Netizen Digital Latest News

Visit us at the Travel Technology Show 2007

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Travel Technology Show, 13-14th February 2007, Earls Court 2

With technology advancing the travel industry at a phenomenal rate, it’s no surprise that Europe’s leading travel technology event, the Travel Technology Show, will this year relocate to Earls Court 2 where it will occupy a much larger space than ever before.

This year’s show will give travel companies the opportunity to meet suppliers of leading-edge travel technology solutions and to network with over 3000 attendees. The show boasts 19 enlightening seminar sessions as well as 14 informative product presentations, so there will be plenty of opportunities to pick up some hot tips from the experts.

Our own MD Lewis Lenssen will be kicking-off the show’s seminar programme at 9.45am, in room 2 on 13th February in a session entitled “Online Advertising: Getting More Bang for your Buck”. To book tickets for this seminar please visit the travel technology website.

Come and see us on stand B19

The Netizen Digital team will be on hand to discuss your needs and showcase our complete range of online travel marketing solutions. Look out for our free-to-attend product demonstrations at 11.00am on 13th February and 2.00pm on 14th February, in the presentation theatre.

For more information visit the travel technology website.

To receive your complimentary entry tickets to the show please email Laurence Knopf, laurence.knopf@netizen.co.uk.

Netizen Digital develops site for active over-50s

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Online travel marketing specialist Netizen Digital has designed and developed a new website, www.primeadventures.co.uk, for specialist tour operator The Adventure Company, selling its new programme of tours for active over-50s.

Prime Adventures was conceived after The Adventure Company’s customer feedback revealed a significant demand for tours catering specifically for the over-50s market.

The Prime Adventures website retains some visual elements of The Adventure Company brand but it has its own distinct look and feel.

Mindful of Prime Adventures’ target market, Netizen Digital has paid close attention to aspects of accessibility such as easy text resizing options, as well as an icon-based grading system to indicate the level of physical exertion required on each tour.

Maximum usability has been achieved by providing users with flexible paths of navigation. The site offers specific product search options, theme based browsing, and geographic based browsing.

The website makes full use of Netizen Digital’s interactive mapping solutions to deliver a compelling online experience to its customers. The site’s interactive maps provide users with detailed tour information and images. Crucially, a Google Earth integration layer allows users to click from a specific tour details page directly through to the details of the tour displayed on Google Earth.

The mapping functionality allows visitors to get a unique geographical feel for the locations of these holidays and it captures the sense of the fun and adventure that is fundamental to The Adventure Company’s brand. The Adventure Company has already had success with Google Earth on its main website: it has been responsible for a 5% uplift in website traffic as well as a significant presence in the natural search listings for Google Earth key terms.

The Adventure Company’s head of online marketing Keith Lavender commented, “We are very excited about this new brand and already in the first week we have seen our website ‘take-off’. We had looked at the travel industry and realised the importance of the internet to this sector of the market. The so called ‘Silver surfers’ are happy to embrace new technology such as Google Earth and Live Chat. All of our tours are specially designed and the average group size is just 12 which is a first in this market. ”

Netizen Digital MD Lewis Lenssen said, “As niche markets such as active over 50s travellers move online, travel companies need to think carefully about providing an online presence tailored to their needs and expectations. In Prime Adventures we have developed a website that is attuned to the needs of this expanding group of online travel buyers.

Lewis added, “The Google Earth functionality is a great example of how companies can use technology to find innovative, engaging ways to present their products. Prime Adventures’ Google Earth integration layer encourages its users to form strong emotional connections to their chosen tours and destinations.”

Netizen Digital and The Adventure Company win Travolution Award

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Netizen Digital and our client The Adventure Company were presented with the award for Best Use of Technology at the inaugural Travolution Awards at London’s Landmark Hotel last night.

The prize was awarded jointly to Netizen Digital and specialist tour operator The Adventure Company, for the implementation of a Google Earth integration layer on its website www.adventurecompany.co.uk. In the words of the Travolution judges the entry demonstrated, “an innovative use of Google Earth which appeals to the target audience, adding an enormous amount of value to the user experience.”

Over 260 people from 44 companies attended the sell-out event which was organised by online travel trade magazine Travolution. The awards sought to pay tribute to companies who have brought innovation, re-invention and business changes in the online travel space over the last year.

Netizen Digital was also short-listed for Best Agency for Website Design for various projects throughout 2006, and another of our clients, ski specialist Erna Low, was nominated for the Best Tour Operator Website award, for www.ernalow.co.uk, which was also designed and developed by Netizen Digital.

The Winning Entry

The Adventure Company’s Google Maps integration layer allows its visitors to interact with its products in a unique and compelling environment. Visitors with Google earth installed on their machines click on the appropriate button and Google Earth automatically initiates, displaying the Adventure Company branding and full product overlay.

