Promoting your UK tourism business on the internet -
ads FAQs
Tourism advertising on the internet is an effective way to
promote UK tourist businesses. Adverts are placed in an eye
catching ad box where they're potentially seen by our many website
visitors (290k page views in 2011) already looking for similar tourism
possibilities - 'warm' prospects who've arrived after doing an internet
search with related keywords. They read the advert and can follow
the website link. Bingo, another potential customer!
Our FAQs below should help answer some queries, see also our
main UK tourism & travel advertising
details page.
How long have you been around?
Our tourism site's been around for over 10 years now, but
we've only been offering ads for the last few. Of course, being
early with an advert means less dilution and a prime (nearer the top)
page position!
What advantages do you
offer over other online ad models such as CPC?
- more generous character count for your ad's text
- flexibility to run link from your chosen keywords
- fixed, known cost in advance - assists with accurate ad
budgeting
- position on page governed by chronological date of ad order
rather than cost model
- you know exactly where your ad is displayed on the internet
- less likely to be affected by ad blocking software
- 'ad blindness' is likely to be less prevalent
Can I have more than one ad?
Yes of course. You may wish to word each advert
differently to maximise impact. Each ad will be costed
individually and we give a 5 percent discount per additional ad.
This discount also applies for agents placing tourism ads for multiple
clients.
What ads don't you allow?
Ads for totally unrelated sites, animated logos, web widgets, ad
hyperlinks to sites that appear to use underhand ranking methods and
any ads (or links) that could compromise our site's integrity (see our
terms & conditions, below). We require ads to comply with
the Committee of
Advertising Practice (part of the ASA) online marketing
communication code of practice.
Can I devise my own ad box style?
Sorry, it's not possible at this time to entertain an
advertiser's own advert style. However, we're open to suggestions
and may introduce bespoke facilities in the future.
Is the ad box style restricted by business type?
No, just choose whichever ad box you feel suits your tourism
business best. Any style can have your logo or image and web link
within.
I've heard people use ad blocking software? How do
you overcome this?
We do try to ensure maximum visibility, but as the whole point of ad
blocking software is to, er, block ads there's little else we can do to
defeat this. Indeed, to do so may have legal issues.
I only need my ad live for part of the year, eg. for the
summer tourist season.
We're happy to quote a pro-rata rate.
How do I place my logo or image on my ad?
Simply provide us with the URL (web address) where we can
download it, or email it to us and we'll do the rest. It goes
without saying that your image must be 'family safe'. We'll
re-size it to around a max 100 pixels width or 65 pixels height -
similar to the images you see in our sample ads. Note that any
small text within a logo may not be readable, although we do sharpen
the image.
How do I write effective ad copy?
Briefly, you need to incorporate relevant keywords (to your target
URL) within a concise title and description that encourages
click-throughs. It's best to avoid stuff that may quickly become
time-expired. Run your link from the most directly related
keyword phrase within. It's well worth spending some time to
carefully compile your ad's text - there's plenty of ad writing
resources on the web to help.
Note that, with few exceptions, your ad copy must be written
in normal, correctly spaced English with correct grammar, punctuation
and spellings and with no consecutive capitalisation (except things
like UK, VAT, CCTV, etc) or repeated words. Any claims and offers
made within an ad must be substantiated (eg. on your website).
What if I need to change my ad's text later on?
We're happy to make occasional small changes (eg. once or
twice in any paid for period) to your advert free of charge. We
can also add a link later if you don't have a resource to link to at
the time of advert booking.
How can I monitor click-throughs from my ad's link?
Check your web server logs, website statistics or analytics
for referrers from: micbinks.co.uk At this low cost we don't
undertake to provide stats. However, you can always tag your ad's
target URL with a query string for campaign tracking.
Would the link to my site be 'search engine friendly'?
Absolutely! It will be a simple text link fully
spiderable by the internet search engines. We would only block
search engine access if it became apparent your site is using underhand
optimisation techniques.
Do you require a link back to your website?
It's not compulsory, but if you feel our content is useful to
your visitors then please feel free to link. This could help
bring us both more traffic!
I don't have a website to link to, but would like to
provide further details
We can provide you with a page on this site which will be
linked to from your ad and our site map. On that page you can
provide your visitors with all the details you wish, including your
branding, a selection of images, map link (even Google Maps API), email
link, contact details, etc.
I'd like to create a simple website for my tourism
business, can you help?
Yes we can! Please see our web
development site. We have a number of years experience
designing and promoting tourist related websites for our business
clients.
I need some images for my tourism website, can you help?
You bet! We can supply
royalty free images of Britain from our ever expanding extensive
stock.
Can you issue an invoice / receipt for my advert's cost?
Yes, and a receipt will be issued electronically by email on
completion.
How do I pay and do your ad rates include VAT?
We use PayPal to handle ad payments securely. This minimises your
admin overhead and payments can be made directly from your PayPal
account or by credit / debit card. We're not required to charge
VAT as, thanks to our low tourist ad rates, our turnover's below the
VAT threshold.
Are you a registered business?
Yes, Mike Potter is a registered Sole Trader t/a micbinks who's main
business is website promotion, copywriting and content
optimisation. Belinda assists in the office between her day job!
There's more details and an advert order form on our advertising page.
All internet ads are placed
subject to our terms and conditions which can be downloaded
here (19KB) 
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