Link Building Strategies

With Thousands of Directories Available - Which Ones Do You Choose?

There are virtually thousands of places to purchase links online. Without careful consideration, a hotel, bed and breakfast, inn, resort, or property management company could spend their entire marketing budget on these resources alone. However, you must remember that there are other more important channels to consider like pay per click, search engine optimization (SEO), blogs, and website design.  A balanced marketing budget, which includes using paid links, is the best way to ensure the most bang for your buck.  It’s always a smart practice to track your results to make certain you are allocating your marketing dollars to the correct resources.

Purchasing links online can be beneficial for a number of reasons: establishing trust, increasing traffic and revenue, and creating quality links for SEO purposes. We have all heard that we need as many incoming links as possible, but the key to success is to focus on the “quality” of the links and not the “quantity,” as not all links are created equal.  RezStream provides some handy tips to folllow for finding paid links that are worth your time, effort and money.

REZSTREAM TIPS AND DIRECTORIES TO CONSIDER

  • Bring in Traffic and Revenue - Do a search in Google for some of the top searched terms related to your product.  Do not guess!  Make a list of the top websites in Google.  Consider a link in these channels to bring in traffic and revenue.  Some of these results will fall into the categories below.
  • Local Websites - Every business should get a link with their local chamber.  You should also try to get a link on any local event websites, such as when a popular and well-attended rodeo comes to town every year.
  • State Specific Websites - There are often state specific directories like Colorado.com for Colorado businesses that should be considered for a paid listing.
  • Niche Directories - If you are a high-end, luxury property, there are directories like LuxuryLink.com.  If weddings are a big part of your business, there are directories for that specialty such as TheKnot.com.  Investigate the top searched terms in relation to your niche and location and see what directories show up in the top spots of Google.  You would be surprised at the large number of niche directories, such as pet-friendly properties, spas, luxury properties, weddings, business conferences, and much more.
  • Top SEO Directories - Below are directories that provide a great incoming link.  While businesses are not likely to see an online booking from them, these are links every business should invest in.
    • Yahoo directory
    • BOTW.org
    • JoeAnt
    • DMOZ (free)
    • Business.com
  • Top National Lodging Directories - Below are some top lodging specific directories that resorts, hotels, bed and breakfasts and property managers should consider purchasing links from.
    • TripAdvisor - They now allow businesses to have a direct link and list a phone number.
    • Kayak - This is a free listing.
    • Wiki Travel – This, too, is a free listing.
    • Yelp
  • Bed and Breakfast Directories
    • BedandBreakfast.com
    • BBOnline.com
    • BnBFinder.com
    • LanierBB.com
    • BedandBreakfastNetwork.com
  • Property Managers or Vacation Rentals
    • HomeAway.com
    • Vamoose.com
    • VacationRentals.com
    • FlipKey.com
    • VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) - Try listing a few rental units in VRBO to see what kind of response you get.
  • Locals - It is essential for every property to have a free listing in Google local, Yahoo local, and Bing local.  Take these free listings to an even greater advantage by using great photos, promoting your property video in Google via YouTube, and employing custom categories.
  • Social Networking - There are thousands of social networking sites alone.  While many are free like Squidoo, Digg, Del.icio.us and more, make sure you have a strategy in place when using the various social networking options. 
  • Audit Your Competitors - Find out where your competition has purchased links to figure out if you have missed any worthwhile opportunity.

Property owners are encouraged to compile a list of all possible places to get links.  They should indicate where the directory shows up in Google and for which search terms.  Marketing costs versus benefits need to be analyzed and a link strategy for the year can be established with the found results.  The long-term rewards will be worth the effort.

If you would like assistance with your linking strategy, please contact RezStream at 303.872.0220 or email us at sales@temp.rezstream.com.

All About ExpressionEngine

Rick Ellis first developed ExpressionEngine as a blogging tool under the name “pMachine” in 2001.  An early prototype of pMachine was installed on Nancy Sinatra’s (Frank’s daughter) website.  After some real world testing and success, pMachine was released to the public in 2002.

By the end of 2002, pMachine had been featured in a few books and magazines and was having some success, but at that point, the Web was young and still developing.  Ellis noticed website owners and developers wanted more control and management over their content.  That’s when Rick Ellis developed a more robust tool called ExpressionEngine and the web development community took notice.

The first version of ExpressionEngine was first released to the public in 2004 as a general-purpose content management system written in object-oriented PHP and using MySQL for storing data.

ExpressionEngine’s publishing features are robust, comprehensive, and highly flexible.  Where other content management systems may have limitations in terms of visual design elements and/or display and organization of content, ExpressionEngine fills the needs of these major voids.

Throughout the years, ExpressionEngine has increased its features, flexibility, and popularity among larger businesses in helping build their web presence.  These steps advanced ExpressionEngine to version 1.6.8.  As its usage continued to grow, more features were requested from site owners and developers.  ExpressionEngine developers were now building “application-like” sites and needed even more flexibility and features at their disposal.  Ellis Lab listened to these requests and delivered with ExpressionEngine 2.0.  This version has been completely rebuilt on Ellis Lab’s “CodeIgniter,” an application MVC framework.

New Features of ExpressionEngine 2.0

Built On CodeIgniter
Acclaimed for its speed and flexibility, CodeIgniter has become the application framework of choice for many of the premiere PHP developers in the world.

New Interface
The ExpressionEngine control panel has been redesigned to make your experience and workflow faster, more intuitive, efficient, and better organized for superior control.

File Manager with Image Editor
ExpressionEngine 2.0 features an incredibly powerful and intuitive file and asset manager that can be used from within the publishing interface or on its own.  The new file manager includes the ability to crop, resize, and rotate your images directly in the control panel.

Key Features of ExpressionEngine

Multiple Categories
Each entry can be assigned to multiple categories, and you can create as many unique category groups as you want.

Relationships
You can create relationships between entries in different sections of your site, enabling information to be shared.

Expiring Entries
You can set an expiration date on your entries so they will be automatically removed from your site on that requested date.

Multi-User System
ExpressionEngine is a true multi-user system.  Each user can be granted a wide range of privileges, which allows you to define with precise control what each user is permitted to do.

Security
ExpressionEngine has the most comprehensive suite of security features of any publishing platform on the market.

When will ExpressionEngine 2.0 be ready for prime time?

As of this article, ExpressionEngine 2.0 is in Beta form, which is available to the public; however bugs, errors, and minor fixes still need to be worked out.  In addition, there are very few add-ons, extensions, and modules that may be needed to accomplish feature requests. 

RezStream recommends waiting to upgrade your site until ExpressionEngine 2.2 is released, hopefully in spring/summer 2010.  That doesn’t mean you should wait until then if you are thinking of having a site built.  RezStream can easily accomplish this process using the current version 1.6.8, which can easily be upgraded to 2.2 when it becomes available.  If you have further questions regarding ExpressionEngine, please feel to contact RezStream at 303.872.0220.

Published: January 27, 2010