, why should a hotel use Google+?
Brittany: According to Google, Google+ social annotations in search engines are responsible for a 5-10% uplift in CTR (about 11% in the travel industry)! This statistic goes beyond just Google+ though, Facebook likes, TripAdvisor reviews, and other social annotations are all important facets in the search engine results. As online hotel reviews are feeding into various websites and search results, reputation management (beyond just Tripadvisor) needs to continue to be a major focus for hoteliers.
Stephanie: Brands can (and should) take advantage of being more social. Google+ features users with the highest number of reviews; brands should look at this opportunity as an additional way to reach their target audience. As a hotel, what better way to become an "online concierge" than by reviewing local restaurants, hot spots, and attractions in order to position yourself as an expert in your area and get in front of people who are researching your location? Come up with innovative ways to interact with your customers on social media in order to achieve success!
Read more BMI highlights from other Social Media Week Chicago 2013 sessions.
Content Marketing that Wins – Social Media Week Chicago 2013
Posted in Online Marketing on September 30, 2013 by Stephanie Hilger
Times are changing - the pound sign is now a hashtag, tweets aren't just for birds, and brands want things shared more than a kindergarten teacher. This past week, the Blue Magnet Interactive team set off to explore several educational seminars hosted by Chicago's Social Media Week to stay on the forefront of the everchanging online social landscape. Our online marketing team is eager to share how their key takeaways from these sessions can translate into successful hotel social media marketing campaigns.
What Social Media Week Chicago 2013 session did you attend?
Brittany, Stephanie, and Tim attended Content Marketing That Wins: Making Brands, Readers AND Google Happy to explore high-quality content that will strengthen your brand, give the consumers what they want, and look enticing to search engines.
At this session…
Brittany: The social media and online landscape allows organizations to communicate with individuals on a new, exciting level. But, rather than crafting valuable and engaging social media content, many brands just throw nonsense into the social realm that is completely irrelevant to their brand or audience. As a brand, creating great content comes from understanding who your audience is, assessing what the readers want from the company, managing what action your brand wants readers to take, utilizing the assets that you have, and understanding how the readers talk about the brand or product when they think the brand isn't listening.
Tim: I think Brittany covered the session overview pretty well. As an industry, we need to reevaluate the content that we post to social media, recall what makes content great, and craft valuable, engaging content for our specific audiences. Great content builds trust, drives measurable consumer action, satisfies a brand's needs, and is organized around a centralized idea
One of the most interesting things I learned at this session is…
Stephanie: Build a community that makes sense for your brand and demonstrate interest in your user's need to create a value exchange. Look at social media content from a long term perspective and not just a "tweet-based need".
Brittany: Based on the questions and feedback from individuals in the audience, determining a client-approved ROI for social media marketing and content creation is still difficult for all social media marketers. Attribution modeling is key to how we review social media analytics and performance, but it will certainly take time for this reporting to be more of a norm when working with clients in almost any industry.
Tim: The speakers brought up some really great content examples from the past and compared it to the typical social media content of today. While creativity is almost certain to drop off in social media because of the sheer volume of content, that doesn't mean that the content should stray from your brand's centralized idea. Great content is found at the intersection of what a brand can do for their consumers and what their consumers need from the brand. It spurs actions rather than bullying users into conversations.
So, how can a hotelier create winning social media content that drives engagement?
Stephanie: The ROI on social media is not straightforward; you should aim to measure the user's entire journey. Track your guest from the beginning of the hotel shopping process to the end conversion when they book a room. For example, it's likely that somebody started clicking around on your hotel's Facebook page and had their "community experience," then spent a few minutes on your hotel's website to learn more information, and several days later when they needed to finalize their trip details, the Facebook fan returned to the site directly to book a room.
Brittany: A majority of people connect with a brand online because they actually want to follow the brands' posts. Perhaps a fan enjoyed a past hotel stay, are planning a future vacation, are connected to the industry, etc. But, the point is that they sought out the brand or clicked on the content that is being advertised by the hotel. Therefore, it is critical for hotels to serve their audiences with the information they are looking to read. From hotel news to photography and travel advice, taking advantage of your hotel's resources and crafting a useful, unique story or perspective is the key to social media marketing.
Tim: Social media is an opt-in channel. Therefore, it's critical for brands to provide content that actually provides value to its users. A strong social media presence builds the brand equity for that specific hotel. The brand equity is an important part of that consumer journey and needs to be considered when discussing ROI.
Read more BMI highlights from other Social Media Week Chicago 2013 sessions.