Want to gain a major boost in internet exposure and traffic for your bed and breakfast?  Instant World Booking has introduced a major service for our B&B partners worldwide.  Now, when you list your property with us, we translate the information you submit into 14 different languages.  We then publish your property on 14 individual multi-lingual webpages, each featuring only your property.

This is a major level of service that only Instant World Booking provides for free to B&B partners.  In fact, it’s a must-have service for any lodging who wishes to gain serious exposure on the internet.  As always, Instant World Booking’s services are free for bed and breakfasts to use.

Consider that your B&B or inn can quickly and easily have 14 new pages, dedicated specifically to your property, in the most used languages on the internet.  Unlike other services, these pages are not simply duplicates with your comments translated.  Each page is a full translation uniquely search-optimized to rank high on multi-lingual search engines.

If you haven’t listed yet with BedBreakfastTraveler.com and the Instant World Booking network, this new level of service is yet another reason why no competing service offers more to bed and breakfasts around the globe.  We invite you to compare competing services, then check us out.

New also is the ability for you to submit your listing information in the language of your choice.  If English is not your first language, not to worry.  You can submit your property information in any language you wish, whether it’s Spanish, Italian, Greek, Arabic, etc.,  Instant World Booking will then take the information you wrote, and translate it into 14 of the most widely used languages on the internet.

To increase bookings, you need to increase your exposure.  Get 14 translated listing pages for your property up and running on the web now.  List with Instant World Booking today.

For more information, and to list your property, please see:

http://www.bedbreakfasttraveler.com/listings/add_listing.php

A recent letter that crossed my desk suggested that online advertisers should forget Google.  Consider search engine advertising for cheapskates, the ad proclaimed, suggesting that Google was overpriced.  The advertisement made me stop and think, when advertising our bed and breakfast or small inn on the internet, are we getting the value we need?

So, do we sidestep Google, and move in a new direction towards budget advertisers?  We can’t answer that question for you.  What we can say is that, when considering what search providers to target, you need to carefully consider your goals, and who you’re trying to reach.  Many budget search providers can’t be matched in value or performance, considering the target audience you’re trying to reach.  Their flat rate plans can offer an excellent way of controlling costs, considering Google PPC type advertising can quickly run up large bills if you’re inexperienced.

So, when considering paid search advertising, know your audience and who your customer base is.  Consider that Google accounts for roughly 60% of online searches worldwide, and Yahoo accounts for about 20%.  If you want to try some budget search providers you can definitely gain some value for the amount you pay.  But, if reaching the largest possible online audience is one of your goals, then Google and Yahoo cannot be ignored.

If your bed and breakfast targets customers in a particular geographic region, the large providers offer excellent ways to target the placement of your ads geographically, so you don’t have to worry about wasting money on ads displaying in regions where you never expect to gain customers.

To recap, the lesson to learn when considering online search providers is to know your target audience and select the provider that offers the best and most economical method of reaching that audience.  If your goal is to reach the largest and most geographically diverse audience quickly, then Google is pretty hard to match.

It never ceases to amaze me how online services continue to require hefty membership fees.  The internet is the most efficient information distribution tool ever invented.  In today’s lean economic environment, bed and breakfasts are seeking value in their marketing and advertising budgets.  With the wide array of services available to inn managers for free, why do we continue to pay year after year those annual membership fees for services.  This is the perfect time to re-evaluate our spending on those annual memberships that we sometimes blindly pay year after year.

One example I can highlight is a recent advertising email sent by PAII, the Professional Association of Innkeepers International.  The email is targeted at bed and breakfast innkeepers like you, and professes how the PAII is advocating on your behalf.  Specifically addressing problems the PAII sees with TripAdvisor, they indicate how some of the operations and policies of the Tripadvisor site have flaws that can cause significant financial hardship to your business.  They say that this the message innkeepers all across the country have been letting PAII know loud and clear. They ask what the individual innkeeper can do to address this most critical area?  After citing that PAII’s President & CEO has been tirelessly meeting and negotiating with the management team of TripAdvisor advocating for you, the rest of the email basically amounts to an advertising pitch to sell memberships in their organization at a reduced rate (for 6 months as opposed to a full annual membership).

Let me be clear that the PAII is a reputable organization which adds value to bed and breakfasts and inns in the U.S.  However, know that membership in one or more of these types of organizations can cost between $100 and $300 EACH per year.  When you start looking at how these memberships hit your bottom line, what you need to focus on are services “support services” that bring in business, not “support groups”.  Also, beware of organizations that claim to be international, but boast a membership of predominantly North American companies.

So, as the new year approaches, look for some new opportunities to build your online footprint with some truly global services.  Pay special attention to services that do not charge a membership fee.  There are many such valuable services easily available.  And, think about eliminating some of the more expensive annual memberships that are not really critical to the operation of your business.