FareHarbor Compass is exclusively for FareHarbor clients. Please use your FareHarbor login to access Compass.

Last Updated: April 16, 2024

All Skill Levels

4 minute read

Digital Marketing
SEO
Websites

The Types of Photos You Must Include on Your Tour or Activity Site

Your website serves as more than just an online brochure for your tour and activity business—it’s your primary sales tool. To stand out and attract the right audience, you must effectively showcase what you have…

Last Updated: March 25, 2024

Intermediate

4 minute read

Industry Insights
Websites

Designing Tour Itineraries That Captivate and Convert

Creating a compelling and well-structured tour/activity itinerary can be the key to unlocking a memorable customer experience. It’s more than just a schedule of events; it provides potential customers with an engaging snapshot of what…

Last Updated: March 13, 2024

Beginner

4 minute read

Business Management Tips
Digital Marketing
Websites

Rebranding Your Business? A Roadmap to a Successful Transformation

So, you’ve decided to rebrand your business. Whether it just feels like the right time, or you recently read the previous Compass guide on determining whether to rebrand, you’re ready to take the plunge. When…

Last Updated: January 23, 2024

Beginner, Intermediate

6 minute read

Business Management Tips
Digital Marketing
Websites

Top Considerations for Rebranding Your Tour, Activity, or Attraction Business

When you build a business, you must cultivate a strong brand. Not only is this critical to your day-to-day operations, but it generates an emotional connection and memories with your target customers every time they…

Last Updated: January 3, 2024

Beginner, Intermediate

6 minute read

Digital Marketing
Websites

3 Tips to Elevate Your Online Presence in 2024

Staying relevant in the tour, activity, and attraction industry means reaching a targeted audience of potential bookers, especially as you strive to achieve your business goals in 2024. But is your online marketing game up…

Last Updated: December 11, 2023

Beginner, Intermediate

52 minutes

Digital Marketing
Websites

Make GA4 Work For You: Exploring Functionality & Reporting

In this Spark 2023 rewind, FareHarbor’s Alex Neubauer and Rob Sweeney present their session from this year’s Spark conference in Orlando, Florida! This is one of several select on-demand sessions from Spark 2023. Delve into…

Last Updated: November 15, 2023

Intermediate, Advanced

8 minute read

Business Management Tips
Digital Marketing
Websites

5 Success Strategies to Try in Your Off Season

Ah, the off season. That time of the year when your Colorado kayaking company needs to take a break from the cold weather or your Arizona hiking tour has to stop to avoid heatstroke in…

Last Updated: October 25, 2023

Beginner, Intermediate

11 minute read

Business Management Tips
Websites

Seasonal Shift: Transforming Your Summer Business for Winter Sales

Have you ever thought about diversifying your business to take advantage of the winter season? If you traditionally offer summer or warm-weather activities, you might be wondering what you can do to capitalize on the…

Last Updated: October 20, 2023

All Skill Levels

5 minute read

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Websites

Insider Insights: 3 Conversion Techniques From the FareHarbor Team

At FareHarbor, our #1 goal is to help you increase your conversion rate with everything from simple Dashboard adjustments to in-depth Compass guides or full-fledged strategy updates. So we sat down with our Director of…

Last Updated: October 19, 2023

Beginner, Intermediate

10 minute read

Business Management Tips
Websites

Website Tip: Create a Gift Cards & Special Offers Page to Drive Sales

As a tour operator or activity provider, many of your customers find your business from your primary marketing channels. But it can help to leverage other methods of driving bookings, especially during the holidays when…

Last Updated: September 28, 2023

Beginner, Intermediate

6 minute read

Digital Marketing
Pay-Per-Click
Websites

Maximize Your GA4 Data Insights with Google Signals

Getting comfortable with the many new aspects of GA4 (Google Analytics) may seem a bit overwhelming. That is why our team at FareHarbor wants to ensure you get all the critical details needed to maximize…

Last Updated: October 8, 2023

Intermediate, Advanced

9 minute read

Digital Marketing
Websites

Data Insights Made Easy: An Introduction to Looker Studio

Reporting can feel like a very daunting task. Updating sheets every month and pulling out important insights takes up a lot of time. If you identify with those statements, we encourage you to start using…

Last Updated: August 11, 2023

Beginner, Intermediate

10 minute read

Digital Marketing
Websites

GA4 Audience Guide: How to Use Suggested & Custom Audiences

We have covered the details of getting past any mistakes you may make in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in a previous article you may want to check out. Now, we want to dive a bit…

Last Updated: August 25, 2023

Intermediate, Advanced

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Reputation Management
Websites

From Clicks to Bookings: The Ultimate Conversion Playbook

As a FareHarbor client and activity operator, you likely share our affinity for conversions. Improving your conversion rate is all about turning website “lookers” into bookers. You’re probably doing everything you can to drive bookings,…

All Skill Levels

8 minute read

Content Marketing
SEO
Websites

What Does Google’s Helpful Content System Mean for Your Website?

Google currently has a market share of roughly 85% of all online searches. That means the massive search engine is visited over 89.3 billion times a month for everything from “things to do near me”…

Last Updated: June 28, 2023

Intermediate, Advanced

55 minutes

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Industry Insights
SEO
Websites

Be The Booker: A Live Workshop to Drive Your Online Conversions

During this session, our website experts reviewed client sites LIVE to share insights that turn lookers into bookers.

