How do I grow my website business

[clara]

Hi everybody.

I was wondering whether I could tap into your knowledge please.

I launched a leisure and tourism website www.youstayuk.com in February 2006. Basically it is a website which advertises UK holiday accommodation and things to do/places to go. We have over 1500 reccommended places to go and over 700 accommodations.

After months of search optimisation we have seen fanastic results with a google pr of 5 and Alexa rank of 25,000 (75,000 hits per day and 60,000 members). We are on the first page of google for search terms inc. "things to do in"....."accommodation in...."

I have recently launched a leisure directory where all types of leisure businesses (pubs, restaurants etc) can have a web page for £75 per year - advertiser uploads an advert in minutes.

I currently run this website with my husband but I have a toddler to look after and another on the way. I want to expand my website and take advantage of our great search engine presence but I'm not sure how.

I am hoping to get a team of promoters on board using students, mothers and anybody who would like to earn good money by getting advertisers on board - working from home people can promote in their home town. I am going to approach my members first to see if there are any takers but I want to open it up after that. Any ideas for PR and recruitment??

Also, I find getting new accommodation advertisers on board a task sometimes. Although we rival the top and longstanding accommodation advertisers, people dont tend to change. I have tried a mass email campaign offering a no obligation free trial but I would like to know if anybody can recommend any other methods? Exhibitions? Adverts in speciliast magazines? All feedback from my existing advertisers is fantastic and the price is extremrly competitive.

I hope you don't mind my long email too off putting. I will also help with other threads in return.

Thank You

[Matt H]

Congratulations on your success so far.

Now i think you should start getting some brands involved.

On the homepage you could have a list of hotel chains, Hilton, Marriot, travel lodge etc. and from this you would be able to locate the closest branded hotel of your choice to the place where you are visiting.

I would also think that there is more scope for this under the "things to do" section of the website. Odeon cinema, McDonalds, Burger King, megabowl, butlins, centre parcs, could be listed, for example, in clear view on the homepage.

Propose to these companies that your website is popular, present the traffic evidence, and then set your price for a small link on your homepage that will direct the user to their nearest outlet/hotel.

Moreover, maybe you could introduce a special deal that allows these branded places to have the option of unlimited webpages for their venues that are listed....So as opposed to £75 for one, they can have an unlimited amount for £???.

And before people say that people tend to be more adventurous when they go on holiday or away, then i disagree, people like the same thing, you'd be suprised how many families go on holiday and have a "maccys" or a KFC at some point.

I would think that this has potential, however, do not over commercialise the site as this may scare away the smaller places.

I would also not bother getting ambassadors to promote through the UK. Local radio advertising is very cost effective in relation to the potential audience you can reach, as is advertising in magazines....Just depends how much money you are willing to spend i guess.

If you are looking to increase the amount of new accomodation, you should focus on the industry magazines, for example their is one for the brewery trade, hotels, restaurants etc. This would be a good opportunity to communicate your services well to people who are likely to be interested. Spend time on making a simple advert stating.

1. Your position on google.

2. Your hits per day.

3. And a basic view of your service and price and a guarantee stringed into a long free trial period. You'll tempt more people with a lengthy free trial period.

Real simple.

I also believe that reducing the £75 fee, might work well in conjunction with a good advertising campaign. Price is likely to be the deciding factor.

[Birmingham]

count me in as your latest affiliate in birmingham (that's if you're genuinely awaiting responses to this thread, rather than just posting ur link in as many forums as poss.)

email me (daniel@webmasterservice.info)

[squalid]

i am not too sure that for £75 a shot it would be worth spending alot of time and money trying to get the major corporations involved like McDonalds, Burger King etc. Most of these places do their advertising via advertising agencies and they tend to be very hard to break into and actually get someone to listen to you. Maybe if/when you become a brand name - then the advertising agencies would come to you.

Might be a good idea to try some direct sales aimed at holiday accommodation owners.

[Matt H]

True, alot of these companies do have agencies working on their behalf, so it might be worth building up brand presence then approacing them.

Also, i didn't say charge £75 a shot, i was thinking a little more. Plus extra, money cold be generated through these comapnies setting up websites on the site.

In my opinion, it's worth a go.

[clara]

Thank you very much for your advice to my question. Definately some food for thought. Matt thanks for your idea about giving the branded businesses presence on the home page - I will think carefully about this though as not to scare off the small advertisers. I have started to think about a price structure for multi-site hotels and I had this in mind before sp I should soon be ready to approach the right people.

Incidentally, my background is in HR and Employment Law so sales is quite new to me. Can anybody please offer me any tips on approaching the right person. Shall I do it by phone, email? I do find it quite a daunting task :-(

I have put some feelers out for sales promoters to work around the UK. I am only offering commission with no salary at the moment but the promoter can earn good money. I have attracted some experienced sales people (through our membeship base) who have extra time. I think this will help increase our brand because every place the person visits, we leave business cards for customers to take away which say "Thank you for your visit - please reccommend us on Youstayuk.com" - this prompts the customer to write a postive review (reviews have to be positive and are checked before being submitted live). I tried this approach and managed to get about 10 pubs advertsing on board in my local town in one afternoon, so I do see it as viable across the UK.

In my experience, I am wary of radio advertising but I will consider anything so I will certainly look into it.

Thanks for all your encouragement and advice it has been very helpful - I look forward to helping you with your queries.

[Matt H]

I have attracted some experienced sales people (through our membeship base) who have extra time. I think this will help increase our brand because every place the person visits, we leave business cards for customers to take away which say "Thank you for your visit - please reccommend us on Youstayuk.com" - this prompts the customer to write a postive review (reviews have to be positive and are checked before being submitted live). I tried this approach and managed to get about 10 pubs advertsing on board in my local town in one afternoon, so I do see it as viable across the UK.

Very clever. The reason why i tried to disuade you from brand ambassadors stemmed from the fact that i thought you were trying to target joe public, to increase the popularity of the site....see why i mentioned radio advertsing now?

If you are trying to get "places" on board, then yes, these ambassadors/sales people, would be worth while.