Case Studies

Problems Identified

The Best Western Town and Country had never fully committed to an internet marketing strategy. They had created a website to try to take advantage of all that the internet had to offer, but the strategy was more of a “build it and they will come” strategy. There was no discernable attempt to promote the website or to attend to its ability to convert visitors into customers.

Here are some of the results of those marketing decisions:

• Unacceptable occupancy rates
• Low revenues
• Poor positioning in search engine results
• Outdated visual design
• Difficult to update and maintain site

 

Solutions Implemented

 

Improved Search Engine Results

Because most of the traffic available to a website from the search engines is only available to those sites on the first page of major, relevant searches, it's important for the site to be on the first page. You can see from the table below that many first page results were achieved:

The green “up” arrows indicate a positive movement from the initial search engine position for each keyword. For example, 3 > 17 means that a search on that keyword put the site in position 3 which was up 17 positions from previous positioning. The green “plus signs” mean that a search for that keyword initially was not in the top 50 results.

Created a World-Class Interface Design

We created a distinctive look that raised the quality of the site's presentation to a level consistent with the quality of the newly remodeled hotel itself.

A color scheme was created that features warm earth tones evocative of the rocky canyons of Utah. But at the same time the style is tight, refined and in keeping with the clean lines and color scheme of the newly remolded hotel.

Migrated Static Site to Advanced Content Management System

We migrated the site away from static web pages and into an advanced, database-driven CMS. The client can log into the control panel and publish new entries in the event calendar, recreation guide and other content channels. The client has full access to the content but never sees the code. Code and content are totally separated.

Created an Advanced Feature Set

We greatly expanded the features and type of information presented on the Town & Country site. Features were added that provided the prospective guest with relevant information about the hotel and local area.

• Calendar of upcoming local events
• Area activity listings
• Restaurant guide
• Employment section with online job descriptions and applications.

 

Measurable Results

Because we have not completed a full year of working with this site, it's not possible to measure monthly year over year comparisons. However the important statistics are available.

• The occupancy rate increased 41%
• The revenue increased by 105%
• Bottom line improvements

Occupancy rates were the single most important direct result of the work we did. No other major marketing initiatives were undertaken during this period. The general economy of Cedar City Utah was not a major contributing factor as the economy remained relatively flat.

There was not just more revenue, but more of it went to the bottom line. The increase in revenue is what economists refer to as an increase in marginal revenue. When you consider the fixed costs that the hotel faces – those costs that are the same no matter what the occupancy rate for any period of time – the prior revenue covered the fixed costs or the hotel wouldn't be in business.