Want more customers coming to your website? Who doesn't, right? One of the most powerful tools you can use to drive traffic and grow your business is a blog. More than just a place to share stories and pictures, a blog helps small businesses generate 126% more customer leads and 97% more inbound links, according to Yahoo! Small Business Advisor. That's a lot of eyeballs coming to your site, learning about what you have to offer.Whether you don't have a blog or haven't yet taken the time to maximize yours, here are seven simple steps to make the most of a blog, and, in turn, grow your business and increase your revenue.

1. Know your focus.

While it's tempting to use a blog to promote your latest tour, activity, or rental, your focus should be on what your customer wants. Take time to identify what gets them excited. If you offer rock climbing tours, for example, is your customer a beginner looking for tips on how to get started or a more experienced adventurer looking for inspirational stories from legendary climbers? Once you understand what interests your potential customer, you can move onto the next step: writing posts they actually want to read.

2. Plan your content.

Your blog and everything it contains should be consistent with your brand message. Only share content that represents your company and its values. Personal stories are a great way for customers to get to know you. Other content ideas to keep customers reading: sharing news from your industry; debunking common misconceptions about your field; Q&As with customers or experts; and tips about the activities you offer. Travel experience provider Muddy Shoe Adventures is a great example of a company that writes engaging blog posts that combine personal stories with expert advice.

3. Create a schedule.

How often will you post content to your blog? Sites that publish four or more posts a week get four and a half times the number of customer leads than blogs that post once a week, according to research from Hubspot. Whether you update your blog daily, weekly or monthly, make sure you choose a timeframe that you can handle. It's better to have less frequent but consistent content than sporadic posting.

It's better to have less frequent, but consistent, content than sporadic posting

4. Assign the writing.

Do you enjoy writing? If the answer is 'no,' it'll come across in your posts. Whether you're a small business or a large enterprise, writing blog posts should be a regular part of someone's job. Do you have a tour guide who has a knack for telling stories? Ask if he or she would like to write for the company blog. Do you have a customer who loves to leave long glowing reviews? Ask if they'd like to contribute a guest post. Or maybe you have a friend who is passionate about your industry? Tap them to contribute an article or two to your blog.

5. Include a call to action.

When someone reads a post, what do you want them to do next? Book a rental? Visit another page of your website? Share the post with their friends? End each blog post with a clear call to action. For example, if you're blogging about your newest food tour, end the post by asking readers to comment if they've ever tried the cuisine before. Then include a link to the reservation page. This is how you turn that traffic coming to your blog into leads for your business.

6. Engage with readers - your potential customers!

Blogs should be a two-way conversation. Make sure you follow up on comments. Thank visitors for taking the time to voice their opinions. People like to know that businesses are listening to them. Plus, comments are often good fodder for additional blog topics. Promote responses by asking questions, and make your blog a community where readers can interact.

7. Distribute your content.

Finally, your blog doesn't need to begin and end with your site. Offer to share your content with associations and groups by simply emailing the site manager and asking if they accept guest posts.

Offer to share your content with associations and groups by simply emailing the site manager and asking if they accept guest posts.

Then ask that a link to your site be included in the post. You can also identify and engage with influential bloggers in your field. Invite them to review your tour or event, or ask if they'd be interested in a guest post for their own blog with insider tips on your field. And be sure to cross-post your blog content with your other social media platforms. Photo workshop provider Switch to Manual does a great job of sharing photos and podcasts on its blog as well as its Instagram account,Remember: Your blog is a relationship-building tool that can increase your business and establish you as an expert in your industry. Make the most of this powerful addition to your business.

Major brands and corporations invest a significant amount of their marketing and operations budgets towards online reputation management. And even if you don't have millions to spend as a small business owner working in the tourism industry, you may may want to take a page from their book.The need to monitor your online presence becomes abundantly clear when considering the stats: almost 90 percent of travelers are already surfing the web for signs of negative traveler experiences and low ratings, according to Statista. Results of a 2013 survey reveal that 86% of respondents in the United States confirmed that they "sometimes or always read online travel reviews before traveling." And, as experts at Alpen-Adria-Universität found, “negative reviews were regarded as being more trustworthy and more useful than positive reviews."As a tour and activities operator, it is your responsibility to make sure those reviews are not hurting potential business. So to help you ward off negative reviews and resolve a situation before it turns into a full-fledged crisis, here are some of the best practices when handling negative reviews online.

