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I launched 06-10 and constantly feel helpless and lost. What advice do you have?

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Re: I launched 06-10 and constantly feel helpless and lost. What advice do you have?

#31

Post by ihavetoblog »

mgkimsal wrote: post #27
ihavetoblog wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel an iphone app may be too much time/money spent when I don't have the base of the site fully functioning or very usable. Resources are tight now, so I would want to focus on the usability of the main site vs iphone app. Same things goes for the mobile version. I've had this conversation with many people and it always ends up in the chicken vs egg debate. Some people argue that having a mobile/smartphone add wil…

As you make changes to the main site, just keep in mind how that same URL will render on mobile devices, and make changes accordingly. There are many 'full' sites I use on an iPhone because it's still easy to consume info, even though it's not a dedicated 'mobile' version.

will do. We originally had a flash banner and crap like that ... that was opted against for various reasons

Re: I launched 06-10 and constantly feel helpless and lost. What advice do you have?

#32

Post by ihavetoblog »

revorad wrote: post #29
ihavetoblog wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but when you search for keywords on Embassies, you directly compete with .gov sites that will always outrank you. My idea behind the embassy section was to ensure that contact information was available when the sites go under, as they usually do, or cloak their information to not be bothered. Believe it or not, I actually made that database of 8000+ myself. So, I have a great section that is useful, but hard to…

Have you considered hosting your embassy section on another domain name with the keywords? It will take some time, but you could probably rank with some organic SEO for phrases like "how to apply for visa to france from london" by blogging. See http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/01/24/startup-seo/

I have, but, I would then have to make one completely no-follow to not get dilution from double content, right?

I can see how I can focus on that one niche and become profitable, but wouldn't that be spreading myself thin over two projects instead of one big one?

Re: I launched 06-10 and constantly feel helpless and lost. What advice do you have?

#33

Post by revorad »

ihavetoblog wrote: post #30
revorad wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's awesome. Your embassies page is quite good. You could make it even easier to navigate by adding a map. Instead of listing by embassies in a particular country, you should list by embassies of a country. To give you an example, if I'm thinking of going to France, I'm looking for the French embassy's website, not where I am applying from. That second bit of info is also needed, but you could ask that in the seco…

By map you mean a generic map with clickable countries to take you to the embassies of that country? I'll consider it. I'll have to see how size would play into the visible area of the page. I have tackled the embassies in vs embassies of on the listing and quite frankly, I don't have enough points of reference to make a call. There is a nifty search box on the right that allows you to filter though

If you get a lot of visits to that section, then you could A/B test to choose which is the better way.

A simple alternative I could think of is to get rid of the list of countries and make the search form on the right the main interface. You only need to ask "where are you going?", "where from?" and "your nationality". Simple search boxes or dropdown menus with flags would be great.

Re: I launched 06-10 and constantly feel helpless and lost. What advice do you have?

#34

Post by revorad »

ihavetoblog wrote: post #32
revorad wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you considered hosting your embassy section on another domain name with the keywords? It will take some time, but you could probably rank with some organic SEO for phrases like "how to apply for visa to france from london" by blogging. See http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/01/24/startup-seo/

I have, but, I would then have to make one completely no-follow to not get dilution from double content, right? I can see how I can focus on that one niche and become profitable, but wouldn't that be spreading myself thin over two projects instead of one big one?

I'm not sure about the no-follow thing, but you are probably right. A simpler alternative to a new domain might be a more key-word rich url or sub-domain.

I can understand you don't want to spend too much time over this. Can't you automatically generate static pages listing the key information given the user's destination, origin and nationality? I'm guessing the embassy information doesn't change too often, so having static content will help with SEO and caching.

Re: I launched 06-10 and constantly feel helpless and lost. What advice do you have?

#35

Post by stcredzero »

ihavetoblog wrote: post #7
pan69 wrote: post #5

I guess your audience is the backpacker type, the ones who travel for an extended period of time (3+ months). Have you thought of approaching travel agents who specialize in these sorts of holidays so you could somehow partner with them? No sure what the deal would be but I guess your audience is right there..

The audience right now is focused on the backpacker type, but I want to eventually give it a feel as a go-to place to add your travel stories. My idea is to eventually have backpackers in europe, a family going to disney land, or people taking a small trip who update their pics and status on facebook use the site. And yes, I have looked in the travel agents but to no avail. At first I wanted to develop APIs that I wo…

Why not become that travel agent yourself? This might be a longer-term goal.

Re: I launched 06-10 and constantly feel helpless and lost. What advice do you have?

#36

Post by JamesDB »

alexro wrote: post #15

You definitely need some sort of a mobile app - people usually don't think about their travel much before they actually go. But once on the road they will be more inclined to check your info.

Perhaps one that you can take notes/leave reviews on without being connected to the internet. These will then sync when next connected to wifi (like evernote does)

Data romaing charges abroad are massive, and your target audience are travellers.

Re: I launched 06-10 and constantly feel helpless and lost. What advice do you have?

#38

Post by ihavetoblog »

JamesDB wrote: post #37

What kind of visitor numbers/member numbers are you getting? Do you know where people are finding the site?

I get an average of 3000 visitors a month and have 148 registered users, of which 60 or so are family and friends.

Most of the traffic generated has come from Google Adwords and testing ads for the embassy section. Next up is google organic, again, mostly for the embassy section. The rest are referrals from blogs/forums mainly to the Travel News section.

Re: I launched 06-10 and constantly feel helpless and lost. What advice do you have?

#39

Post by ihavetoblog »

JamesDB wrote: post #36
alexro wrote: post #15

You definitely need some sort of a mobile app - people usually don't think about their travel much before they actually go. But once on the road they will be more inclined to check your info.

Perhaps one that you can take notes/leave reviews on without being connected to the internet. These will then sync when next connected to wifi (like evernote does) Data romaing charges abroad are massive, and your target audience are travellers.

It is in the works and your second suggestion is brilliant! Hadn't thought of that. Can also update on WiFi (which is what I was thinking about)

I think it is a little premature for a mobile app as there are a lot of kinks to still get through on the main page and investing time/$$ into a mobile app might be too soon, especially since funding is tight.

Re: I launched 06-10 and constantly feel helpless and lost. What advice do you have?

#40

Post by ihavetoblog »

stcredzero wrote: post #35
ihavetoblog wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The audience right now is focused on the backpacker type, but I want to eventually give it a feel as a go-to place to add your travel stories. My idea is to eventually have backpackers in europe, a family going to disney land, or people taking a small trip who update their pics and status on facebook use the site. And yes, I have looked in the travel agents but to no avail. At first I wanted to develop APIs that I wo…

Why not become that travel agent yourself? This might be a longer-term goal.

I have thought about this, but that is a very very long term goal. I can't juggle too many balls and have to create income off whatever I have first before I go into growth.

But, frankly, yes, a lot of my close friends have suggested I jump ship to that career because of my passion for travel.

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