Our OM4 Tourism clients often have some computer experience. However, most are new to the technology used in self managed websites.

I certainly remember at the beginning all the new terminology was a bit daunting for me too. To help you through this we’ve tried to make our client resource information easy to understand.

The user forum is also a chance to ask questions and read posts by other people in the industry. Most of our clients find that their questions are answered in these two places.

Having said that we are always keen to find ways to make setting up your website as smooth as possible.

Recently I interviewed Wendy Payne from the Seahorse Sanctuary in Kalbarri to find out how she found the process of managing her new OM4 website.

Jane: What were your first impressions of the OM4Tourism website setup service?

Wendy: Very professional approach. I felt that I was in good hands and talking to people who really knew about website design.

Jane: Were there any issues that remained unclear to you in the planning stages?

Wendy: To be honest, there was a lot of computer language that I was fairly unfamiliar with, but all of the basics that I needed to understand were explained and this was done in a manner that was easy to understand.

Jane: How did you find the design phase? Were you happy with the result?

Wendy: Very easy - just answering a few questions and giving as much detail on the overall structure that I needed. Already having the structure of the overall website in our old website helped a lot at this stage, so that the new website was familiar in content, but sooooooo very different in presentation to our old website. The planning of the website design was so well done, that once the website was put together there was very little that I wanted to change.

Jane: When you began learning to upload content and images, did you find the task daunting, exciting, liberating? Did you have enough up-front support and encouragement to take the first steps?

Wendy: I like to be able to do things for myself, so tried doing the initial stuff by just following the information on how to upload content etc. It was daunting at first, but only because it was a new system that I haven’t used before. By the time I had my second session, things were beginning become clearer. The next thing I did was contact you so that you could run through it all with me. Having already played with the website design first, this session was more valuable as it made more sense already having a feel for the system.

Jane: What areas were the most challenging for you?

Wendy: Oh well, I’m not really very computer literate, so everything really. The instructions provided are clear and precise though, so once you beat your fear of computers into submission, the rest is easy. If you’re not continually working on your website, it’s easy to forget how to do individual modifications, so if I haven’t added anything on for a week or two, I’ve sometimes forgotten how I did that modification last time. No problem - the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

Jane: What aspects of a website are most important for a business owner interested in marketing online?

Wendy: Definitely the overall professional image of the website design, but more importantly, the keyword search. If you don’t have this - you don’t have a website. It’s a bit embarrassing really, as we’ve had a website for 5 years, but it was really mostly being found by people that were looking for us specifically by name. The new website is helping so very much to gain business from people who’ve never heard of us. That’s very powerful!

Jane: Any other comments you would like to make?

Wendy: Just thankyou!!

Going live recently is a new OM4Tourism website for Boshack.

Chrissy & Deryck Brockhurst offer Australian outback experiences within an easy drive of Perth, with a choice of lakeside camping, farmstay or hotel accommodation.

Notice that the home, tour and package pages all include a contact form at the foot of the page.

This is a strategy we have adopted and recommend to our clients, because we have found it increases the likelihood of site visitors getting in touch. Chrissy & Deryck are already seeing a significant increase in the number of enquiries they receive, because of the contact forms.

We believe this is simply because people will often have a half-formed question in their mind whenever they read a web page. Putting the form right there on the page makes it easy for them to put that question into words and click to send it to you.

Also notice the use of ‘outback’ in the domain name. This was a result of keyword analysis that told us this is an important keyword for Boshack.

This article explains more about choosing a domain name.

Winning an award gives small tourism businesses a real boost, but it’s hard for smaller operators to find the time and resources to put together an award submission.

That’s why we created the OM4Tourism Hidden Jewel Awards, and the result has been a long and fascinating list of tourism enterprises that deserve more attention.

We’ve seen a particularly impressive turn-out of entries from Tasmania and Queensland this year, and overall the businesses have been wide-ranging and imaginative - many of them clearly bursting with energy and potential for growth.

We’re right into the judging process for the 2008 Awards now, and as ever, choosing one business over another is proving challenging.

The first stage is to choose the national winner, and then we move on to selecting the state and territory winners.

From an initial shortlist of 40, each judge has chosen their top 3, which has given us a final list from which to sift out the Hidden Jewel for 2008.

Both John Walsh, executive producer of Getaway, and Quentin Long, publisher of Australian Traveller magazine, join us for the first time in judging the Hidden Jewel Awards, and both have been surprised by how difficult it has been to choose just 3 out of a possible 40.

The winner must be a quality enterprise that has something unique or unusual about it. It must be a genuine ‘hidden jewel’ - so those that already welcome thousands of visitors a year, have won a string of awards or enjoyed significant publicity in the past are unfortunately out of the running.

And the judges need to see the potential for the winner to benefit from the additional exposure that will come from the prize - a new online marketing website from OM4Tourism and a publicity campaign from PublicityShip.

Even with these clear criteria, we are struggling to make a choice, which only goes to show how many quality tourism businesses are out there - and how many remain relatively hidden from the mainstream travelling consciousness.

The name of the national winner will be in our hands by the end of today, and then we move onto the state/territory judging.

All winners will be announced on 20 March.

US tourism marketing consultant, Tim Warren, is inviting adventure travel professionals to submit contributions for a new book: 33 Adventures Every Entrepreneur Must Do Before You Die.

You can find out more at this link, but here’s the essence of what he’s looking for:

We seek short compelling stories, exciting tales or insightful anecdotes (100 - 400 words) from your guest or your own stories about a guest/visitor experience you feel represent how your trips “Enhance Quality of Life”.

If you have submitted an entry to the OM4Tourism Hidden Jewel Awards, you will already have these stories at your fingertips.

There’s no catch to the submission, and if you get noticed, you’ll get the benefit of distribution to a wide network of interested readers via Tim’s online marketing and media publicity channels.

Small tourism operators across the country are invited to register interest in the 2008 OM4Tourism Hidden Jewel Awards.

We launched the Awards in late 2006 because we were coming across so many wonderful tourism businesses struggling to get the word out.

This was a chance for those smaller operators to win recognition, without a prolonged and time-consuming entry procedure.

We decided to invite a panel of judges from the tourism industry. This meant all entrants came to the attention of some influential tourism icons, including Australian Traveller magazine and national tour company, AAT Kings.

State winners won some excellent media coverage - each seeing between two and four editorials in their target travel and lifestyle publications - and the national winner, NingalooBlue.com, are now the proud owners of an OM4 online marketing website.

This year, we have equally influential judges on the panel, and some amazing prizes.

We’re thrilled to be welcoming the Executive Producer of Channel 9’s Getaway travel show, John Walsh, to the panel this year. Respected travel publisher, Quentin Long, will be representing Australian Traveller, and Les Cox, CEO of AAT Kings, is once again bringing his contagious enthusiasm to the judging process.

Each state winner will get an OM4Tourism blog-enabled website with hosting, design package and keyword analysis to kickstart their online marketing.

The national winner will also get a publicity campaign targeting national print and broadcast media, with global internet distribution as well.

The entry procedure is straightforward and quick. Register your interest now and you’ll receive information shortly on how to enter. To register, go to our Hidden Jewel page and scroll down to fill out the form.