TA Renewal

[Alaska's Capital Inn]

Renewal came up, got a call to brace us for the news apparently. We have seven rooms. TA said our bill was $2,700.00 for the year. After a lot of heated discussion it got "down" to $2,200.00.

 

[JimBoone]

I like the idea of having a business listing, makes it convenient for our potential guests as an 8 room motel competing with large properties, but the way they value themselves the cost is quickly getting out of reach or beyond practical.

 

[EmptyNest]

Ridiculous There is no way I would pay that blackmail

 

[Arks]

Explain again to me the benefit of paying an amount like that, vs the TA pay-per-click that costs me about $50/year.

 

[Innkeep]

Explain again to me the benefit of paying an amount like that, vs the TA pay-per-click that costs me about $50/year..

Explain again to me the benefit of paying an amount like that, vs the TA pay-per-click that costs me about $50/year.

If you keep reminding TA they will close that loophole

 

[Arks]

Oh, I'm sure they know very well about the loophole but they've probably run the numbers and know they make more by charging a little bit to a lot of people, vs. charging more and losing the small inns.
I think PPC is for the small places and these crazy amounts for the business listing are for the big hotels. I'd say the days of small places having a business listing will soon be gone, at least for those who work by paying attention rather than paying thousands.
In fact, it may be like Square vs. traditional charge card processors. There's probably a sweet spot, below which it's cheaper to pay per click, and above which it's cheaper to have the business listing. It would take a lot of clicks to get me to $2,200, but a bigger place might get that in no time so business listing is cheaper.

 

[DaniT]

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them.

 

[Copperhead]

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them..

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them.

Then again, how many of those that click your website via TA would have found your website anyway? I do not have a business listing but most of our guests have found us or at least viewed the listing on TA. For those that do not venture to do a Google search to find my site, they can see my availability using the PPC feature.

BTW - Welcome to the forum! Glad you are here and posting. Always like to read others opinions. Keeps our minds thinking.

 

[DaniT]

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them..

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them.

Then again, how many of those that click your website via TA would have found your website anyway? I do not have a business listing but most of our guests have found us or at least viewed the listing on TA. For those that do not venture to do a Google search to find my site, they can see my availability using the PPC feature.

BTW - Welcome to the forum! Glad you are here and posting. Always like to read others opinions. Keeps our minds thinking.
.

Tracking is not an exact science yet but it is getting more precise all the time. The path of those booking after seeing and clicking on our listing can be tracked. I actually find it very creepy! I put enough credence into it to base our marketing decisions on it. We just got a new website and every page is coded to track behavior. It's a new marketing world out there. Unfortunately we can't stand still or we'll go backwards. TA is the new 800lb. gorilla. The listing which brings us the biggest return is bedandbreakfastdotcom. They are huge even though we don't take their GC nor do we interface with their booking engine. Go figure.

 

[JBloggs]

Absurd!

 

[Momma Smurf]

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them..

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them.

Then again, how many of those that click your website via TA would have found your website anyway? I do not have a business listing but most of our guests have found us or at least viewed the listing on TA. For those that do not venture to do a Google search to find my site, they can see my availability using the PPC feature.

BTW - Welcome to the forum! Glad you are here and posting. Always like to read others opinions. Keeps our minds thinking.
.

We just got a 5 night reservation from Italy yesterday and it was booked directly via Trip Connect, I could track it via the special RK reservation page. They never went to our website. That $975 is more than our annual Trip business listing!

 

[Anon Inn]

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them..

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them.

Then again, how many of those that click your website via TA would have found your website anyway? I do not have a business listing but most of our guests have found us or at least viewed the listing on TA. For those that do not venture to do a Google search to find my site, they can see my availability using the PPC feature.

BTW - Welcome to the forum! Glad you are here and posting. Always like to read others opinions. Keeps our minds thinking.
.

Tracking is not an exact science yet but it is getting more precise all the time. The path of those booking after seeing and clicking on our listing can be tracked. I actually find it very creepy! I put enough credence into it to base our marketing decisions on it. We just got a new website and every page is coded to track behavior. It's a new marketing world out there. Unfortunately we can't stand still or we'll go backwards. TA is the new 800lb. gorilla. The listing which brings us the biggest return is bedandbreakfastdotcom. They are huge even though we don't take their GC nor do we interface with their booking engine. Go figure.
.

Thx Dani T
Good information. Just curious, are you urban or rural?

 

[Arks]

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them..

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them.

Then again, how many of those that click your website via TA would have found your website anyway? I do not have a business listing but most of our guests have found us or at least viewed the listing on TA. For those that do not venture to do a Google search to find my site, they can see my availability using the PPC feature.

BTW - Welcome to the forum! Glad you are here and posting. Always like to read others opinions. Keeps our minds thinking.
.