Handling Negative Feedback on Online Review Sites

If your company is listed on business listing and review sites, you have the option of communicating with an irate customer directly or posting a response to their review or comments right on the site.Your first course of action, though, is to respond to the commenter privately. Keep things professional by introducing yourself, acknowledging the commenter's concern, and providing a possible solution. In some cases, it makes sense to publicly acknowledge the situation and offer a solution that you know will benefit the customer. This approach tells prospective customers that the business cares about their customers and is more than willing to take steps to remedy the situation.Another strategy for handling negative reviews on these sites—especially if you're receiving baseless reviews or attacks from an anonymous customer—is to encourage delighted customers to post on the same site, according to Inc.com. You could ask a customer to post a review before they leave for the day, hand out comment cards or a business card with information on where to post reviews, or simply send a follow-up email with a direct link to a review site you want to appear on. Encouraging happy customers to post positive reviews at every opportunity can enhance your online presence and negate some of the impact of negative reviews.

Managing Complaints via Twitter

Twitter allows an open channel of communication with current customers, prospective customers, complementary businesses, and industry professionals. But it's also an open channel for negative comments and feedback. Anybody can attach any message—whether it is based on a real experience or is posted to get your attention—with your Twitter handle and this will appear across multiple Twitter feeds and in basic search results.If you are the target of negative feedback on Twitter, do what you can to respond to the sender privately. This may require "following" the individual first so that you can send a direct message through the Twitter platform and make an attempt to remedy the situation. If this doesn't work—or you are tagged in a series of negative comments—you may need to disengage altogether. Vertical Response recommends ignoring hostile comments but taking the time to respond to legitimate concerns. If a customer is simply berating the business or an employee without explaining what happened or requesting contact from management, they may just need to vent. If a customer talks in detail about a negative experience and requests a solution, this is your cue to step in and remedy the situation.Don't be afraid to acknowledge that they are being heard and ask them for contact information—or provide them with a customer service phone number of email address—where you can address the issue privately. This will take communication out of the public feed and give both parties a chance to resolve the situation professionally.

Handling Negative Feedback on Facebook

If you maintain a Facebook Page for your business, encourage customers to post a rating and review of their experience shortly after their tour or activity experience. This helps to boost your ratings score when a prospective customer first "likes" your Facebook page. A series of positive reviews and high-star ratings may even deter some people from posting negative reviews since they will stand out among all the positive commenters.

A series of positive reviews and high-star ratings may even deter some people from posting negative reviews since they will stand out among all the positive commenters.

If you do end up receiving a very poor star rating or someone posts a negative review directly on your Facebook Wall, you have three options: ignore them completely, delete the comment, or respond professionally privately and/or publicly.Take a look at how Zappos, an online retailer, addressed a negative comment on Facebook. They responded to an angry customer with genuine concern and offered to do something to rectify the situation. This is one example of managing negative Facebook comments effectively. You can also "flip the script", as Shama Kabani, author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing and CEO of The Marketing Zen Group, explains in an article published on Forbes: “Turn the comment around by highlighting your strengths", she says. This means you could simply apologize and highlight the fact that you have been providing highly-rated tours and activities for several years.If you decide to delete the comment or ignore the comment, consider following up with the individual with a private message so they do not retaliate with more comments or point out that they are being ignored—a major snafu that could damage your online reputation.If more than three-quarters of the traveling population is turning to online reviews before making a reservation, it's imperative that you monitor reviews and make sure your tour and activity business is presented in the best possible light. You need a strategy to handle any negative reviews or publicly-published complaints on review websites, as well as on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Use these tips to protect your online reputation and increase the chances of more bookings each season.

Between digital and offline channels, today's marketing ecosystem is more complex than ever. The bottom line is that you need to reach your target customers at key points in their research, decision-making, and buying journeys.The challenge that you're likely facing, however, is that you have limited time to manage—and perfect your approach—to the many different marketing channels required to reach, engage, and interact with your customer base. We've rounded up the following 5 tools to help.

