Owning a Tourism Business is awesome

30 Jun 2012

Do's and don'ts in social media for niche travel companies

Another brilliant  article from Sam @ muchbetteradventures.com :
Social media sites are ten-a-penny these days and it can be tricky to keep on top of them all. With this in mind, it's becoming increasingly important for niche travel companies to understand and use these outlets properly in order to engage and entertain their various audiences, whilst also subtly exposing their products to new customers. 
This quick fire guide to the relevant social media sites is a reaction to observing some good examples of online networking but also a plea to kick some bad habits. 
In no particular order, here are the important social media networks that niche travel companies should be targeting and how.


Full article here Do's and don'ts in social media for niche travel companies

16 Jun 2012

5 Top SEO Tips for Small Travel Operators

Another brilliant little  article from Sam @ muchbetteradventures.com :
So, why would you want to optimise your site in search engines?
Simple really, what do most people do these days when they are looking for something (like a holiday?). Jump on a search engine – Google more often than not. If you want to appear on top of searches and grab those people already looking for you, then it’s something you’ll have to think about. Around 98% of clicks from Google go to those links on the first page, so this is where you’ll want to be if most of your sales are driven by organic traffic.
SEO is a slow burner, without immediate effects, but it’s got to be done, if we want to appear higher in search results. MBA has seen its traffic double over the last year – largely thanks to SEO – so it is worth it! 
As per our article a couple of months ago on Do's and Don'ts for Social Media, we want to pass on some of what we know to anyone interested, and so we’ve put together a set of top tips and resources for small travel operators to help you improve your SEO.

5 Top Tips for SEO


Full article here: 5 Top SEO Tips for Small Travel Operators:

13 Jun 2012

Top Twitter Abbreviations You Need to Know

Twitter abbreviations and acronyms are an odd mash-up of text slang, old school chat room phrases, common sense short forms and corporate buzzwords.  There is nothing more terrible than parsing a customer tweet and finding out what you once thought was a compliment was really a product slam or worse, a drug reference.  (Small personal anecdote – for the longest time, I thought HAGN was some form of Scandinavian slang for good-bye.)

While not quite a comprehensive dictionary of all things Twitter.com, what follows below is a quick-print glossary of common Twitter abbreviations.  Notice one we missed?  We would love to include it and credit you for the spot.  Just leave a note for us in the comments.
image courtesy of Twittonary.com
Technical Twitter abbreviations:
•    CC = Carbon-copy. Works the same way as email
•    CX = Correction
•    CT = Cuttweet.  Another way of saying partial retweet
•    DM = Direct message. A direct-message is a message only you and the person who sent it can read
•    HT = Hat tip. This is a way of attributing a link to another Twitter user
•    MT = Modified tweet. This means the tweet you're looking at is a paraphrase of a tweet originally written by someone else
•    PRT = Partial retweet. The tweet you're looking at is the truncated version of someone else's tweet.
•    PRT = Please retweet, a plea to put at the end of a tweet
•    RT = Retweet. The tweet you're looking at was forwarded to you by another user

Industry Twitter abbreviations:

•    EM = Email Marketing
•    EZine = Electronic Magazine
•    FB = Facebook
•    LI = LinkedIn
•    SEO = Search Engine Optimization
•    SM = Social Media
•    SMM = Social Media Marketing
•    SMO = Social Media Optimization
•    SN = Social Network
•    SROI = Social Return on Investment
•    UGC = User Generated Content
•    YT = YouTube

Conversational abbreviations:
•    # = start to a hashtag, or a way of organizing subjects on Twitter
•    •    AB/ABT = About
•    AFAIK = As far as I know
•    AYFKMWTS = Are you f---ing kidding me with this s---?
•    B4 = Before
•    BFN = Bye for now
•    BGD = Background
•    BH = Blockhead
•    BR = Best regards
•    BTW = By the way
•    CD9 = Code 9, parents are around
•    CHK = Check
•    CUL8R = See you later
•    DAM = Don’t annoy me
•    DD = Dear daughter
•    DF = Dear fiancé
•    DP = used to mean “profile pic”
•    DS = Dear son
•    DYK = Did you know, Do you know
•    EM/EML = Email
•    EMA = Email address
•    F2F /FTF = Face to face
•    FB = Facebook, F--- buddy
•    FF = Follow Friday
•    FFS = For F---‘s Sake
•    FML = F--- my life.
•    FOTD = Find of the day
•    FTW = For the win, F--- the world
•    FUBAR = F---ed up beyond all repair (slang from the US Military)
•    FWIW = For what it's worth.
•    GMAFB = Give me a f---ing break
•    GTFOOH = Get the f--- out of here
•    GTS = Guess the song
•    HAGN = Have a good night
•    HAND = Have a nice day
•    HOTD = Headline of the day
•    HT = Heard through
•    HTH = Hope that helps
•    IC = I see
•    ICYMI = "In case you missed it," a quick way to apologize for retweeting your own material
•    IDK = I don't know
•    IIRC = If I remember correctly
•    IMHO = In my humble opinion.
•    IRL = In real life
•    IWSN = I want sex now
•    JK = Just kidding, joke
•    JSYK = Just so you know
•    JV = Joint venture
•    KK = Kewl kewl, or ok, got it
•    KYSO = Knock your socks off
•    LHH = Laugh hella hard (stronger version of LOL)
•    LMAO = Laughing my ass off
•    LMK = Let me know
•    LO = Little One (child)
•    LOL = Laugh out loud
•    MM = Music Monday
•    MIRL = Meet in real life
•    MRJN = Marijuana
•    NBD = No big deal
•    NCT = Nobody cares, though
•    NFW = No f---ing way
•    NJoy = Enjoy
•    NSFW = Not safe for work
•    NTS = Note to self
•    OH = Overheard
•    OMFG = Oh my f---ing God
•    OOMF = One of my friends/followers
•    ORLY = Oh, really?
•    PLMK = Please let me know
•    PNP = Party and Play (drugs and sex)
•    QOTD = quote of the day
•    RE = In reply to, in regards to
•    RLRT = Real-life re-tweet, a close cousin to OH
•    RTFM = Read the f---ing manual
•    RTQ = Read the question
•    SFW = Safe for work
•    SMDH = Shaking my damn head, SMH, only more so
•    SMH = Shaking my head
•    SNAFU = Situation normal, all f---ed up (slang from the US Military)
•    SO = Significant Other
•    SOB = Son of a B----
•    SRS = Serious
•    STFU = Shut the f--- up!
•    STFW = Search the f---ing web!
•    TFTF = Thanks for the follow
•    TFTT = Thanks for this tweet
•    TJ = Tweetjack, or joining a conversation belatedly to contribute to a tangent
•    TL = Timeline
•    TLDR/TL;DR  = Too long, didn’t read
•    TMB = Tweet me back
•    TT = Trending topic
•    TY = Thank you
•    TYIA = Thank you in advance
•    TYT = Take your time
•    TYVW = Thank you very much
•    W or W/ = With
•    W/E or WE = Whatever or weekend
•    WTV = Whatever
•    YGTR = You got that right
•    YKWIM = You know what I mean
•    YKYAT = You know you're addicted to
•    YMMV = Your mileage may vary
•    YOLO = You only live once
•    YOYO = You're on your own
•    YW = You're welcome
•    ZOMG = OMG to the max