All Skill Levels

10 minute read

SEO
Websites

Google Analytics: What It Is & Why You Need It (Updated for GA4)

Google Analytics is one of the most popular and useful digital marketing tools you should have in your arsenal—and it’s free to use! This tool has an abundance of uses but broadly speaking it allows…

Last Updated: May 25, 2023

Beginner

5 minute read

Digital Marketing
Websites

5 Free Digital Marketing Tools to Help You Grow

To be successful in your digital marketing strategy, you need the right tools to get the job done. You might feel that you don’t have much space in your budget for marketing software, but there…

Last Updated: May 12, 2023

Beginner, Intermediate

9 minute read

Industry Insights
SEO
Websites

6 Sources of Web Traffic for Tour and Activity Sites

Putting together a beautiful website is no simple task. However, getting the right visitors to come to your site (and book) is a whole other undertaking. You already know how important it is to have…

Last Updated: April 24, 2023

Beginner

7 minute read

SEO
Websites

One Element Your SEO Strategy is Missing: The Power of AI

By now you have probably heard the buzz about generative AI, like ChatGPT, Bing Chat, or Google’s Bard, but you might not be sure how to leverage this new technology to grow your business. In…

All Skill Levels

8 minute read

Dashboard & FareHarbor
SEO
Websites

The Full Guide to Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a new analytics service designed for the next era of online user behavior. It provides you with a complete view of your customers’ journey across devices, as well as essential…

Last Updated: April 20, 2023

All Skill Levels

49 minutes

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Digital Marketing
SEO
Websites

GA4 and FareHarbor: Understanding the New Integration

In this session, our in-house experts will walk you through GA4 best practices, key metrics, new reporting, and integrations with Google Ads. Operating under GDPR? Please read this FAQ with important information regarding using cookie consent managers…

Last Updated: March 24, 2023

All Skill Levels

8 minute read

Digital Marketing
Email Marketing
Industry Insights
Websites

The Early Bird Gets the Worm: Tactics to Drive Early Season Bookings

When your busy season or event is just around the corner, you’re likely filled with anticipation for the upcoming months. And you’re not alone—potential customers are eagerly planning their summer or winter activities and are…

Last Updated: March 16, 2023

All Skill Levels

54 minutes

Industry Insights
SEO
Websites

Be The Booker: A Live Workshop To Improve Your Website

During this live workshop, our experts reviewed websites submitted by you, our clients, to give insight on what turns lookers into bookers. We also covered website design best practices and tips for guiding customers to…

Last Updated: March 7, 2023

All Skill Levels

4 minute read

Digital Marketing
SEO
Websites

Google Optimize Won’t Be Available After September 2023—Here’s What You Need to Do

Starting on September 30, 2023, Google Optimize will no longer be available. All tests and personalizations will also end on that date. Not to worry though—Google plans to incorporate similar features and solutions of Google…

Last Updated: March 14, 2023

All Skill Levels

Business Management Tips
Reputation Management
Websites

How to Make Your Business Look More Professional

In most cases, a customer’s first interaction with your business will be online — whether that be your website, Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business profile), review sites like Yelp, and more.…

Last Updated: January 27, 2023

Beginner

7 minute read

Digital Marketing
Social Media
Websites

7 Ways to Use Canva in Your Marketing Materials

Are you interested in creating marketing materials at a lower cost? From social media posts to email graphics and edited photos, professional design work is often pricey and time consuming—but it doesn’t have to be! …

Last Updated: January 11, 2023

Beginner, Intermediate

6 minute read

Digital Marketing
Industry Insights
Websites

8 Ideas Tour Operators Can Use to Evoke Luxury in Their Brand

Luxury or upscale experiences are a trend in 2023! From private sailing charters to exclusive wine tastings, these activities come in many shapes and sizes, giving you so many opportunities to market them to the…

Last Updated: December 30, 2022

All Skill Levels

3 minute read

SEO
Websites

Google Search Results Continuously Scroll on Desktop & Mobile

What happens when you get to the bottom of the Google search results page? In the past, if you didn’t find a result you were looking for, you might have typed in a different query…

Last Updated: January 27, 2023

All Skill Levels

75 minutes

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Industry Insights
Websites

Optimize Your Website: Understanding Performance and Leveraging Your Data

Discover simple ways to make more online bookings. Keeping your site up to date and analyzing performance is just the start!

Last Updated: January 24, 2023

Advanced

56 minutes

Content Marketing
SEO
Websites

Annual Check Up: Optimize Your Website & SEO

Learn how to drive organic traffic to your site (which also increases sales!) with SEO and quality content writing.

Last Updated: January 18, 2023

Beginner, Intermediate

43 minutes

Content Marketing
Digital Marketing
Social Media
Websites

Enhance Your Marketing Strategy with Canva & Goal Setting

Find out the importance of a detailed marketing strategy and how simple design elements can make your brand pop.