1. Tour Builder by Google

Type of Marketing Tool: Storytelling Platform

Cost: Free

Why We Picked This Tool: Originally designed for traveling military and veterans, this tool allows people to share stories about the places they're visiting. Tour and activity merchants can take advantage of this resource by encouraging customers to share stories about their experiences—information that can later be repurposed into testimonials and other customer stories.Storytelling is important for every tour and activity merchant, as consumers will often want to understand what an experience will be like—before they commit to making a purchase decision. The best way to share what your business is like will be through the lens of your customers themselves.See Also: Want More Bookings? 7 Proven Ways to Boost Conversions

2. Canva

Type of Marketing Tool: Design

Cost: Free

Why We Picked This Tool: Great design is a powerful tool for making a strong first impression—but it's also both time consuming and expensive to create. It's challenging to create flyers, brochures, and advertisements that look beautiful if you don't have a design background—especially if you're a busy small business owner who spends the majority of your time on the ground and growing your customer base.With pre-made templates, layouts, and guides for beautiful design, Canva simplifies this pain point by making it possible to create your own designs at a low cost. Rather than hiring a designer, you or someone on your team can DIY and create beautiful visuals at no cost beyond your time.

With pre-made templates, layouts, and guides for beautiful design, Canva simplifies creating well designed flyers, brochures, and advertisements

3. Edgar

Type of Marketing Tool: Social Media Management and Scheduling

Cost: $49-$99/month

Why We Picked This Tool: Tour and activity merchants know that platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram are important for customer acquisition and engagement, but often lack the resources to build and manage a dedicated social media strategy. Edgar simplifies this pain point by making it easier for business owners to curate, organize, and schedule status updates.Unlike other available tools, Edgar will let you group your social media updates into categories that you can track over time. As you continue to share status updates, photos, and articles, you'll develop a clear view of what's performing well and why. Instead of casting your net wide and relying on guesswork to build your social media strategy, you can focus your energy and investment on the types of posts that are driving results for your company.

4. BuzzStream

Type of Marketing Tool: PR

Cost: $29-$249/month

Why We Picked This Tool: Word of mouth is a powerful marketing engine, and media mentions have the potential to enhance your business's credibility. The challenge, however, is that PR takes time to build—if you want journalists to review and write about your tour and activity business, you'll need to conduct at least some level of outreach to build relationships with your community.BuzzStream makes this relationship-building process earlier by helping business owners and marketing reps conduct searches, track emails, and learn about their recipients based on contact details. You can optimize, streamline, and focus your PR activity based on the information that you track and analyze with this tool.

5. LeadPages

Type of Marketing Tool: Landing Page Design

Cost: $25-$67/month

Why We Picked This Tool: Let's say that you're running a special offer, promotion, or targeted marketing campaign—like for a seasonal opening event or summer promotion, for instance. You'll likely want to create a series of custom landing pages to give your audiences the most targeted, relevant, and personalized experiences possible.The challenge with creating custom landing pages, however, is that the process can be resource-intensive when you're creating marketing assets—especially ones that integrate with other tools—from scratch. LeadPages can help with readymade templates and integrations. You can create the landing pages that you need within minutes, without relying on costly web development and IT resources to get up and running.

Final thoughts

As a small business owner, you need tools and resources that help you make more out of your limited time. These marketing resources can help you create stronger audience experiences with less effort.We're looking forward to your perspectives as well. What marketing tools have been instrumental for growing your business? Share your thoughts and nominees in the comments section below.

Whether you're a seasonal tour operator or run a business that offers activities year-round, you may not have a lot of time or resources to focus on marketing—especially during peak season. While you may be able to generate more revenue by hiring more guides, expanding your line, or offering premium services to a niche market, there are other ways to make extra money on the side while supporting your core business efforts.Here are seven ways tour and activity operators can make more money—in any season:

#1: Sell instant digital photos.

Many tour and activity merchants already sell photo packages as part of the experience. But you could take it further by offering instant downloads of professional images that the customer can purchase on a per-photo basis to upload to Facebook, Instagram, or other social sites with ease.Creating the option to buy a single image at a time can speed up the checkout process and reduce buyer hesitation. Consider that many customers may be eager to pay $0.99 or $1.99 for a single high-quality image that captures a great moment right now—instead of going through an entire album later.Give your customers full access to the gallery of images immediately after the experience is over so they can review it on their smartphones, make their selection, and upload the captured moment to their favorite social sites right away. It's a fun way to share their experience with friends and family, and can help you generate a quick sale with little effort.New Zealand bungee company AJ Hackett, for example, has a station of computer monitors at their office for customers to view their photos right after their jump. Customers simply enter a special photo code to view the images, and since they all have to return to the office to pick up their bags before they leave, the timing is perfect. Customers can also view their photos online if they decide to order later.

