Why You Need A Web Presence (And Not Just A Web Site)

A website used to be all a company needed to reach customers online.  Not anymore! Now, anyone with $15 and the right software can publish a website in less time than it takes to eat lunch.  It’s estimated that between 15 and 30 billion websites exist.  How are you going to differentiate yourself from the 14,999,999,999 other websites out there?

Having a web site is no longer enough.  You need a web presence.  

The past few years have seen a huge rise of interest in blogging and social networking.  These websites and services are largely community-centered, and encourage user participation.

As a hotelier, you need to establish a broad network of contact points for your hotel that all lead to the center: your hotel’s main site. 

Here’s a list of ideas for “spokes” in your web presence:

• Create a blog, and update it at least once each week
• Integrate social bookmarking services such as Digg and del.icio.us into your blog
  
• Comment on other relevant blogs with a link to your hotel’s site in the signature
  
• Take pictures of your facility – the rooms, the grounds – and post them to a photo-sharing service such as Flickr
• Shoot video of your hotel, and post it to video sites such as YouTube and Google Video
• Record and publish candid video interviews with guests around your hotel
• Get listed in user-written travel guides such as WikiTravel
  
• Participate in discussions about your local area in social networks such as VirtualTourist
  
• Google your name, your hotel’s name, and other relevant phrases to see where you appear when others search for these terms (It’s a great motivator to expand your web presence if you’re just starting)
• Better yet, create Google Alerts for these phrases.  You’ll receive email updates enabling you to track what’s being said about you online.

Remember, having a website isn’t enough.  You need a web presence.

Be an octopus, not an elephant.