Last Updated: December 13, 2022

Beginner, Intermediate

43 minutes

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Industry Insights
Websites

Captivate, Optimize, Sell: Proven Strategies to Turn Your Lookers Into Bookers

Your website is your 24/7 salesperson – are you making the most of it? In order to turn your online lookers into bookers, you have to captivate your visitor from the beginning, optimize your content,…

Last Updated: December 7, 2023

All Skill Levels

26 minutes

Digital Marketing
Industry Insights
Websites

[Spark Virtual] Be Your Own Customer – Simple Steps To Understand Your Customers’ Booking Journey

We explore the three phases a customer goes through before booking activities, providing you with actionable takeaways to help improve your business’ online presence. From the dreaming phase to the booking phase, understanding customer touch…

Last Updated: December 13, 2022

All Skill Levels

28 minutes

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Industry Insights
Websites

[Spark Virtual] Increase Your Automated Bookings with ASN Book Buttons

Use your partners’ websites to maximise your online exposure and generate more bookings. By the end of this session, you’ll have an understanding of what ASN buttons are, the benefits of using them, and how…

Last Updated: December 9, 2022

All Skill Levels

6 minute read

Content Marketing
Websites

Best Practices For Writing Website Copy

You may think it’s just words, but having quality and effective content on your website can either help a customer make a booking or make them go back to the search engine. Website copy should…

Last Updated: January 31, 2023

Beginner

29 minutes

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Industry Insights
Websites

[Spark Virtual] How You Can Build Trust Throughout the Customer Journey

Your website is an extension of your business, so it is critical that it is set up in a way that builds trust with your customer. We are going to take a journey in the…

Last Updated: January 31, 2023

Beginner, Intermediate

29 minutes

SEO
Websites

[Spark Virtual] Ranking On Google. Keep It Simple.

Appearing in the top results of a Google search is a great way to increase online bookings. We cover what you should take into account, including how to write an attractive meta description and title…

Last Updated: November 21, 2022

Beginner, Intermediate

6 minute read

Digital Marketing
Industry Insights
Websites

Attract More Group Bookings & Keep Them Running Smoothly

While group bookings can open the door to more customers and revenue, many operators worry they can sometimes be difficult to deal with. There’s often a lot to juggle in terms of payments, expectations, start…

Last Updated: October 7, 2022

Beginner, Intermediate

6 minute read

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Digital Marketing
Websites

Improve Your Conversion Rate Using Online Reference Tags and FareHarbor Reporting

For most tour operators, their top priority for their website is turning clicks into customers – in other words, having a high conversion rate. A fundamental part of driving conversions is analyzing your current performance…

Last Updated: September 28, 2022

Intermediate, Advanced

10 minute read

SEO
Websites

The Other Search Engine: Bing

In most of our SEO guides, you hear us talk about how to optimize for Google, the biggest search engine out there with around 83% of the search engine market share (Statista). But there’s another…

Last Updated: August 31, 2022

Beginner

7 minute read

SEO
Websites

Google Troubleshooting: Why Was My Page Deindexed?

When you publish a new page to your website, it gets indexed by Google. The Google crawler analyzes the page for content and meaning and stores it in the index. This way it will show…

Last Updated: July 27, 2022

Intermediate

6 minute read

Digital Marketing
Websites

7 Tips to Create a Great Company Logo

A logo represents a company and its brand identity. As with all of your marketing assets, your logo should be on brand with your chosen color scheme, fonts, and images. This will help distinguish your…

Last Updated: July 20, 2022

Beginner

Business Management Tips
Industry Insights
Websites

Checklist: Reduce Customer Calls with These Simple Website Updates

Your busy season will always be your most frenzied time of year, and you may notice a major increase in customer phone calls. This could be an indication that they cannot find the answers they…

Last Updated: February 21, 2023

Intermediate

30 minutes

Websites

Website Tips to Reduce Call Volume and Drive Conversions

Is your phone ringing off the hook? Save time (and stop those calls in their tracks) by making a few easy website updates. Questions about things like what to bring, where to meet, and what…

Last Updated: March 7, 2023

Intermediate

8 minute read

Business Management Tips
Websites

Tailor Your Website with Google Optimize

March 2023 update: Please note Google Optimize will be discontinued in September 2023. Head over to this guide for details on what this means for your website, how to save your data, and what tools…

Last Updated: May 20, 2022

Intermediate

7 minute read

SEO
Websites

You Don’t Have to Rank Number One on Google – Really!

We’ve long been conditioned to equate SEO success with ranking – a website’s position on the search engine results page (SERP) for a given keyword. It’s only natural to strive for the top spot. We’ve…

Last Updated: May 18, 2022

All Skill Levels

8 minute read

Reputation Management
SEO
Websites

3 Questions to Ask Yourself When Creating an SEO Strategy

There are so many different aspects to SEO, from technical considerations like schema markup to content, keywords, and local strategies. So when you’re putting together your SEO strategy, it can be difficult to know where…

Last Updated: May 11, 2022

Beginner

7 minute read

Content Marketing
Digital Marketing
Websites

6 Writing Tools to Make You a Content Pro

Developing successful content doesn’t happen overnight. From researching your audience to analyzing search intent and choosing the right keywords, there’s always room for improvement when creating content for your website. When you spend a lot…

Last Updated: April 6, 2022

All Skill Levels

6 minute read

Business Management Tips
Websites

5 Pages to Add to Your Tour Business Website

You’re probably familiar with the must-have pages that ensure a great user experience on your website, like a contact page and home page. Apart from these common inclusions, there are several other pages you should…

Last Updated: March 23, 2022

Beginner, Intermediate

10 minute read

Digital Marketing
Industry Insights
Websites

Travel Trend: Marketing to Solo Travelers

Traveling alone is a unique and exciting experience that everyone from Baby Boomers to Gen Zers is eager to have, creating a valuable opportunity for tour and activity operators. Marketing to solo travelers is a…

Last Updated: February 24, 2022

All Skill Levels

5 minute read

Content Marketing
SEO
Websites

Google’s Passage Ranking Update: What Does it Mean for My Site?

