How to make the most of your digital presence as a Visit West member

Whether you are a new member or well-established, it is always good to review your digital presence on our websites. Here one of our Digital Marketing Managers, Laura Valentine, gives some advice, top tips and ways to maximise your Visit West membership and increase ROI, visits, bookings and support the local visitor economy. Our consumer websites, VisitBath.co.uk and VisitBristol.co.uk, have large audiences and we create inspirational content and pages to encourage people to visit our destinations. 

Jump to: Top tips | Your web listing | Social media | Blogs and Content | Digital Advertising | Other | Meet the Team

Top tips 

Sign up  

Sign up to our weekly industry newsletter that is published each Friday. Each week we include content call outs and opportunities for our members as well as sharing reports on our activity and the latest industry trends. We also include a selection of news items from the destinations that we cover. Sign up via our simple form here. 

Images  

Have you provided us with the best images that you have? High-quality, landscape images are best. Our consumer websites are very visual and image-led and listings with the best images grab attention in a list from visitors. We also use amazing images across the sites, in blogs, enewsletters, social media, press releases and when featuring campaigns, themes and interests too. So, the better the images you provide, the more likely you and your images will be featured across multiple channels. We are also regularly asked for images from media and VisitEngland / VisitBritain, offering additional wider exposure. Please ensure that the images you send us have suitable rights permissions to use on third party communications. Speak to us on membership@visitwest.co.uk if you are not sure. 

Special Offers 

Do you have any special offers, deals or packages that you would like us to promote? These pages are very popular with users and we often use them to feature in social media, blogs and newsletters as well. Look out for content call outs (see above) for themed and seasonal offers as well. The link in the special offer goes straight to your website, or phone number. E-mail us on marketing@visitwest.co.uk with your offer details. 

Submit Events  

The What’s On pages of VisitBristol.co.uk and VisitBath.co.uk are among the most popular across the whole website. Submit events to us using the ‘Submit Event’ form which can be found in a link in the footer of every page of the sites. Events are used to populate content, blogs, social media, press releases and enewsletters and will all have a link to your site for referrals. We can also link the events to your main listing, increasing dwell time with your business and increasing the chance of a visit/booking. 

Submit an event to VisitBath.co.uk

Submit an event to VisitBristol.co.uk

Your web listing(s)  

When you first sign up as a Visit West you are sent a form to help us populate and create your business listing, but you can update the information displayed whenever you wish should you have new developments, opening times, imagery, etc. Just drop us an e-mail at membership@visitwest.co.uk. Here are some ideas to maximise your listing and get the most from it. 

Description and Information 

When writing about your business for the overview text, be sure to include information for specialist interests and groups if you can (e.g. accessibility, dog friendly, family, sustainable, groups) That way people searching for those on search engines and on the site’s internal search are more likely to find out about you. It also means that we know what you offer so can make sure that you are featured in all the right places on the site, in blogs, enewsletters and on social media too.  

Online booking opportunities 

There are various ways that we can promote and feature your business to reduce the sales funnel and increase online booking. If you are an accommodation business this could be through our Polling/Availability functionality and TXGB, which can show live availability and room rates. Or if you are an attraction or ticket provider this could be through an online booking link, affiliate booking schemes or through TXGB. Talk to us on membership@visitwest.co.uk about the best, personalised ways that we could help sell more of your tickets/rooms through our sites. 

Facilities  

Have you told us about all the facilities that you offer and are they correct and up to date? These are not only important to give the potential visitors an overview of what you offer, but also determine which sections of the websites and which search results that you may or may not appear in. For example, to appear in the dog-friendly sections and searches, you must let us know that you offer facilities for dogs, so that we can make sure your listing reflects this. We are currently working on a form which will allow you to click on all the relevant facilities you offer, but you can email us with anything specific before then. Get in touch with us 

TripAdvisor and Social Media links 

We can feature your own social media feeds (currently Facebook and Twitter) and an icon that links to your Instagram account on your business listings. Please provide us with these if you haven’t already. We can also feature your TripAdvisor ratings (ratings only) but you are under no obligation to feature these if you would rather not. However, we have found that listings with this information displayed tend to be get more engagement and offer a greater experience for the user in finding out what you are about. 

