SallySpecht

media type="custom" key="19108828" __ Web 1.0 __

__ SEO __


 * On Page: **
 * On the webpage, the first thing I see the Echo Trail logo. The logo is in a good location because the optical center when viewing a page is slightly above center and just to the left, which is where the logo is currently. The echo trail logo is unique but they should change what it says under the logo (ecological, culture, heritage, outdoor) to different words such walking, biking, hiking, adventures. Because personally when I think of guiding hiking tours I don't think of the current words they use for the logo.
 * Below the logo it says "Welcome to ECHO trails!". They should change this to something else because it is very generic and doesn't pull me in to read more about these guided trails.
 * Lack of testimonials
 * Lack of use of social media
 * Pictures should be higher quality and more professional
 * ** Metatags ** : According to Tagxedo.com the most common word on the website is "Echo". Echo trails should use more words that relate to the purpose of the product which would be "guided tours", "outdoor activities", "swiss tours" or "hiking." This would make the echo trails website more searchable when people are looking for these things to do in Switzerland

The echo trails website also has too many key words. The website would be easier to search if it used certain words a lot more such as "hiking", "biking", "lucerne tours", "guided", and "English speaking"
 * A lot of the key words are unrelated to swiss guided tours so echo trails needs to use words that are more relevant.
 * The description that echo trails provided is promoting but could even shorten it up so the readers can get information fast and effectively. They already bolded "refreshing outdoor activities" but they should bold more key information that readers should know right away about echo trials.
 * ** Competitor analysis: ** an established hiking website is [|Colorado Hiking Trails] . The website is very interactive and has very vivid pictures of the hiking trails. The website has many different links to click on the homepage which makes it look more organized and not too much information on the page that views see first. The website has a Facebook 'like' button that is really beneficial for social media promoting. The website has a lot of testimonials, information, options, and personal reviews from past hikers. The website appears as the first link on Google when I typed in "Colorado guided tours". This website also has good metatags, the words used the most are "Colorado", "trail", and "hikers", "mountain." These words relate to hiking and would be key words that I would search if I wanted to have a guided hiking tour in Colorado. This website is very user friendly and echo trails should use some of Colorado's Mountain Expeditions ideas to improve their website.
 * Overall, the SEO of echo trails website is fairly poor. There are some minor changes that are simple to improve and by improving this, the website could be much more easily searched. The goal for echo trails to improve the website should be when someone puts Swiss guided tours or Swiss hiking into a search engine, that the echo trails pops up as the first link. Right now, even when I search echo trails, the website doesn't even pop up which is a big downfall for promoting the website.


 * Off Page: **
 * ** Ideal portals: ****My Switzerland** could add under "adventure and winter sports" or "hiking" a picture from echo trails and a little description of the guided tours and then a link that takes the user directly to the website. This way travelers/tourists of Switzerland will know about fun activities to do other then regular sight seeing.
 * Echo trails cannot be found on twitter or Facebook which is a big downfall for their website. Social networking is a huge promoting strategy these days and all companies should use these free marketing strategies.
 * Echo trails should provide its link on tourist websites such as [|visual tourist], Wiki Travel , [|Expedia] , [|Lonely Planet] etc.
 * Links to hikers facebook photo albums
 * On Instagram and twitter using #EchoTrails tags so when being searched on those website tweets and pictures from hikers will pop up.
 * submit contact information to directories/yellowpages
 * Another website that could have a link that takes you to echo-trails.com is Lucerne Visual Tourist under sports and outdoors. I know I used this website a lot for things to do in Grenoble which helped me find interesting things to do that I wouldn't normally think to do.
 * Make Facebook and Twitter pages for Echo trail

__ Web 2.0 __


 * PPC **
 * Pay per click is an advertising tool that is used to direct traffic to website, where websites pays money when the ad is clicked.
 * I choose for an Echo trials PPC on yahoo and Google since those are the most popular search engine today
 * Echo trails would need to change their key words that are more relevant to hiking guided tours so when those key words are searched, an ad for Echo trials appears.
 * Potential Key words: hiking, guided, trails, Switzerland.
 * When people search on Google using one of your keywords, your ad may appear next to the search results. Now you're advertising to an audience that's already interested in hiking guided tours.Viewers will then be able to click on the link to learn more about echo trails
 * Show address of starting point and trails on Google Maps
 * They need to accurately use better key words so Echo-Trails.com appears as one of the first few links on the page. Most people only stay on the first page of the website anyway.


 * Social Media **


 * Create a twitter that promotes special deals, events, and picture
 * Make sure to put #EchoTrails on each tweet so when someone searches on twitter, echo trails tweets will automatically show
 * Create a Facebook page that people can like where they will update Facebook viewers with once again, special deals, events and pictures
 * Once a Facebook user 'likes' the page, they will have access to upload pictures to the page from their hiking experienc
 * Create a Pinterest page that has
 * professional photography from the trails
 * inspirational quotes about hiking and adventurous activities
 * add pictures of hiking gear and echo trails clothing
 * provide a list of recommended items to bring while hiking
 * Once again, promote the #EchoTrails to be put on each picture tag
 * Each picture can be uploaded and show the map location of where that picture was taken on the trail
 * Create an Instagram that uploads pictures from the trails
 * Create Picasa album that uploads to Flickr
 * Create a Foursquare account so people can add their location while on the hiking trail


 * Mobile **
 * Create a hiking app for smart phones
 * Scavenger hunt challenge
 * tracks speed, calories burned, elevation, distance
 * weather conditions with radar map
 * GPS with areas that have restrooms
 * picture device that is powered by Google so when you take a picture of something important facts will come up about the object
 * speed, pace per mile, average per mile, record per mile, distance, current altitude, burned calories as well as trip time.
 * Compass
 * Upload the pictures to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the Echo Trails logo on bottom



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