LaurenDavis

media type="custom" key="19112086" __SEO__ __PPC__ __Social Media__
 * Web 1.0:**
 * General observations: Echo Trails does not come up when searching for hiking, biking, or walking in Switzerland, Lucerne, or the Alps in Google. When searching for a few minutes, it is nearly impossible to stumble across Echo Trails without the exact URL address (even if you search for the organization’s exact name).
 * Competitors:
 * wanderland.myswitzerland.com is a strong competitor of theirs whose website includes hotel accommodations, a tip of the week, interactive maps, a mobile application, suggestions on sites to see along the trail path, and many different trails for various groups. Although they do not have keywords, they still show up first in SEO due to their description and quality content.
 * trekamerica.com comes up immediately when searching for “hiking companies usa,” even though they only have 4 keywords.
 * Current metatags: Lucerne, Luzern, Switzerland, Swiss, Schweiz, outdoors, adventure, hiking, trail, walking, trails, Echo-trails, Swiss Trails, E-bike, bike tours, hiking tours, walking tours, guided tours, guided walking tours, guided bike tours, guided hiking tours, culture, heritage, Pilatus, Rigi, William Tell, Wilhelm Tell, Swiss army knife, Engelberg, Altdorf, english speaking, english, travel, leisure, trek, trekking, mountain, alpine, alps, swiss alps, nature, tourism, view, fun, countryside, panoramic
 * Too many metatags for Google to recognize. The keywords are also not referred to enough throughout the homepage/website for SEO.
 * Suggested metatags: Lucerne, Luzern, Switzerland, Alps, hiking, trails, biking, guided tours, walking
 * Limit it to a maximum of 13 keywords, and only include those that are referred to throughout the text of the site.
 * Include only vital words that will be referred to throughout the text of the website. Otherwise, it is wasteful to have a keyword not listed in the text and will not show anyway.
 * On page:
 * The testimonials page only has two testimonials – maybe outsource this to a social media platform to encourage more clients to talk about ECHO Trails.
 * Include more photos – try not to repeat and stay up to date (clients like to see if they made it online too!). Maybe make a promotional video too (past hikers/events, or at least just the videos they have on tumblr with the sights).
 * Include more features/interactions (reservations, interactive map, etc.)
 * Off page linking suggestions:
 * Travel sites/agencies, hiking sites, Alps sites (e.g. TripAdvisor, Trails.com, EF Education, National Geographic, Lets Go, STA, VirtualTourist, etc.)
 * Hotels, restaurants, and other places that have a relationship with ECHO Trails. They have a link to [|//Www.ambassador.ch//] on their tumblr, but the hotel never mentions ECHO Trails on theirs (even though they have a section of tourist things to do in Lucerne).
 * Web 2.0:**
 * By using PPC, Echo Trails could show on the first page of Google regardless of SEO when people are searching for hiking in the Alps. I would only suggest this on Google for the time being because Google is the most popular search engine in Switzerland and America, Canada, and other English speaking countries (i.e. their target market). Best of all, since there are no other PPC advertisements for searches on Google such as “hiking in the alps” and “alps hiking companies” there will be little competition in this area. This can also be targeted based on country to better reach their target market.
 * Keep it simple with the name of the company, ECHO Trails, and a one line description, such as “Daily guided hiking, walking, and biking tours in Lucerne, Switzerland.”
 * Only has Facebook and Tumblr
 * Facebook is only visible through the site itself, and it is a person, not a page that someone could be a fan of.
 * The tumblr page is great – kept up to date, includes various pictures and videos. They need to include tags so that it will show up when people search for certain things, such as #alpshiking. They also need to link this directly to their website in order to drive more traffic (otherwise it may never be found). The tumblr page also has links to lodging relations they have, but this is not indicated anywhere on the website.
 * (Once there is more of a following), Twitter could be beneficial. Here the organization can post weather/schedule updates, etc. Also, since Twitter is more popular in English speaking countries, this helps reach their target market.
 * Other:**
 * Include //all// offerings: local restaurants/hotels they partner with, other activities they offer or partner with
 * Be more interactive: include interactive map, embed social media to encourage feedback, allow online reservations
 * Web 3.0: augmented reality would be really cool to play with here. ECHO Trail could create a virtual hiking app/game. However, this is very costly and the name is not nearly big enough, nor do they have the right social channels currently in place to get the word out.


 * Potential Ideas:**
 * Guided hiking mobile app
 * Route updates, view people along the routes (close to a guided tour?), things to do/see along the way, check in, etc.
 * Smart phones not as big in Europe; hike to enjoy nature/get away from technology
 * More interactive website – reservations through the site, interactive map, links to accommodations and other activities in the area
 * SEO/PPC – need to be found first to have any creative marketing


 * Some Sources: **
 * tagxedo.com
 * SEOCentro.com
 * Echo-trails.com (+Facebook, +Tumblr)
 * trekamerica.com
 * wanderland.myswitzerland.com