#2: Maintain a blog

Even though you're in the business of selling and delivering interesting, unique, and unforgettable experiences to your customers, you can maintain their interest or pique a potential customer's interest with high-quality content on your website. Make an extended effort to develop content about different locations that your tour guides are experts in, and illustrate the experience a customer may have with high-quality digital images that you post. The goal is to tell interesting stories surrounding the experiences you already offer.Play with a theme, like the content on www.12hrs.net, where visitors can go on an in-depth, 12-hour virtual tour with carefully-curated photographs and commentary about different destinations along the way. Or keep things simple with a blog that talks about how to make the most of an experience.Fortunately, you don't need any web development or design experience to launch a blog. Western Prince Cruises keeps a simple one about whale-watching, filled with pictures and behind-the-scenes experiences from various trips. Navitat also has a site about its zip line tours, along with industry news.You can also sell digital products like podcasts, e-books, or downloadable guides directly from the site.Wayde's World Hawaii has uploaded free podcasts on its website, but a business could certainly sell its own content. As your readership grows, you may even be able to earn residual income by running ads.

#3: Self-publish books.

Tour and activity operators have valuable insider knowledge about particular destinations and sites they work in. Consider publishing e-books that provide useful information such as travel tips and seasonal activities that a traveler can access on their smartphone or tablet. These shorter mini-guides can be priced much lower than other books on the market for a quick download. Look at these Kindle travel guides for inspiration.Take advantage of self-publishing tools like Amazon's CreateSpace. These tools can help you create and upload books to print-on-demand and places them for sale on Amazon's network, where you'll earn a percentage of each sale. Whether you publish a single book or a whole series, these books can provide detailed maps, resources for travelers, photographs, and insider tips about a particular destination. Promote these on your website and take advantage of Amazon's marketing services to help generate passive income in any season.

#4: Partner with local businesses.

When it's slow season and you have more time to shift your focus on branding and marketing, consider reaching out to local businesses that complement yours to co-market various tours. Since partnering with bigger chains and brands have challenging approval processes, target smaller businesses instead.

To avoid challenging approval processes, target smaller businesses to partner with

Reach out to some of the busier boutique hotels and independently-owned properties, including bed and breakfasts, vacation home rental companies, and smaller motels to see if they're interested in referring business to you. In return, you could offer to recommend them to your customers, or even add their name and logo to your marketing materials as a "preferred" hotel. Some businesses could be interested in sharing a percentage of revenue for each referred customer that gets booked, and you could offer a similar deal to them. At the very least, stay in touch with the concierges on staff so they can recommend your business to their guests.

#5: Host workshops and events.

You're likely an expert in your activity, so establish yourself as an authority in your industry with educational events geared toward aspiring tour and activity operators, or other hospitality professionals.Hosting a seminar onsite can also be a great way to introduce more industry professionals to your business. You could sponsor training events for aspiring tour guides or activity operators, create workshops on how to build a tour business, and participate in other informational sessions that can expand your network.Even though some attendees may be your competitors, the information you share doesn't need to be tied to your core business operations. Focus more on general tips and insights about the industry and talk about co-marketing ideas to encourage dialogue at the event.

#6: Offer immediate discounts on future bookings.

Encouraging satisfied customers to book their next experience on the same day of their visit can help you book up that calendar—much faster than trying to reach out to the customer at a later date. Consider offering an attractive discount on all bookings confirmed that same day so that you can generate repeat business with very little effort.Remember that the customer is already in a positive and comfortable mindset after completing the activity. This is a perfect time to encourage them to come back. Think about different ways to pitch this idea to your customer, like sending an email with the information shortly after the tour is complete, or simply encouraging guides to mention the discount as the experience comes to an end.

#7: Sell packaged content.