Common hashtags and chats:
•   #BrandChat = private chat about branding
•    #CMAD = Community Manager Appreciation Day
•    #CMGR = Community Manger topic chat
•    #FB = The user is sending this post to Facebook
•    #FF = Short way of saying Follow Friday, or a recommendation that others follow the user
•    #in = the user is sending this post to LinkedIn
•    #LI = This user is sending this post to LinkedIn
•   #LinkedInChat = For general use questions and questions about marketing/self-promotion on LinkedIn
•   #Mmchat = Marketing and social media chat
•   #Pinchat = a chat for maximizing Pinterest use
•   #SMManners = Social media manners chat
•   #SMMeasure = For discussion of analytics and mesaurement, lead by MarketWire and Syomos
•   #SMOchat = Social Media Optimization chat lead by Stanzr
•   #SocialChat = Social media chat lead by SocialParle.
•   #SocialMedia = an all-inclusive chat for subjects big and small in the subject of Social Media

Many thanks to Business InsiderWebopedia, and the Twittonary for their excellent information that helped pave the way for this Twitter abbreviation compilation and to Mashable for the compilation of social media Twitter chats.  Looking for an explanation of Twitter terms, phrases, neologisms and slang that go beyond abbreviations?  Be sure to click through to see the awesome resources they have made available.

Top Twitter Abbreviations You Need to Know | Social Media Today

7 Jun 2012

8 rules to survive Penguin update of Google

1. Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
2. Do not use redirects cloacking or to cover up their true place.
3. Do not send automated queries to Google.
4. Do not overload the page with keywords unrelated.
5. Do not create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.
6. Do not create pages with malicious proceedings as phishing or installing viruses, trojans or other malware.
7. Shun the pages “doorway” created only to be seen by search engines, or other types of websites such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.
8. If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that will give users a reason to visit your website first.

8 rules to survive Penguin update of Google

Tips To Recover And Survive Google Penguin Updates

What really is Penguin’s objective?

One major reason for the Penguin update is to prevent over-optimization of links in terms of anchor text. Their algorithm aims at valuating links from relevant sites rather than non-relevant sites. The objective is to discourage overuse of anchor text and emphasize on niche/content relevancy of linking sites. Reliance on anchor text is no longer a deciding factor when it comes to SERP.

Getting your dates right

However, before we get all ‘hyper’ about linking the first thing is to check the dates since you noticed a change in traffic. A drop or an improvement in traffic after April 24th is an indicator that you have been hit by Penguin in a negative or positive way. Changes before this could be a result of Google’s Panda 3.5 update.

5 Jun 2012

Submit a Blogger(Blogspot)sitemap to Google webmaster tool

Step by step guide for blogger, WordPress and selfhosted WordPress blog to submit their blog’s sitemap to Google. So whenever you post new article (post), Google will get informed about your blog/site updates.In my last tutorial, you learned how to submit your blog/website to google through Google Webmaster Tool, next we step, we have to do is “Submit your sitemap to this tool. For this process first you need to learn what is sitemap, how to create sitemap for your blog. Process for creating sitemap is different for Blogspot (blogger), Free WordPress, Free weebly and Self-hosted WordPress. Here, is a guide for all platforms to create sitemap and submission to google. After adding my blog’s sitemap to google, I’ve seen 20% of traffic increases from google search engine, though my blog contains only 20 post..
Full instruction here: Submit a Blogger(Blogspot)sitemap to Google webmaster tool

2 Jun 2012

How to write a press release

Great article from Sam @ muchbetteradventures.com :


The press release is the primary way of letting journalists know your news – whether it’s a new product, something innovative or a bit of news which is of relevance.
There’s a standard way of writing them, which if followed, will increase your chance of it being read by the right journalist at the right time.
At Much Better Adventures we use the press release service from TravMedia. They are an online press release service which many travel journalists use to find press releases and also request information. We often reply to information requests, suggesting our members’ itineraries, however we also post press releases on behalf of our members.
To help you make the most of a press release opportunity, here are a few top tips to make sure yours is as good as it can be!


Full article here: How to write a press release