An update from Google in 2021 changed how the search engine indexes and ranks web pages. Known as the Passage Ranking update, this change means that Google now ranks specific passages of content in addition…

Last Updated: February 23, 2022

Intermediate

5 minute read

Content Marketing
Digital Marketing
Websites

Your Brief Guide to Using Anchor Text

If you’ve spent some time perusing FareHarbor Compass, you’ve likely noticed us using anchor text. Anchor text is the text used in a link. It might say “learn more,” “our favorite kayak routes,” or “find…

Last Updated: January 19, 2022

Beginner

8 minute read

Content Marketing
Industry Insights
Websites

How to Make Your UX Writing More Inclusive & Accessible

You’ve heard us say many times that your website is your number one sales tool. When a user lands on your website, you have a chance to convert them into a customer through great copy,…

Last Updated: December 10, 2021

All Skill Levels

8 minute read

SEO
Websites

Reclaim & Replace Broken Links: Two Winning Link Building Strategies

If you’ve been working on a link building strategy, you know it takes time to gain quality backlinks to your website. But inevitably, some backlinks will become broken over time, either because the page doesn’t…

Last Updated: December 2, 2021

Intermediate, Advanced

5 minute read

SEO
Websites

Ultimate SEO Series Part 3: Analytics & Tracking

After putting the time and effort into improving your site’s SEO, you’ll surely want to know how your site is performing! Has your site moved up in position on the SERP for your target keyword?…

Last Updated: December 2, 2021

Intermediate, Advanced

11 minute read

SEO
Websites

Ultimate SEO Series Part 1: On-Page SEO

On-page SEO covers the content on your individual web pages as well as the HTML source code of a page. While off-page SEO refers to technical topics like links and other external signals, on-page SEO…

Last Updated: December 2, 2021

All Skill Levels

15 minute read

SEO
Websites

Ultimate SEO Series Part 2: Technical SEO

There are so many different categories of search engine optimization – hopefully, you’ve checked out part one of our Ultimate SEO Guide that covers on-page SEO – and technical SEO is one of the most important…

Last Updated: October 11, 2021

Intermediate, Advanced

7 minute read

Websites

The Truth About Web Accessibility: Don’t Fall for These 5 Myths

Web accessibility can feel overwhelming if you’re just learning about it for the first time, especially as you parse out laws, guidelines, and misconceptions. You may think it’s too complicated, time-consuming, or just not that…

Last Updated: September 30, 2021

Beginner

5 minute read

Content Marketing
SEO
Websites

Try Google’s New Content Data Experience: Search Console Insights

Understanding how your content is performing in the search engine results page (SERP) isn’t always a straightforward process. Whether you’re new to tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console or you’ve just mastered the…

Last Updated: September 15, 2021

Intermediate

19 minute read

Business Management Tips
SEO
Websites

Using Google Analytics Reports to Improve Organic Traffic & Conversions

Many tour operators — and all types of business owners — base business decisions off of metrics such as weekly sales accruals, customer feedback, and gut feelings. But when you’re looking to build your bottom…

Last Updated: August 27, 2021

Intermediate, Advanced

10 minute read

Digital Marketing
SEO
Websites

Link Building Tip: Use a Domain Authority Checker to Find the Best Sites

One of the most important steps of link building is finding websites or bloggers whose content resonates with you – or better yet, with your audience. But before you take the leap and reach out…

Last Updated: August 12, 2021

Intermediate, Advanced

6 minute read

SEO
Websites

Everything You Need to Know about Google’s June & July (2021) Core Updates

Another Google algorithm update? That’s right! While Google typically does not share what changes to expect from algorithm updates, SEO experts believe that the June and July Core Updates, like most others, focused on quality…

Last Updated: August 19, 2021

Intermediate, Advanced

7 minute read

Digital Marketing
Pay-Per-Click
Websites

Level Up Your Analytics: Get to Know Google Tag Manager

If you do any tracking on your website or social media profiles (using tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel), you’re probably familiar with tags. These snippets of code help you collect data by specifying…

Last Updated: August 3, 2021

Advanced

13 minute read

Business Management Tips
Websites

Stop Hackers: How to Maintain a Secure Tour Website

Your tour or activity website is your time to shine — it’s where you get to show the world what’s fun and unique about the experiences you offer — and you’ve probably spent a lot…

Last Updated: July 29, 2021

Beginner, Intermediate

Pay-Per-Click
SEO
Social Media
Websites

Checklist: Easy Ways to Improve Your Online Presence & Expand Your Reach

What’s the first thing you do when you need a product or service? If you’re like the 85% of consumers who conduct research online before they make a purchase (Forbes), you probably head to the…

Last Updated: July 23, 2021

All Skill Levels

9 minute read

SEO
Websites

8 Ways to Reduce Your Website’s Bounce Rate

Keeping users engaged on your website for longer sessions is essential for boosting conversions and improving user experience. If you’ve read our guide on bounce rate and engagement rate in Google Analytics, you know that…

