Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau
Saratoga Springs, NY
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Saratoga Convention & Tourism Bureau Blog

S.E.O.

Since we launched our new and improved website back in August, our popularity has increased amongst the search engines on the Internet! Yahoo, Google, Ask.com are just some examples of popular search engines. What search engines do you trust or use the most?

The Bureau worked with Mannix Marketing to develop our interactive, user-friendly and easy-to-navigate website. Mannix puts together monthly reports for the Bureau on our website’s statistics such as top search phrases, number of visitors, hits, page views and so on. There are certain keywords that are plugged into our website and you’ll see most of our site contains the words Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, New York, group tours, convention and meetings. This is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The more keywords we have the better the search engines can find and rank the Bureau’s website amongst other sites that feature Saratoga. It’s a contest to see whose website can be ranked #1!
 
Test it out and see where your website ranks! What were your keywords? What websites do you go to when searching Saratoga tourism, meetings and conventions?
 
Example:  I went to Google.com and typed in “Saratoga, New York” and the Bureau’s website came up #4
           
So, even though SEO sounds boring, it is a necessary tool when developing and maintaining a website. It is a constant effort to make sure your website is being seen by the most people and ranks the closest to that #1 spot on a search engine.
 
That’s it for now—I will be back with another topic related to social media, technology and the Internet, or cool tech gadgets that make your life easier!

A Live Voice When Answering the Telephone vs. Automated Response

Does it drive you crazy when you call big businesses and everything is automated? It takes forever to get an actual “real person” to take your call after going through several prompts. The first one always being – to continue in English – press 1. Sometimes I wonder if they really want you to find them!

 
Well, we at the Saratoga Convention & Tourism Bureau take great pride in answering the telephone with a live friendly voice during normal business hours. In fact we try to answer the phone within the first 2 rings and always have a smile and are eager to assist you when you call.
 
 
What’s your opinion? We welcome your comments.

Online Networking

So, I recently started using my Facebook page.  I say using because I have had an account for a while, but never did anything with it until recently.  Now I am obsessed…  But I am also amazed. I am amazed at how many people I know who are using this “networking medium.”  And more so, they are really using it!  My friends post daily and I am more in touch with them now, when they live all over the country, than I was when they lived next door.  Amazing…  But it doesn’t end at Facebook.  There is MySpace, Plaxo Pulse, LinkedIn, Flicker, Google Groups, Craigslist, YouTube, countless blog sites, etc.  I have an account on a few of these and I try to keep them current, but it takes time and perseverance.  I am afraid to use other mediums, such as Twitter, as I do not need another technological addiction.  My RSS feeds keep me busy enough, thank you very much.
 
So my question for all of you is: how do all of these great networking sites affect all of us in the meeting community?  Do you use the technology?  Does it help you do your job more efficiently and effectively?  Would you use them for business purposes?  Right now I have a separation between my personal life and my professional life, but I am seeing that line being blurred. We at the SCTB have been talking a lot lately about how to use these tools to the advantage of our members and clients and we want to hear from you!  So, do you tweet?

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Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau • 60 Railroad Place, Suite 100 • Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 • Tel: 518-584-1531 • Fax: 518-584-2969
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