Videos  

Have you got a YouTube or a Vimeo video? We can embed these on your listing, and they offer a different way for customers and visitors to learn about you. We may also use them on social media and in blogs if relevant. 

Any extras? 

Have you got anything extra that you’d like us to feature? This could be awards you have won, details about your food offering, brochures, or special menus? We can feature links and downloads on your listing that go directly to your site or a PDF document if you would prefer. Just let us know if there is anything you’d like to promote, or you think will offer more information to the visitor. 

Check which pages and sections you are on  

When we load on new members, we try to feature them in as many of the relevant sections of the website as we can. But services and offers can change, so please make sure you are checking if you are featured on the right pages and sections and get in touch with us to let us know. 

Social media 

Visit West manages numerous social media channels for consumers and industry. To help maximise your exposure on these channels, here are some tips to help us help you. 

A lot of the content we feature on social media flows on from the information, images and updates you are sending us that also feature in your web listing; special offers, events, responding to content callouts, services and facilities you offer, awards, and updates on any new changes. So letting us know about these will increase likelihood of being mentioned across multiple channels. 

Tag us on social 

We follow a lot of members and industry businesses so aren’t always able to pick up the news you have shared in our feeds. The best way to grab our attention is to tag us in any social posts that you would like shared. Got some last-minute availability? Had a great review published? Special offers? Produced some fun content? Won an award? Get tagging us and we will share as much as we can. 

Use our hashtags 

You can also use the #VisitBristol or #VisitBath hashtags or other seasonal hashtags such as #BathAtChristmas or #MerryBristmas – we’ll keep you up to date with these seasonal and campaign hashtags in the weekly industry enews as well, so make sure you are signed up to that. You can also check our channels for the latest info.  

Instagram takeovers  

We offer Instagram takeovers of our VisitBath and VisitBristol consumer channels at weekends, booked in advance and subject to availability. These do get booked up far in advance but are a great way to raise exposure whilst talking about the wider area and are a great way to interact with new audiences. Talk to us today on marketing@visitwest.co.uk if you are interested in an Instagram Takeover. 

Social media competitions and giveaways  

Another great way to raise exposure and audience on social media is to run competitions and giveaways on the VisitBristol and VisitBath consumer channels. Talk to us at marketing@visitwest.co.uk if you are interested. 

Blogs and Content 

Keep us updated 

Ok, I know we are starting to sound like a broken record now, but it really is so important to keep us updated on your latest news, updates and services. You can add us to your mailing/media lists or drop us an email whenever you like. We’d rather have something five times than not at all. 

Keep up to date with our content calendar 

Check the enews for our weekly content callouts or ask us about upcoming posts that might be relevant for your business.  

Share 

Share blog posts you’re featured in and link to them on your website and other channels. Look out for our emails saying you’ve been featured. 

Digital Advertising 

We offer various levels and options for digital advertising across our sites and channels throughout the year. These include featured spots, blogs, enews features or solus enews options, social media posts and banner ads. Find out more about opportunities here, or speak to the team. 

Additional advertising across our network is a great way to maximise your exposure and make the most of our audiences. 

Other 

Package Competitions 

We run themed monthly competitions on our main consumer websites, which are also featured heavily across social and enewsletters. Our prize packages usually consist of somewhere to stay, something to do and something to eat. The prize givers are also able to access GDPR compliant mailing lists. Talk to us if you would be interested in partnering with us for a future competition. 

Travel Trade and Convention Bureau websites 

If you are a Gold member or above (for Meet Bristol and Bath website) or a Silver member and above (for Travel Trade website) then you are entitled to have an additional listing on our dedicated websites. This enables you to showcase specific relevant information to these B2B audiences. Speak to us today to find out if it is relevant to your business. 

We are here to help

We'd love to hear from you about how we can help you maximise your digital presence with Visit Bath and Visit Bristol. Get in touch with either of our Digital Marketing Managers; Shonette Laffy and Laura Valentine, wider marketing team and membership team. Meet the team and come say hello.