Last Updated: July 23, 2021

All Skill Levels

9 minute read

SEO
Websites

Breaking Down Bounce Rate & Engagement Rate in Google Analytics

Have you noticed a high bounce rate when analyzing your website data on Google Analytics? If so, you might be wondering how important this metric really is and what it means for your website traffic.…

Last Updated: July 8, 2021

Intermediate

7 minute read

Content Marketing
SEO
Social Media
Websites

Separating SEO Fact from Fiction: Don’t Fall for These 4 SEO Myths

Misinformation is unfortunately common in the world of SEO. From buying backlinks to using exact-match keywords, SEO misconceptions can be confusing and distract you from the main goal of SEO – to drive more visitors…

Last Updated: June 18, 2021

All Skill Levels

10 minute read

Business Management Tips
Local Strategies
SEO
Websites

Translating Your Website? Ask Yourself These 6 Questions First

It’s common in our industry for businesses to be multilingual. A tour operator in Puerto Rico often speaks both Spanish and English, while an operator in the Netherlands might speak Dutch, English, and German (among…

Last Updated: June 24, 2021

All Skill Levels

13 minute read

SEO
Websites

SEO Best Practices for Multi-Language Websites

In the tourism industry, it’s common for businesses to have websites in more than one language. For example, if you run a sightseeing tour business in England, you may have English, French, and Spanish versions…

All Skill Levels

3 minute read

Dashboard & FareHarbor
SEO
Websites

GA Upgrade: Meet The New Google Analytics 4

Any Google Analytics user must be aware of the latest update regarding this tool—Google Analytics 4 is the newest version of Google Analytics, and your original or current Universal Analytics property was deprecated on July…

Last Updated: February 15, 2022

All Skill Levels

10 minute read

SEO
Websites

Need to Know: Optimize for Google’s Page Experience Update & Core Web Vitals

A big change came to Google in 2021, with additional updates on the way – specifically, the search engine’s growing emphasis on user experience. In May 2020, Google announced Page Experience, an update to search…

Last Updated: May 28, 2021

All Skill Levels

12 minute read

SEO
Websites

Technical SEO: Understanding and Using Redirects

A redirect allows you to send users and search engines to a URL that is different from the one they originally requested. For example, if you’ve moved your website to a new domain, you don’t…

Last Updated: January 25, 2023

Intermediate, Advanced

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Digital Marketing
SEO
Websites

Daily & Weekly Checklist for Tour & Activity Operators

Seize the day! A busy tour business has lots of moving parts each and every day—from your staff and guests to your marketing and promotions. With such a wide variety of tasks to take care…

Last Updated: July 20, 2021

All Skill Levels

12 minute read

SEO
Websites

Improve Site Speed & Page Load Time with a Google Lighthouse Audit

We’ve all visited a site that takes too long to load and when that happens we navigate away to another site in the SERP. That is a bad experience for the user, and is detrimental…

Last Updated: May 11, 2021

Intermediate, Advanced

Dashboard & FareHarbor
SEO
Websites

Checklist: Tips for Writing Item Descriptions & Activity Pages

Tour or activity descriptions – known as item descriptions in your FareHarbor Dashboard – are one of the most essential aspects of securing a booking. Not only do they cover all the important details like…

Last Updated: April 28, 2021

All Skill Levels

10 minute read

SEO
Websites

Design for Mobile Now: 11 Mobile-First Design Tips

If you’ve read our introductory guide on the importance of mobile-first indexing you already know why it is a critical part of your website and online strategy. The next step is to thoroughly vet your…

Last Updated: April 28, 2021

All Skill Levels

5 minute read

Local Strategies
SEO
Websites

Mobile-First Indexing is Here – Here’s What You Need to Know!

It’s been a while for many of us, but think back to your most recent vacation. Did you bring your laptop along with you? And if you did, did you lug it around with you…

Last Updated: April 13, 2021

All Skill Levels

8 minute read

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Websites

Why You Should Create Activity Pages On Your Website (Rather Than Driving Directly To The FareHarbor Lightframe)

The FareHarbor Lightframe – where online customers browse and complete their booking – offers many benefits to users. From the Lightframe users can see the entire booking process on a single page, and can complete…

Last Updated: August 31, 2021

All Skill Levels

13 minute read

SEO
Websites

The Anatomy of a SERP (Search Engine Results Page)

After browsing our search engine optimization guides, you’ve probably noticed that the term SERP – Search Engine Results Page – comes up somewhat frequently. That’s because an important part of any successful SEO strategy requires…

Last Updated: March 30, 2021

Intermediate, Advanced

12 minute read

Content Marketing
SEO
Websites

How to Rank on the First Page of Google

You’re within striking distance of the coveted first page of Google – you’ve been running periodic SEO audits, creating quality content, and targeting keywords that fit your business – but your site is still hovering…

Last Updated: February 12, 2021

All Skill Levels

11 minute read

Content Marketing
SEO
Websites

Understand Your Competition: Conducting SEO Competitor Analysis Is Easier Than You Think

No matter what kind of tours or activities you provide, it’s essential to know who your competitors are and to be able to identify what makes your business stand out from the competition. Knowing these…