We just got a 5 night reservation from Italy yesterday and it was booked directly via Trip Connect, I could track it via the special RK reservation page. They never went to our website. That $975 is more than our annual Trip business listing!
.

We just got a 5 night reservation from Italy yesterday and it was booked directly via Trip Connect, I could track it via the special RK reservation page. They never went to our website. That $975 is more than our annual Trip business listing!

YES!

 

[InnDebt]

We do not have a BizList or PPC on TA. We might lose some business, but not enough to justify that payout! A large % of our guests find us via TA and then just goo gle our Inn name and book via the website. That being said, we are lucky enough to be in an area without a huge amount of B&B/Hotel competition, so finding us is a lot easier.

 

[DaniT]

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them..

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them.

Then again, how many of those that click your website via TA would have found your website anyway? I do not have a business listing but most of our guests have found us or at least viewed the listing on TA. For those that do not venture to do a Google search to find my site, they can see my availability using the PPC feature.

BTW - Welcome to the forum! Glad you are here and posting. Always like to read others opinions. Keeps our minds thinking.
.

Tracking is not an exact science yet but it is getting more precise all the time. The path of those booking after seeing and clicking on our listing can be tracked. I actually find it very creepy! I put enough credence into it to base our marketing decisions on it. We just got a new website and every page is coded to track behavior. It's a new marketing world out there. Unfortunately we can't stand still or we'll go backwards. TA is the new 800lb. gorilla. The listing which brings us the biggest return is bedandbreakfastdotcom. They are huge even though we don't take their GC nor do we interface with their booking engine. Go figure.
.

Thx Dani T
Good information. Just curious, are you urban or rural?
.

Rural. 1 mile outside a 5000 people college town.

 

[gillumhouse]

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them..

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them.

Then again, how many of those that click your website via TA would have found your website anyway? I do not have a business listing but most of our guests have found us or at least viewed the listing on TA. For those that do not venture to do a Google search to find my site, they can see my availability using the PPC feature.

BTW - Welcome to the forum! Glad you are here and posting. Always like to read others opinions. Keeps our minds thinking.
.

We just got a 5 night reservation from Italy yesterday and it was booked directly via Trip Connect, I could track it via the special RK reservation page. They never went to our website. That $975 is more than our annual Trip business listing!
.

Congrats

 

[Momma Smurf]

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them..

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them.

I totally agree. Unless you have concrete data to dispute/prove the validity of any advertising form, one can not make generalized statements saying that folks will find you anyway. Better to ask "How many more would be finding us?" and what is that ROI?
YTD 14.3% of our bookings are from TA. Set up tools to know your business inside and out, and like any successful business use them at least Weekly for analysis. And be sure to use that info to pivot strategies frequently.

 

[MtnKeeper]

That's ridiculous for the biz listing. We have one and it's not even 1/3 of that price. By the way, I realized last night that I haven't been receiving as many bookings as we normally do. We've only been open on weekends and going to tennis matches during the week and building out our new luxury suite so I wasn't watching as closely as I typically do. I looked at stats and saw that we were down by more than 50% of the bookings we normally do during the same 3 week timeframe. Low and behold when I checked my TA page and saw that my TripConnect listing had gone inactive 3 weeks ago it totally coincides with the drop off in bookings. We've been saying "nothing available" -- now I never miss an email and saw nothing from them that my campaign was ending. I went in this morning and reactivated it (I had a dollar amount set not a timeframe) to the end of the year. I'm totally sure that the bookings will begin coming in again tomorrow once it's reinstated. So if any of you haven't tried TripConnect I would recommend looking at it as it's totally worked for us. And we pay less than $0.40 per click.

 

[EmptyNest]

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them..

The only way to know if TripAdvisor (or any listing for that matter) has value is to check online stats. We use Google Analytics e-commerce and even though TA is crazy expensive they make us money. As long as the ROI is happening we pay up. The minute this changes we'll drop them.

I totally agree. Unless you have concrete data to dispute/prove the validity of any advertising form, one can not make generalized statements saying that folks will find you anyway. Better to ask "How many more would be finding us?" and what is that ROI?
YTD 14.3% of our bookings are from TA. Set up tools to know your business inside and out, and like any successful business use them at least Weekly for analysis. And be sure to use that info to pivot strategies frequently.
.

You don't have to pay exorbitant fees to be listed on TA. If you have reviews....folks will see them and just google your website. My friends stopped paying them...they had been in their TOP #10 list in the US for years but once they stopped paying...ha ha..guess what! Anyway they track everything and can see that TA is still top referrer with out paying them.

 

[April]

Our listing when it came for renewal last September it was double amount to over $3000. They did not want to reduce it to anything reasonable so we did not renew. Since than - TA did not try to contact me even once, however I did not notice any change in booking or drop in income. I still have people tell me that they found me on TA and I have 3G in my pocket.