3 assets every serious GEO site should have
By Alan on Jul 4, 2009 in Geo Domains
If you are serious about building a geo site then it’s critical to take notes from successful geo sites which have been developed by industry and not domainers.
Fact is most every domainer has a limited budget, limited resources and most importantly – limited knowledge of what makes a good geo site (away from what another domainer is doing that looks good). Of course, we have exceptions (like the Castello Brothers) but for the most part its one geo owner copying what another geo owner is doing.
Remember, until the domain owner bought the domain they were never really in the business of marketing a destination so there is a lot to learn from tourism boards and government agencies who have been around for years.
Its not necessarily a bad thing to copy and learn from other geo owners since many elements certainly will be almost mandatory for any site but to stand out and maybe gain a step ahead of existing sites around the same destination you (as an owner) need to search for that magical piece, something which gets people to remember and want to explore at first visit.
Check out www.tourisme-montreal.org
Yes, a domain most of you would not register (but that’s the difference between developers and domainers)
3 elements from this example which should be of great interest to any geo domain owner are
(1) Video … play the Montréal in two minutes. Love the French or not, you want to go!!
(2) Local Buzz from Montreal insiders.
Just launching a geo site … you should probably bet that a lot of people have blogging about your destination long before you even owned the domain. Embrace these people!
(3) Gay/Lesbian/ Alternate Lifestyles – remember, it’s these groups that have the MOST disposable income – don’t leave them out.
Happy 4 Juillet aux Américains et heureux tardive Canada à tous les jours
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Canada MUST WATCH
Shaun Pilfold | Jul 4, 2009 | Reply
Number one on the list should be “own the pure .com version of your city”. This will open a lot of doors for you and will give you some credibilty from the get go.
Frankie Aladi | Jul 4, 2009 | Reply
http://www.tourisme-montreal.org
Great site, great movie. The music is spot on!
Domain Development | Jul 5, 2009 | Reply
You’re right Shaun.
The city.com builds trust with advertisers and visitors alike.
We were able to work with professional sports groups because we had the .com for one of ours!
Ron Wells | Jul 5, 2009 | Reply
That video on the site says it all (without a single word being said)! Great illustration…and another great post!
David J Castello | Jul 5, 2009 | Reply
Yes, Shaun is correct. The one thing they could learn from us is to get a great domain name.
US Virgin Islands | Jul 5, 2009 | Reply
Yes Video is very very important on a Geo Site, you can see on my website a promotion video that use a Music Video like these top 10 singles to promote us virgin islands to create the BUZZ.
Michael | Jul 5, 2009 | Reply
Great site! brilliant videos! I really like personalized experience videos in each section too. I’ll include this site in my “geo inspiration” bookmarks.
I think I could see my house in one of those fly-overs!
Thanks for sharing it.
James Blond | Jul 5, 2009 | Reply
That is an awesome video example.
Now how can we make a video like that for our geo development.
Any help anybody? Alan?
Alan | Jul 6, 2009 | Reply
James,
I’m willing to bet this video cost somewhere between 25-50k – for most geo domainers thats a lot of cash but for a tourism board (especially a city such as Montreal) its almost like the cost of a cup of coffee.
Cant help you here but we did a project a few years back in Toronto and actually teamed up with one of the film schools – offered $2,500 first prize and students were running around like crazy providing ideas. End of the day we got a $30,000 project for $2,500 – and a couple students got money for beer
May be a good idea to tap into your local schools (especially the art schools vs college / university) – lots of talent there cheap.
James Blond | Jul 6, 2009 | Reply
Alan, Thanks for that, and great idea about tapping into the talent pool of your local schools.
Ray | Jul 30, 2009 | Reply
Can’t argue with Shaun and David C above. BUT, there is plenty of room for more than one city site in a location. Even though having the city .com is a great advantage, there is plenty of profit in developing brandable geos as well – its just harder.