Google Earth perfectly complements the website’s content and the company’s overall offering. It allows visitors to get a unique geographical feel for the locations of these holidays and it captures the sense of the fun and adventure that is key to The Adventure Company brand.

Crucially, the integration layer has been responsible for a 5% uplift in website traffic as well as a significant increase in the website stickiness. The Adventure Company has also achieved a significant presence in the natural search listings for Google Earth key terms.

A long-running relationship

Netizen Digital and The Adventure Company have worked together since 2004 when Netizen was hired to design and develop a new Adventure Company website, using its Mosaic web development platform. Since its launch, www.adventurecompany.co.uk has delivered a sales increase of over 100%, and it was last year shortlisted for The Guardian travel awards Best travel website award.

Earlier this month Netizen Digital designed and developed a further website for the Adventure Company - www.primeadventures.co.uk, - to sell its new programme of tours for active over-50s. Prime Adventures was conceived after The Adventure Company’s customer feedback revealed a significant demand for tours catering specifically for the over-50s market.

Jetnav launches Google maps tool

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Netizen Digital has developed a new Google Maps integration layer for flight information provider www.jetnav.co.uk, that integrates directly with online hotel reservation agency www.booking.com.

Launched in 2006 Jetnav provides comprehensive worldwide airline schedules, with coverage of over 95% of all available flights, from one single source. Covering all airlines from budget to national flag carriers, the site also delivers details of new flight schedules as well as general air travel news.

The site gives visitors a range of navigational paths to find flights and check the routes of specific airports, as well as providing alternative routes and airports when a preferred flight is not available.The Google Maps integration layer provides a quick and convenient way of finding flights and routes. For example when a user searches for a flight from a particular airport, but the search fails to find a match, the Google maps integration layer automatically displays all UK airports within 250km of the original choice, that do operate a route to the selected destination.

The Google Maps integration layer provides a quick and convenient way of finding flights and routes. For example when a user searches for a flight from a particular airport, but the search fails to find a match, the Google maps integration layer automatically displays all UK airports within 250km of the original choice, that do operate a route to the selected destination.

Importantly, when flight routes are successfully identified, Jetnav’s Google maps now automatically show the locations of the twenty nearest hotels around the departure (or arrival) airport. When the user hovers over a particular hotel, details such as a hotel description, images and user ratings, are displayed. This live content is pulled into the Google maps application direct from Jatnav’s partner booking.com. Users can then click through to booking.com to check availability and make a booking.

Jetnav MD Chris Mallard said, “We are committed to delivering the best user experience to our website visitors. The Google maps integration layer has simplified the way our visitors find flights and routes. The hotel details now provide visitors with a quick and convenient way to find and evaluate accommodation, and this represents a significant opportunity for Jetnav.”

Netizen Digital MD Lewis Lenssen added, “Our work with Jetnav is a great example of how we can implement innovative technology to make it easier for website visitors to find the information that they need and to help travel companies develop their businesses.”

Search truths revealed at Travel Distribution Summit ‘07

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The Netizen Digital team were out in force for the Travel Distribution Summit at London’s Business Design Centre last month. The annual summit is a major international event for technology, pricing and marketing professionals from the travel sector. It provides a unique opportunity to learn from the leaders in online travel marketing, CRM, revenue management and travel distribution technology.

The summit featured an exhibition, as well as an unrivalled programme of workshops and conference sessions, which included a presentation from Netizen Digital Sales Director Laurence Knopf, entitled ‘The truth about Travel Search’.

Addressing a packed auditorium, Laurence spoke of the need for travel companies to better understand the search behaviour of their customers. He encouraged companies to look at their customers’ entire search journeys in order to identify the relative value of online marketing campaigns and optimise them accordingly. He commented, “In an industry where margin can often be very slim it is vital that every opportunity to improve the ROI is taken.”

Download Laurence's presentation here.

Travel Weekly: Are you coming out on top?

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Ross Bentley explains how brushing up on your knowledge of search engine technology will ensure your company ranks higher in online searches

It is widely recognised that any travel company that wants to flourish online must understand how to get the most from the major Internet search engines.

According to figures from online market intelligence firm Hitwise, Google accounts for a massive 78% of UK Internet searches; Yahoo! Search for 8.6%; MSN Search (including Live) for 5.5%; and Ask.com for 5%.

As Google ads are shown on Ask, companies that exploit Google, Yahoo! and MSN can pretty much cover the entire UK search engine landscape.

The most predictable way to get your name up the rankings is to bid for certain keywords pertinent to your product or business. If your bid is one of the highest for that particular keyword, a link to your website will appear in a prominent position on a results page when that phrase or word is searched for.