Last Updated: December 15, 2020

All Skill Levels

9 minute read

Digital Marketing
Websites

Up Your Design Game: 8 Free and Easy-to-Use Design Tools

When you run a small business, you often find yourself wearing many hats, including designer and marketer. This can be especially stressful when you don’t have the funds to purchase expensive software or the time…

Last Updated: April 20, 2021

All Skill Levels

10 minute read

SEO
Websites

6 Tips to Write & Design a Winning FAQ Page

One of the top benefits of writing detailed tour/activity descriptions is that it reduces the number of people calling with questions about the experience, freeing up more time for you to manage other aspects of…

Last Updated: December 18, 2020

Beginner, Intermediate

10 minutes

COVID-19 Resources
Local Strategies
Websites

Capturing Lightning in a Bottle: Turn Challenges into Opportunities

This year, the tour, activity, and attraction industry was shaken up like never before, but today, we’re all here because of a shared belief: that we’re capable of bouncing back even stronger. What is the…

Last Updated: July 27, 2021

All Skill Levels

5 minute read

Pay-Per-Click
Websites

Google Analytics Troubleshooting: Connecting GA to Your Google Ads Account

On its own, Google Ads is an excellent platform to manage your paid advertising campaigns and gain visibility in the SERPs. When paired with Google Analytics you gain new insight into how searchers interact with…

Last Updated: October 29, 2020

Intermediate

4 minutes

COVID-19 Resources
Digital Marketing
Websites

The Tour Operator’s Guide: Sharing Health & Safety Standards to Have the Most Impact

With all of the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, customers searching for your business online will likely have a lot of new questions they’d like to have answered before they are comfortable making…

Last Updated: March 25, 2022

All Skill Levels

12 minute read

SEO
Websites

Top 6 Website Mistakes & How to Fix Them

Your website is the first impression of your business, and conducting a web search is a common first step for those looking to make a tour or activity booking. If your website is properly optimized…

Last Updated: October 2, 2020

All Skill Levels

60 minutes

Local Strategies
Websites

Better Data, Better Decisions: Using Consumer Narratives with Google Analytics

Join our Google Analytics experts as we explore different ways you can utilize data to better understand your audience. We’ll walk through the customer journey and dive into consumer narratives based on location. Learn how you…

Last Updated: March 25, 2021

Beginner, Intermediate

11 minute read

Business Management Tips
Websites

Tell Your Story & Connect With Customers With Your Website’s ‘About Us’ Page

Your ‘About Us’ page is one of your first chances to make a good impression on visitors to your website. Potential bookers read your About page to learn who you are, what matters to you,…

Last Updated: July 27, 2023

All Skill Levels

12 minute read

SEO
Websites

Common Google Analytics Mistakes – And How To Fix Them

Let’s start with a simple question—how do you know your website is succeeding without feedback? Data is critical to ensuring your message is delivered to the right audience for your tour, attraction, or activity. Website…

Last Updated: September 28, 2021

All Skill Levels

19 minute read

SEO
Websites

Get to Know Google’s Top 10 Free Website & SEO Tools

Google is the gold standard for search engines, and although they don’t reveal their algorithm secrets, their many free tools provide important indicators and resources to help improve your rankings. Because of this, using Google’s…

Last Updated: April 10, 2024

All Skill Levels

11 minute read

Business Management Tips
SEO
Websites

How to Write a Tour Description That Sells

You know that the experiences you provide are fun, exciting, and memorable —but your potential customers won’t unless you write an impactful tour description that compels them to hit that book button. Writing a tour…

Last Updated: February 25, 2021

All Skill Levels

11 minute read

SEO
Websites

Conversion Tip: Stick The Landing (Page)

You’ve heard us say that your website is one of your best sales tools, and it certainly is. In a time where virtual communication is more important than ever your website is a window into…

Last Updated: July 21, 2020

Beginner, Intermediate

7 minutes

COVID-19 Resources
Local Strategies
SEO
Websites

Grow Your Business With Local SEO

Search engine optimization is one of the most important things you can work on to ensure your business can easily be found online. Local SEO is crucial to help your business appear in the SERP…

Last Updated: March 22, 2021

Beginner, Intermediate

12 minute read

COVID-19 Resources
Dashboard & FareHarbor
Websites

Communicating Health and Safety Policies on Your Website

Communicating health and safety standards for your tours and activities is a crucial aspect of the new normal for our industry. People want to get back to doing the activities they love, and they want…

Last Updated: March 13, 2023

All Skill Levels

13 minute read

Digital Marketing
Local Strategies
Websites

Marketing to Your Local Communities

Creating a loyal, local clientele base is an important part of a well-rounded business strategy. Once you are ready to grab a slice of the metaphorical local pie, you’ll need to put together a local…

Last Updated: October 8, 2020

Beginner, Intermediate

9 minute read

Business Management Tips
Websites

Benefits of Including Web Chat on Your Website

The ease of online booking has helped to transform the way people learn about and plan travel, tours, and activities. But sometimes a potential guest could have a last-minute question that just can’t wait, or…

Last Updated: April 20, 2021

Beginner

11 minute read

SEO
Websites

Make a Good First Impression: Creating a Highly Converting Homepage

When a potential customer finds your company on Google, they will most likely land on your homepage first. Once they click on your company in the SERP (search engine results page) and your homepage starts…

