Whitneyway

media type="custom" key="19112738" **Killer Idea: Customization through Augmentation. In summary my idea is to combine the concepts of customization and augmentation. The**
 * customization aspect consisting of the customer building their own trails and the augmentation aspect being the customer being able to view thier**
 * chosen customized trail in real time via augmented reality through a mobile application which receives the customer's information and trail prefences**
 * from the information they entered in the website or customers can directly enter their information and trail preferences onto the mobile app.**

=Ways to Improve Web-Marketing of ECHO Trails =

On-sight SEO
The current title meta-tag "Welcome to ECHO trails" is not an appropriate title tag as it does not give a concise meaning of what Echo Trails is and how it functions. The title meta-tag should read something like "Outdoor Tours Switzerland", "Hiking hotel Switzerland" or "Hiking tours Switzerland" like its competitor Alpine Hikers as so to accurately but generally describe what ECHO Trails is and what its functionality consist of. The description meta-tag is important because the description meta text is what the searcher or prospect customer actually sees in the search engine under the site name and; this text also describes more in-depth what the product/service is and how it's relevant to the searcher. ECHO Trails needs to change this as the current description meta text reads more like keywords and does not accurately or persuasively describe the service ECHO Trails offers. The description meta text should read something like "Guided hiking, biking and walking tours in Switzerland. ECHO Trails walking, hiking and biking tours take you out of the city into breathtaking scenery and fresh Alpine air. So on an so forth...." The keyword meta text should also be changed. Currently ECHO Trails' keyword meta text has over thirty words which is too many and many of the words such as ‘view, panoramic and Swiss army knife’ have little to do with the offered and would never be used in a search engine to find a hiking tour service. The keyword meta text should read more like "hiking tours in Switzerland, biking tours in Switzerland, hiking hotel in Switzerland, biking tours in Switzerland, hiking tours in Luzern, etc." ECHO Trails should make use of tools such a Google analytics to find out which words searchers are using the most to find hiking and hotel services in Switzerland. Relevant and attention grabbing content is the most important factor in converting a searcher into a buyer. The content on ECHO Trails could be more creative with some more hints of PR. For example describing actual hiking and biking trails with vivid and captivating language as so to entice to reader and tempt them to look more in the site and become a customer. Also more pictures of the trails which convey the nostalgia and beauty of the Switzerland trails would help the site. A commercial video that depicts the target market enjoying the trails would also help the site; having customer interaction regrading a commercial is good too. Having actual clients video record their experiences and moment during a trail excursion which ECHO Trails can turn into a commercial advertisement, made up of actual client experiences, is a good way to make the customer feel inclusive and build credible, supportive ratings. Another interactive feature ECHO Trails could employ in addition to providing preset trails ECHO Trails can offer a service which allows a customer to choose not only what paths of a trail they can travel but which stops and the general area they would like to have a hike, bike or walk in.
 * ** Reorganize meta-tags **
 * ** Content **

Discover the nostalgic beauty of the uninterrupted Switzerland mountains. ECHO Trails provides hiking, biking and walking tours lead by certified field operators. You can choose where you where you want to go and what stops to make. ECHO Trails, discover Switzerland, rediscover you.

Examine which markets are in need for service and cater to them. For example a large number of Asian tourists travel to Switzerland for leisure, therefore providing a page describing the services in Chinese, Cantonese, etc. for those countries could help to capture that market when they search for leisure/vacation activities in Switzerland.
 * ** Target localities **

Have links in open directories as well as topic specific directories. Be available in all search engines not just Google
 * Off-sight SEO **
 * ** Linking **

Have links in credible blogging sites. For example ECHO Trails should collaborate with @Tom Mangan as he is credible hiking blogger with a healthy following and field expertise. If ECHO Trails is able to have a link from his blog or any success, credible hiking blogger it would help increase trafficking.

Have a page in Wikipedia. Here ECHO Trails would be able to provide a factual, non biased information source of its features with numbers and stats to support its credibility. Also this is a good place for important but dry statistics and figures to go that would otherwise be too boring for the actual website.

Pay Per Click Advertisement
ECHO Trails should utilize pay per click advertisements. PPC ads are ads on a specific channel such as Google, Yahoo, etc. where a price is determined by the amount of clicks the link gets. Google Ads would be an ideal place to have PPC ads because Google is the largest SEO and therefore has as very large market. A Google Ad has 4 lines. The first line consists of a headline and link to site, which is a maximum of 25 characters. The second and third lines are the websites description text, which has to be a maximum of 35 characters. The fourth line is the web address and should be a maximum of 35 characters. You then set a price on Google as to how much you will pay per click of the link.

Social Media
Many of ECHO Trails competitors have many outlets of social media. ECHO Trails only has one, Facebook, which needs improvement in itself. The Facebook page should not consist of friends but fans as the number of friends a person/company has can be limited where the number of fans cannot. Also The name of the page should be changed to ECHO Trails and the author likes and comments on many of the pictures when fans should be the one rating the pictures and events. ECHO Trails should have a Twitter page so followers can keep up with current events, promo deals and instantaneous happenings of the company. The company should also invest in the new Foursquare which allows businesses to know where people are and how to get them to their company. Also this social network has over 20 million users worldwide proving to be a opportunity market.

Digital Natives, Tribes and W3
ECHO Trails should appeal to digital natives, or people who are naturally accustomed to the use of technology by utilizing QR codes, sensory web and augmented reality applications. ECHO Trails can use QR codes as promo devices, finding a QR code can lead to a discounted service; interactivity on the website can account for sensory web and the mobile app and augmented realty is described in the presentation. The company’s use of client videos for a collaborative advertisement commercial is a crowd sourcing suggestion. The ECHO trails should also have a LinkedIn account for networking purposes. For example if the company needs a new designer or would like to get in contact with the right person from another company, LinkedIn could be a great help. ECHO Trails should attempt the concept of tribes. Tribes are groups of people who share the same interests. ECHO Trails can tap into tribes that are passionate about hiking, outdoors, nature, Switzerland, etc and draw from these markets.