Press Release Campaigns Help Increase Hotel's Web Site Traffic

April 26, 2005 -- The Oxford Hotel is an historic and sophisticated hideaway in the midst of Denver's lively LoDo district, with accommodations richly appointed with European antiques and exquisite linens, and featuring high-speed Internet access. The hotel provides ideal Denver lodging, whether it's for a business trip to Denver, a romantic weekend getaway, or an evening out in LoDo.

Blizzard initiated work for the Oxford Hotel in February 2004, with the objective to improve overall Internet presence resulting in higher web site traffic volume, leading to increased bookings and revenue. Their Hotel Marketing Plan included a new web site design and optimization, web site hosting including Blizzard Tracker ROI Edition, customized web site promotion and Internet marketing including press releases, and a direct e-mail marketing campaign.

Once the new design was completed and promotion was well on it's way, it was time to reach potential guests, enhance branding, and increase market penetration with Blizzard's new press release campaign services.

We had two targets for the press releases:
· February Valentine's Weekend (released early February)
· Promoting Corporate Business Travel (released late February)

The techniques and resources used focused on the property's exposure to consumers and hotel marketing professionals through submission to major media portals and consumer-related web sites. In this case, two media distribution wires, PR Web and Travel PR Wire, were used.

The timely press release for Valentine's Day received great response and The Oxford Hotel was full over the romantic holiday weekend. Press releases not only provide valuable content to an intended audience, they also build a web site's link popularity. The second press release, concentrating on the specific term "Denver Corporate Travel", helped to increase the web site's link popularity by 16%, and at least 64 resources picked up the press release and posted it on the Internet. Google also picked up these Internet postings. Furthermore, PR Web reported 40,239 reads or impressions with an estimated 269 pick ups, while Travel PR Wire reported 9,145 e-mails sent out to journalists and portals with an estimated 1,212 page views of the press release.

While acquiring exact traffic statistics is difficult with press releases because no one can know how many people an article will touch, with Blizzard Tracker, we see that unique visitors increased from January to February by 875. March's traffic came down just a bit, but still an increase in visitors over January.

"Owning an independent hotel, we realize how important the Internet is to our business. From creating the new web site design to increasing the web site traffic and online bookings, the team at Blizzard has been extraordinary," says Kathy Byrne, Director of Sales & Marketing. "We recently received a call from a small business in Aspen. They inquired about our exposure on the web, noticed we appear at the top of so many search engine results, and wanted to know who was in charge of our Internet marketing. Blizzard is an asset to our business."

Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc. provides complete hotel Internet marketing solutions to the hospitality industry. In business since 1997, their team-based and personalized account management services include web site design, promotion, web hosting, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), link building, direct e-mail marketing, and the private label web site tracking software, Blizzard Tracker. Blizzard has more than 2,000 hospitality clients using their Internet marketing solutions. The company focuses on designing web sites that perform well in search engines, excel in usability, and facilitate a purchasing action resulting in increased bookings and revenue for their clients.

View the Oxford Hotel at their web site, www.theoxfordhotel.com. To find out more about Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc. see www.blizzardinternet.com, and www.blizzardinternet.com/comp_solutions/pr-ad-campaigns.htm to see more information on Blizzard Press Release Campaigns.