Last Updated: December 16, 2020

Beginner, Intermediate

17 minute read

SEO
Websites

Choosing the Right Platform to Build Your Own Website

Having a website is an essential component of any business, large or small, and it’s particularly important for tour and activity operators. Travelers today are looking for ease and convenience when they’re making their travel…

Last Updated: October 6, 2020

Beginner, Intermediate

Content Marketing
SEO
Websites

Your Content Audit Checklist

Whether you want to start a travel blog, publish a new city guide, or update an old company news story, a content audit can help you track your website content to show you what needs…

Last Updated: September 28, 2020

All Skill Levels

44 minutes

Business Management Tips
Websites

Save Money & Drive Revenue with Online Conversions

Seeking a more cost-effective way to increase revenue without paying for ads? By optimizing your website to improve your conversion rate, you’ll not only save money but also find it’s easier than spending money to…

Last Updated: July 7, 2023

All Skill Levels

Digital Marketing
SEO
Websites

Google Analytics Checklist

Google Analytics is one of the most useful and popular digital analytics tools you can implement on your website. GA4, the newest version of the tool, allows you to see high-level insights as well as drill…

Last Updated: September 3, 2020

Beginner, Intermediate

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Digital Marketing
SEO
Websites

Monthly Checklist For Tour And Activity Operators

As a business owner, you already know how many different moving parts it takes to run your business smoothly and continue to offer great tours and activities to your customers. With so many tasks to…

Last Updated: January 23, 2020

All Skill Levels

12 minute read

SEO
Websites

Using Schema Markup To Up Your SEO Game

Schema markup, a structured data vocabulary, is a semantic vocabulary of tags or microdata you can add to your site’s HTML to tell search engines how you want them to display your pages in the…

Last Updated: September 13, 2022

Intermediate, Advanced

9 minute read

SEO
Websites

The Importance Of Making Your Website Accessible

In addition to website best practices for SEO, user experience, and online sales, accessibility is another essential component of your website. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was created in 1990 to ensure that people…

Last Updated: September 3, 2020

Intermediate

Business Management Tips
Websites

Web Branding Basics Checklist

When it comes to your online presence, branding doesn’t stop at your website. You want people to recognize any materials published by your company, such as email newsletters, social media posts, advertisements, and more. It’s…

Last Updated: June 5, 2023

Beginner

Dashboard & FareHarbor
Digital Marketing
SEO
Websites

Annual Checklist For Tour And Activity Operators

You know how many different moving parts it takes to run your business smoothly and continue to offer great tours and activities. With so many tasks to take care of, it can be hard to…

Last Updated: October 12, 2021

All Skill Levels

11 minute read

SEO
Websites

Building On Your Link Building Outreach Strategy

Link building is a combination of creating quality content, understanding what your audience wants to see, and getting a sense of how your competitors rank for similar keywords and content. If you’ve read our guide…

Last Updated: December 13, 2019

Intermediate

9 minute read

Business Management Tips
SEO
Websites

Why Sell Online? 5 Pros of E-Commerce

Word of mouth and referrals have always been a cornerstone of the tours and activities industry, and while they are some of the best ways to create loyalty and foster trust, they don’t have as…

Last Updated: February 4, 2021

Beginner

12 minute read

Content Marketing
Local Strategies
SEO
Websites

A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating a Link Building Strategy

When you’ve put a lot of time and energy into search engine optimization, it can feel frustrating when your website doesn’t rank well on the search engine results page (SERP). Although it can take three…

Last Updated: October 19, 2022

Beginner

COVID-19 Resources
Digital Marketing
Websites

Checklist: Promoting Your Tours & Activities During the Holidays

The holiday season is upon us once again, and online shopping and gift-giving remain popular activities among consumers. From families looking for activities to participate in in the new year to sharing tour gift cards…

Last Updated: March 15, 2022

Beginner, Intermediate

9 minute read

Business Management Tips
Local Strategies
SEO
Websites

Optimize Your Website to Capture Last-Minute & In-Destination Bookings

Tour operators love guests who book and plan their trip well in advance, but not all travelers are planners. Last-minute and in-destination bookings are inevitable as travelers go with the flow and decide to book…

Last Updated: November 19, 2020

Beginner, Intermediate

Content Marketing
SEO
Websites

The Ultimate SEO Checklist

Search engine optimization can feel a little overwhelming even to the most seasoned website owners, but it’s important to stay on top of your site’s performance and adjust your SEO as needed. If your site…

Last Updated: June 6, 2023

All Skill Levels

Digital Marketing
Reputation Management
SEO
Websites

Google Business Profile Checklist

Google Business Profile is a vital tool to help customers find your company in search engines and ultimately book with you. Your Google Business Profile displays important information about your business including location, hours, reviews,…

Last Updated: September 4, 2020

All Skill Levels

SEO
Websites

Website UX Checklist

It’s easy to find yourself getting hung up on optimizing your website for SEO, but that doesn’t mean you should forget about user experience (UX) when designing your website. UX — how customers interact with…

Last Updated: February 3, 2021

Beginner, Advanced

10 minute read

SEO
Websites

Using Google Analytics Data to Maximize Opportunity

There are a lot of how-to’s on navigating Google Analytics, including what each report means and how to properly set up various filters, custom segments, referral exclusions, and just about every feature that’s available on…