If you have specialized knowledge about a certain destination that would be valuable to fellow tour operators or high-quality photographs that could be used as stock photos, consider selling packaged material in the form of digital content like e-books, downloadable PDFs, or MP3s. There may be a hungry market for podcasts and virtual tours that you haven't tapped into yet, whether they're prospective customers or armchair travelers. You could develop content in a variety of formats to entertain and educate while also marketing your business.For example, a museum tour guide might sell a walking tour podcast of a certain museum, or a zip line tour operator may offer high-quality digital images of various shots around a popular destination. An experienced boat tour operator could publish an e-book on starting a boating tour business, or downloadable guides about maintaining and repairing boats.There are countless ways to create revenue streams outside of just direct bookings. Use these tips as a guide to find new ways to help generate more revenue each season.Looking for more ways to effortlessly drive revenue? Check out Peek Pro here.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce 2015 Travel Forecast, international travel and tourism to the U.S. is forecasted to increase 3.8 to 4.6 percent by 2020, as part of President Obama's National Travel and Tourism Strategy. The more than 100 million visitors are expected to spend $250 billion. For tour and activity businesses, this could mean opportunities for expansion and offer a chance to capture market share of a highly competitive industry.Recently, we spoke with Grace Della, founder of Miami Culinary Tours about the success of her business' expansion. Grace launched her business in 2010, which started as a food tour in the multicultural neighborhood of Little Havana. Since then, her company has become a favorite among locals and visitors alike—now serving thousands of people monthly, 60 percent of whom are non-locals. She has successfully expanded into Miami's trendiest neighborhoods including South Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, and abroad, opening in her hometown of Buenos Aires.Grace, like many small business tour operators, did not rely on the resources of big marketing firms and research teams to guide her decisions to expand into vertical markets. She needed to first build a robust understanding of her local markets, which she did with the help of her local Visitor's Bureau and by immersing herself within each community and forging relationships with other business owners.How did you select the restaurants for each tour you offer?I have a strong team of [eight] local foodies who understand the diversity of food in Miami and are able to communicate their knowledge to large groups. We handpick each restaurant. And, we now use what we call 'Quick Quality Standards.' We seek only the best representation for our tour guests in terms of quality and service, so restaurants have to pass our Quick Quality Standards checklist. We not only look for quality food, but for restaurants using authentic ingredients. We're also checking for a nice ambiance, spaces that are well suited to cater to groups, and good customer service.What was your first market and how did you first expand into vertical markets?Little Havana was the first in 2010, followed by South Beach a few months later. After the success of Little Havana, it felt like a natural choice since SoBe is the city's most popular area and attracts visitors from everywhere. Two years after that, we launched the Wynwood tour, once the area had grown enough. Followed by Fort Lauderdale and Buenos Aires, where I am originally from. Before starting Miami Culinary Tours, I ran my mother's food tour business in Argentina.What were some of your key considerations for expansion?To bring a superior experience of food and culture to Miami. I'm an online marketer. I saw an opportunity because no one was doing anything like this in Miami. I used my online marketing skills to do research, launch my website and my blog, and promote my business. I also created an affiliate program. I now have hundreds of affiliates that help market my business and sell our tours.What information and/or resources did you have that indicated market demand?I'm a member of the Visitor's Bureau, where I have access to critical data and statistical reports for Miami's emerging neighborhoods. I used that information to generate potential profit reports. I saw where I could make a profit and create a timeline for my expansions. From there, I spent time in each area sampling the cuisines and developing relationships with restaurateurs, while carefully pulling together and training a team of local foodies.Is there anything you learned from your first expansion that helped during later expansions and anything you wish you had known before?How to better handle relationships with partners. In the beginning, I did not have the proper systems in place to manage the relationships I have with affiliates, vendors, employees, and restaurants. It's a lot of paperwork, but it's important to manage it all properly. Having the right software, creating your own Quick Quality Standards, and anything else that will help streamline your business operations is very important.

