Internet
Portals
If you run a small
hotel in London it is most unlikely you will get top billing when people
search on Google for "London hotel",
because there is so much competition. However, if you appear in one
of the internet portals with other hotels, then you may well bring in
some traffic. Portal sites have been built to target a certain community,
or interest groups and may well have a big marketing infrastructure
behind them. Some of the portals are vast sites like MSN,
that aim at consumers in particular countries.
There are also much
more focused internet portals ( "vortals" ) that aim at more
narrow interest groups. These can have an advantage in being recognised
as "the" online marketplaces where purchasers can find the
specialist services they require. Some examples:
iVillage
- a large well funded community site aimed at women
Homepro
- a site aimed at matching UK tradesmen to consumers
Tubenet
- a site for companies
in the tube industry
Mining
- a site for the
mining industry
All
Hotels 
- a widely marketed global hotel reservations site
It is worth identifying
if there are any potential internet portals that are suitable to promote
your site. Many of the industrial sites are run (or have links from)
the traditional magazines or trade assocations that have always been
around. To find new commercial sites search in your market sector through
Yahoo, or search on your generic industry/trade
terms. You may have to pay to get leads or exposure, which you will
have to evaluate against the revenue resulting.
In
addition there are more simple, much wider listings sites, that are
similar in approach to an online phone book . For the UK, you can list
your business on: Scoot, Yell
and Ask
Bob.
For specific advice
about configuring and promoting your site to get found on the web, you
can find out more in the rest of this web site or you can contact us
.