Last Updated: November 2, 2021

Intermediate, Advanced

14 minute read

Content Marketing
Digital Marketing
SEO
Websites

13 Free & Fun SEO Tools

If you’ve been reading our SEO guides, you know there are plenty of tools out there that business owners can use to refine their SEO strategy. But especially for small businesses, paid premium tools can…

Last Updated: October 24, 2019

All Skill Levels

11 minute read

Content Marketing
SEO
Websites

Why Duplicate Content Hurts SEO And How to Avoid It

Duplicate content is just what it sounds like — content that appears on the internet in more than one place. Since that “one place” is defined as any location with a unique URL, duplicate content…

Last Updated: October 20, 2020

Intermediate

10 minute read

Business Management Tips
Digital Marketing
Websites

Mapping Your Customers’ Digital Journey in Six Stages

Booking vacations is an exciting experience, but it also requires a lot of research from the traveler’s perspective. Customer journey maps are a great tool to visually represent your customers’ experiences from beginning to end,…

Last Updated: October 21, 2019

Intermediate, Advanced

6 minutes

SEO
Websites

Getting Started with SEO

With only 10 unique positions on the first page of any search engine, landing one of the top spots is essential for your website and business. If you’re new to search engine optimization (SEO), this…

Last Updated: December 16, 2020

Beginner

7 minutes

SEO
Websites

Website Optimization Fundamentals: Getting Started

Every great website is built with two goals in mind: To make the website easily discoverable on the search engine results page and To convert visitors into customers This video covers eight optimization fundamentals that…

Last Updated: November 21, 2019

Beginner, Intermediate

7 minute read

SEO
Websites

How Long Does It Take for a Site to Rank?

This is a question that every business owner with a website will ask themselves at some point. You’ve worked on making your new website the best it can be or refreshed your existing site, and…

Last Updated: March 10, 2022

Intermediate, Advanced

13 minute read

SEO
Websites

Domain Do’s and Don’ts

When it comes to your online presence and SEO, your domain name is one of the most important factors to consider. Your domain should reflect your brand, help you rank in SEO searches, and be…

Last Updated: February 14, 2020

Beginner, Intermediate

16 minute read

SEO
Websites

A Brief History of Google Algorithm Updates

If you stay on top of SEO news, you’re probably familiar with the dreaded algorithm update. But what does an algorithm update mean for your website? As Google learns more about how users interact with…

Last Updated: February 3, 2021

All Skill Levels

19 minute read

SEO
Websites

8 Elements of a Website That Ranks & Converts

Your company’s website should have two main goals: to make your business and activities discoverable in search engines and to convert visitors into customers. Optimizing your website helps you achieve these goals by giving your…

Last Updated: October 12, 2021

All Skill Levels

7 minute read

Business Management Tips
Websites

Don’t Miss Out on Revenue: Why All Your Activities Should Be Bookable Online

Historically, tour and activity operators were able to rely on word of mouth and in-destination bookings such as walk-ups or concierge desks. However, due to the rise of online search engines and social media, the…

Last Updated: December 16, 2020

Beginner

9 minute read

Business Management Tips
Websites

Featuring Your Best-Selling Activity on Your Website

Imagine you’re planning a trip to Puerto Rico and you’ve been browsing the web for tour and activity ideas. You’ve found a couple of tours that take guests to popular waterfalls in El Yunque Rainforest…

Last Updated: October 24, 2019

Beginner

19 minute read

Content Marketing
Digital Marketing
Email Marketing
Social Media
Websites

Digital Marketing Strategy: Using CTAs to Drive Bookings

A call to action, or CTA, is a statement that directs readers to take a single action by prompting them or telling them exactly what to do next. If you have a website, you already…

Last Updated: May 20, 2021

Beginner, Intermediate

7 minute read

Business Management Tips
Dashboard & FareHarbor
Websites

Simplify Your Check-In Process: The Benefits of Using an Electronic Waiver

Why Electronic Waivers Are Important Electronic waivers – just like traditional paper waivers – are a useful tool for protecting tour and activity operators from negligence liability. Whether a company offers high-adrenaline zip line rides…

Last Updated: February 9, 2021

Beginner

20 minute read

Content Marketing
SEO
Websites

8 Tips for Creating Content That Your Customers – And Google – Want!

Writing killer content is one of the most important parts of digital marketing, and it’s a great tool to rank organically in search engines and to establish you as an industry expert. Getting started with…

Last Updated: February 3, 2021

Beginner, Intermediate

21 minute read

Content Marketing
Local Strategies
SEO
Websites

Using Keywords to Improve Site Ranking

Keywords are the terms and phrases that describe the content of a page, and they’re what searchers type into search engines to find the content they’re looking for. Skillful use of keywords is one of…

Last Updated: April 20, 2021

Beginner, Intermediate

12 minute read

SEO
Websites

Why You Need an SSL Certificate for Your Website

No matter how big or small your company is, it’s important to have a secure website. You’ve probably read about data and website security and the rise of online fraud, from phishing breaches to data…

Last Updated: June 6, 2023

Advanced

14 minute read

Local Strategies
SEO
Websites

What Is SEO & How Can It Help My Business?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s the process of improving your website so that it attracts quality traffic and enjoys prime visibility on the search engine results pages (SERPs). Most people understand SEO as…