Having the right software, creating your own Quick Quality Standards, and anything else that will help streamline your business operations is very important

You're a popular food blogger. Would you say blogging, a common marketing strategy, helped you as you expanded your business?The blogging helps to create authority within the industry. Now, I'm frequently invited to judge food events and for television appearances, which gains significant recognition for my business.On your website, you reference creating a 'unique experience.' How do you go about creating that for your local customers?We go beyond serving food. There is value in learning about different cultures and their uniqueness. I teach guides to communicate the authenticity of the foods, from textures to tastes and smells. We talk about the preparation techniques, the ingredients. Most of the guides are from Miami. Having culturally diverse backgrounds themselves, they inject their own personalities into the tours. We go from five star gourmet restaurants to hole-in-the-wall delicious. And we do not promote the restaurants, our focus is on creating a quality experienceAny best practices or tips?Understand that customer service is number one. If I call a major company right now, I may be told to send an email. But, if someone calls my company at 6 a.m., I will answer the phone. Not all small business owners will have an intuitive ability for discovering trends nor feel confident acting on them. If you're considering expansion, seek out the resources of your local Visitor's and Tourism Bureau. They can help you identify markets and create an action plan.Need help attracting high-quality customers in new markets? Call 855-PEEK-PRO (855-733-5776) to learn how you can feature your business on the peek.com marketplace.

Selling more tours through your website is probably one of your primary marketing goals as a tour and activity operator, so don't overlook the wealth of opportunities that can attract more high-quality traffic season after season. As more of your customers turn to their smartphones to book travel or seek out information via social media there are numerous ways to reach out to this responsive market. You can also take advantage of a few proven strategies and methods that will sell more bookings and help you build a loyal customer base.

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Here are 10 easy ways to sell more tours online:

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1. Update Your Blog Regularly with Direct Links to Tours and Activities

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Generate more interest in your site and develop a stronger online presence by updating your blog regularly with fresh content. But, you don't have to limit yourself to a blog with posts that promote discounted tour and activities or special packages for the season.

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How to do it:

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Develop a series of blog posts about your destination or a particular activity that many of your customers have lots of questions about or you get inquiry calls about. Publish informational, educational, and even inspiring blog posts that include a direct link to a particular tour or activity — this is good for the search engines and can also prompt an immediate booking.

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2. Run an Email-Only Special Offer

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Tap into your existing subscriber list by sending out an exclusive email offer to drive more traffic back to your site. This could be anything from 50 percent off bookings for the next 24 or 48 hours to 2-for-1 deals on certain tours or activities. The goal is to generate immediate interest and encourage the recipient to take advantage of an exclusive offer that is only available for a limited time. This strategy can be especially effective during a slow month when you need to stimulate sales.

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How to do it:

Create a sense of urgency with your offer and emphasize that the recipient is receiving an invitation-only offer. Make sure to outline the terms and conditions of the offer clearly at the bottom of the message and verify all links to your site work properly for a fast booking.

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3. Host a Contest

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Running a contest for a free tour package or a new activity you are offering in the upcoming season can generate some quick interest in your business which in turn may encourage some new bookings. You can build your subscriber list by running this type of contest year round or during a slow season. EF Tours runs a "choose your dream holiday" contest where travelers must upload their best travel photo, share a few words about their experience, and provide contact information. This can help you build your customer list and encourage prospective customers to learn more about you.

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How to do it:

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Offer a free package of tours or let the traveler choose their "dream" tour or activity for the giveaway. Construct an entry form that requires the entrant to provide their full name, email address, and phone number so that you can add them to your database.

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4. Develop a YouTube Presence

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Many travelers will simply be intrigued by what your company does, what types of tours and experiences you sell, and what types of destinations they get to explore. Host your own YouTube channel as a "discovery" component of your business. Establishing a YouTube presence can make your business more relatable and provides some 'insider' information. Vietnam Motorbike Ride, a tour operator offering motorcycle and dirt bike tours around Indochina, has published a series of YouTube videos not only about the biking experience but also about the fascinating sites around Vietnam.

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How to do it:

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Release a set of informational videos about different tours and activities, or destination guides covering things to do and enjoy in a particular location. Make sure to include links to your website and any social media handles so that the viewer can contact you or stay in touch.

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Establishing a YouTube presence can make your business more relatable and provides "insider" information

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5. Make Sure Your Tour and Activity Site is Mobile-Friendly

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Have you considered what your site looks like and what the booking experience feels like on a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device? Make sure the mobile version of your site allows for a simple and streamlined booking and checkout process to capture this market.

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How to do it:

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Walk through the mobile booking experience by putting yourself in the customer's shoes. Condense content on the mobile site to make the experience quick, efficient, and more user-friendly. Run the Mobile-Friendly Test from Google to find out what needs to be improved. Clickz.com also recommends optimizing and resizing your images so they appear on mobile devices and using standard font sizes and styles.

