Viewpoint - February 2007
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A regular feature, inviting key individuals to comment on an aspect of scenario planning. Chris Elvery of CALL2ACTION, Specialist in online customer-conversion, outlines why tourism websites should be an intergral a part of the business. Please note all Viewpoint...articles are not policies of VisitScotland but individual opinions of the authors. The material should not be regarded as specific advice and no action should be taken with reliance on it. Neither the authors nor VisitScotland accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss or damage in any way of reliance placed upon the material. Why Tourism websites should be no less important than the businesses they represent
These are what I would call the “over-hypers” whose intention is to get people to the site at all costs. Over-hypers will use all the hyperbole known to man in an effort to gain a good search engine listing in the misguided assumption that the more visitors thrown at the site, the more will “stick”. Unfortunately to do this, they will frequently forfeit the visitor experience and as a result will see all the time and money spent getting the visitor to the site in the first place wasted (reviewing the site statistics you can “see” the visitor arriving at the home page and then metaphorically turning and running away screaming without ever having set foot within the site!). That’s enough on Search Engines, other than to say that a properly built site, optimised correctly, possibly with a little help from a professional Search Engine Optimisation company will bring the right visitors to the site and reap the appropriate rewards for the business. My main issue is what companies do with these visitors when they arrive at the site. We again encounter the “over-hypers”, who will say anything and everything to get people to contact/ book etc. Some of these visitors may even be persuaded by the slick imagery and the “customers are our friends” copy and make contact or even book. This is where the over-hypers come in to their own! That idyllic cottage accommodation by the banks of a babbling brook, is actually in one of the less salubrious areas of town, whilst the “customer friendly staff” all seem to have been replaced by monosyllabic droids who obviously don’t endorse the sentiments portrayed on the website! “Under-sellers” are the ones that really bug me though. There are thousands of fabulous businesses throughout Scotland where the highest levels of customer service and customer satisfaction are THE watchwords. However many of these businesses are being serviced by a website which to be frank makes my first (and last!) attempt of building a website back in 1995 look like the web equivalent of the Venus di Milo next to a primary school doodle. The visitor looking at the website (if they ever get there in the first place as the under-sellers are never likely to have built the site to be “search engine friendly” or indeed tried to promote online in any shape or form) will see poor copy and poor imagery. The site may well be illegal (yes, website’s need to comply with legislation too, not least of which is the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act), it will almost certainly lack focus (what we like to refer to as “the call to action”) and generally undersell what the business has to offer. The upside I suppose is that should the poor soul looking at the website make contact or ever book, they will be overjoyed with the treatment they receive and the quality of the accommodation. My advice to all businesses is to build the website to be a true reflection of what you offer, delivered to show it at its very best – don’t under sell it and don’t over sell it. Ensure that the site has a purpose, whether that is “buy”; “enquire”; “contact” etc - after all you built it for a reason didn’t you? Ensure that the words and pictures all add value. Budget accordingly and get it done professionally (why is it that so many next-door-neighbour’-sons know your business well enough and have the appropriate level of technical and graphical skills to build you a website that will promote your businesses worldwide 24x7x365 for £50?) Let us strive in 2007 to make virtual Scotland as appealing to potential visitors as this beautiful country really is!
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