This advertising model is called pay-per-click because for every click on your link you have to pay the amount you bid, which can be anything from 1p to £1 or more.

Head of IT at excursion ticketing specialist Attraction World, Peter Barnsley, said knowing what words and bids represent value for money becomes more apparent over time after you have played around with the bidding systems.

According to Barnsley, as a rule, a phrase with fewer words may drive more trac to your site but it is bound to cost you more, and result in a lower conversion rate. For example, the search term ‘cheap hotels’ is bound to be expensive because there will be a lot of competition for that phrase, but because it is very general, a lower percentage of people are likely to go on and book a room. If, however, you are bidding for a phrase such as ‘meditation weekends in the Hebrides’ your bidding price will be considerably lower and those that click on your link are likely to be far more serious about booking a break.

But as competition to appear on search pages has become more cutthroat, so search engine marketing strategies have become more sophisticated. At Netizen Digital, a new media company, managing director Lewis Lenssen says the current thinking is based around understanding the complicated search process that today’s websavvy consumers go through.

This is done by tracking users’ online actions and building a profile of habits. “It may not be as simple as them doing one search and then buying; a lot of users do five or six searches – refining it each time – before they buy,” he said.

For example, someone may initially look for ‘hotels in Spain’ and then, after they have decided where they want to go, input ‘hotels in Marbella’. They might then wait a few days before searching for, perhaps, ‘hotels near the beach in Marbella’.

Lenssen says travel companies equipped with this knowledge may decide to spread their bidding over a wider range of terms “to catch their customer early on”.

Of course, where pay-per-click falls down is that many users are suspicious of the findings because they are paid for. Search marketing consultant Mike Grehan says it is generally thought that 40% of searchers use the sponsored links, compared with the 60% that go for the natural search results.

But trying to score a high ranking on natural search is a lot less predictable and requires the use of search engine optimisation, such as registering your website with directory services, and manipulating website architecture and content.

Grehan says a new development is Google’s Universal Search, which now recognises images and videos as part of a general search. “Video and images on a website can now improve search rankings,” he said.

Closing the Digital Divide

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The increase in broadband penetration across Europe is transforming the leisure and communications habits of older generations according to a recent study by the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA).

The study revealed that 68% of all European internet users aged 55 years and over now use broadband at their main point of internet connection. Broadband adoption amongst this group is growing at a faster rate than the average European internet user (26% year on year growth compared to 14%).

This older demographic now spends an average of 8.8 hours online per week - a growth of 18% since 2004 - and 78% of the time they spend online is for personal reasons rather than work.

The increased leisure time and disposable income of this group means that travel and holiday websites are particularly popular. 60% visit travel websites and 55% visit holiday sites (7% and 6% higher than the average European internet users respectively). The good news for travel companies is that the so-called ‘silver surfers’ are increasingly comfortable buying online, with 47% having bought travel tickets and 32% having bought a holiday online.

Dispelling the myth that social networks are the exclusive domain of the young, nearly one in five (18%) visit sites such as MySpace and Bebo at least once a month – which isn’t so far behind the younger digital generation (16-34 year old internet users), 28% of whom regularly access social networking sites.

Keeping up to date with current affairs and news is increasingly popular, with nearly two thirds of silver surfers visiting online news sites (61%). Search and email stand out as the most popular online activities, with 83% regularly carrying out both.

Times Online Website of the Week: Door 2 Tour

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Coach tour specialist Door2tour.com was recently selected as Website of the Week by The Times Online. The website, which was designed and developed by Netizen Digital last year, features a searchable database of day trips, sightseeing tours and holidays across Europe.

The site provides a wealth of rich coach destination and attraction content, as well as tour itineraries, pricing and availability information.

The site makes innovative use of our Google maps integration solution. When you enter your postcode the Google map automatically locates and displays the operator that provides the closest pick-up points to your home.

The Times Online praised Door2tour’s, “intuitive navigation, clean design, extensive information on each trip and on the destinations featured, including rich content, the live availability.”

The website scored an outstanding nine out of ten for both web design and navigation, and eight out of ten for content and fulfillment.

Read the full review here.

Erna Low wins Homes Overseas Best Website Award

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

We’re delighted to announce that our client Erna Low has won the silver Best Website Award for its property website at this year’s Homes Overseas Awards.

Erna Low Property, which has expanded significantly this year, also scooped gold awards for Best Small Agency and Best International Agency and silver for Best in-house PR.

2007 has seen a string of industry recognition for websites built by Netizen Digital, including the Travolution Award for Best use of Technology and the recent selection of coach tour specialist Door2tour.com as Website of the Week by the Times Online.