Travel Blog Ontario June Archive

Rosneath B&B, London, Ontario, Canada Interview

By Interviewer at 06/18/07 09:35

Name of your website?

Rosneath B&B, London, Ontario, Canada

Your name?

Nicholas Callender

Your Location (city, etc)

London

When did you start your website and why?

It was started one year ago as we started a bed and breakfast.

Please give us a short summary of your website, business model, etc

It shows our rooms in a well designed way, that is easy to navigate. We are a very small operation, my wife having Lupus, we want to keep things nice and simple and focus on the small number of guests we have, so they have a great experience.

What has been the most difficult part of creating and running your website?

I have been trying to improve its search engine placement and making the site look as appealing as possible.

What has been the easist part of operating your website?

I am a graphic designer, so I have been able to put the site together myself which allows me to make unlimited chnages without expense.

What was your biggest mistake?

The first site had navigation at the bottom that would get missed by some users who could not see it.

Who maintains your website and why?

Myself, because I'm cheap!

Tell us how your business has benefitted from your website?

All our guests find it us that way so it entirely responsible for our success.

What are your views on ecommerce and the future of the internet?

There are a lot of B and B scams - I'd be wary for our B and B purpose

What are your views on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Critical to B and B's - first page or nothing!

What are your views on Search Engines? Have they helped or hindered your website?

Not helped much yet as we are too far down the listings - paid links from tourist boards / b and b organisations have worked best so far, but still working on it.

What method has been most successful for promoting your website?

Tourist information website

What method has been least successful for promoting your website?

Any promotion has bee useful

What would you like to see change with respect to the internet?

Alpahbetical listings on websites annoy me - it seems unfair to list people with the letter A at the top of websites. Random would be fairer

What is your website address?

Rosneath B&B, London, Ontario, Canada

Travel Photo Base World Image Collection Interview

Name of your website?

Travel Photo Base World Image Collection

Your name?

Jim Steinhart

Your Location (city, etc)

Toronto

When did you start your website and why?

Having worked as a travel photojournalist for my career, I have been given many wonderful opportunities to visit the world's wonders. Now that I am reaching retirement, I want to share my photographic view of the world to allow those who will not have the same opportunities to travel in the future to come to know just how rich human culture is and how beautiful our planet can be.

Please give us a short summary of your website, business model, etc

The prime reason for the website is to preserve my life's photographic work, my art. If I can license a few photos to help support the effort, so much the better, but it is not the primary objective

What has been the most difficult part of creating and running your website?

With 25,000 photos on line so far, even getting Google to index the entire site has been a challenge. Their crawlers don't reach everything even with all the sitemaps they demand. Furthermore, even though I have hundreds of high-quality, original photos in my various country sections, Google tends to give higher ratings to small low-quality collections that concentrate on single regions.

Who maintains your website and why?

I do all the work myself, having had a second career as a computer programmer since the 1960s.

What are your views on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

I am well aware of the methods of SEO, but in several cases I have had to make a choice between what is required for SEO and what is required to serve my viewers. When such choices are required, I always take the option which serves the readers. It is frustrating to structure for Search Engine because it is like trying to hit a moving target.

What method has been most successful for promoting your website?

The quality of the website, without ads, without cookies, with very fast downloads, with good design & high-quality artistic photos, has resulted in a situation where 90-95% of people who visit http://www.travelphotobase.com/ have added the site to their favorites list. The number of people linking to the site is growing steadily, which I attribute to its pure information.

What is your website address?

Travel Photo Base World Image Collection

Rent My Escape Interview

Name of your website?

www.Rent-My-Escape.com

Your name?

Michael

Your Location (city, etc)

Niagara Falls

When did you start your website and why?

About a year ago. My wife and I had a hard time easily finding a weeked vacation destination

Please give us a short summary of your website, business model, etc

We are a listing service for property owners, we offer a yearly subscription at rates cheaper than a weekend classified ad.

What has been the most difficult part of creating and running your website?

Getting the site listed under numerous keywords in the search engines and finding quality reciprical listns

What has been the easist part of operating your website?

Our management interface and adding lsiting to the site

What was your biggest mistake?

Not having a referral system in place for listers

Who maintains your website and why?

My wife and I.

Tell us how your business has benefitted from your website?

Design experience, marketing experience, SEO experience

What are your views on ecommerce and the future of the internet?

It can only get bigger

What are your views on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Very important I am working to learn as much as I can about the process

What are your views on Search Engines? Have they helped or hindered your website?

The are a necessity and hard to get listed in effectively.

What method has been most successful for promoting your website?

Word of mouth and passing out business cards to property owners.

What method has been least successful for promoting your website?

Letting the search engines do it completely

What is your website address?

Rent My Escape