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6. Take Advantage of Dynamic Remarketing with Online Ads

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If you're already investing some of your online advertising dollars towards display ads, consider a dynamic remarketing campaign to ensure more prospective customers see your ads when surfing the web. Remarketing is a process where customers see your ads more frequently when surfing the web on their desktop computer or mobile device because they have visited your site before. Hotel Urbano, a Brazilian online travel agency that sells travel packages, invests millions of dollars in digital advertising each year but only recently shifted gears with its dynamic remarking efforts with Google Display Network ads. This case study from Think with Google shows that once it was fully implemented, the new ad spend drove 415 percent more revenue and a 38 percent higher return.

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How to do it:

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Change your ad design and optimize your target market for ads by reviewing customer demographics and creating categories of different customer groups, such as young parents, single professionals, and seniors. You could also show display ads on multiple channels, such as YouTube, mobile devices, and Twitter.

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7. Cross-Sell with Area Hotels and Resorts

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Sell more tours with less direct marketing efforts by partnering up with hotels and resorts in the area that can list your company as part of their "recommended activities" on their website or refer more business to you through their concierge. Even something as simple as placing your logo or a small ad on the hotel or resort's website can generate more traffic and a direct booking.

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How to do it:

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Reach out to hotel and resort owners or managers to discuss co-marketing ideas and insist on having an ad or direct link placed somewhere on their website. If you want to offer a discount for referrals, set up a promo code specifically for the hotel or resort guest that you can honor at checkout.

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8. Strengthen Your Facebook Presence

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Selling more tours online requires opening up as many channels as possible for customers to get to know more about your business, stay up-to-date on new offerings and specials, and keep you at the "top of mind" when making a booking decision. Stay active on sites like Facebook so that you can communicate directly with prospective travelers while showcasing your business in creative ways. You can also encourage customers to send in photos or testimonials of their experience for you to promote on Facebook. This type of content provides some "social proof"— a valuable asset for any independent company or small business looking to attract new customers or build their online presence.

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Boggy Creek Airboat Rides in Kissimmee, Florida, maintains an active Facebook page with a following of more than 32,000 fans. The tour operator posts everything from videos from the captain to random shots of animal encounters during a tour. Paradise Boat Tours in Sarasota, Florida, does something similar but takes things one step further by offering one-click online bookings directly through its Facebook page.

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How to do it:

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Install a booking app on your Facebook page for easy bookings and update your Facebook page regularly with fresh content, customer reviews, and photos sent from customers capturing fun experiences or memories. Be sure to tag any customers that provide content you share so that the content appears in their Facebook News Feed upon publishing.

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9. Develop and Promote Custom Tours for a Specific Market

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From shopping tours for a girl's weekend getaway to fishing tours on Father's Day, consider putting together themed packages at a discount to cater to the needs of a very specific market. Create individual ad campaigns for these packages as part of your display ads online marketing strategy and promote the special packages across your website, in blog posts, and with links in any offline marketing materials that you distribute regularly. For example, Captain Lou Fleet Fishing in Freeport, New York, runs a Father's Day fishing trip special and 4th of July trips at a discounted rate.

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How to do it:

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Think about different customer segments that may benefit from a specialty tour or custom package of tours you offer and promote these tours across all of your online marketing channels. Make sure to include direct booking links to the tour package for fast bookings.

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10. Invite Local Celebrities to Share their Experience Online

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Local celebrities are rarely shy about sharing new experiences and may be more than willing to promote their experience with your company on their social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, or in a blog post. This can be a simple and effective way to generate some interest around your company and encourage people to book a similar experience.

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A reporter from Fox 26 Houston Morning News tried the Sky Trail experience and posted it on Facebook. The post generated more than 170 likes and 90 shares. Videos like these can be very valuable for any tour business and can generate instant attention around your business — and traffic to your website.

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How to do it:

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Invite radio hosts, local news station anchors and reporters, community leaders, and other local celebrities to experience one of your tours or activities free of charge. Ask them for a video testimonial or online review that you can share in your online marketing materials, and make sure to include a link to landing pages to complete a booking.

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And finally, you can effortlessly sell more tours online by using an online booking software like Peek Pro that guarantees new customers. Peek puts your business in front of millions of passionate and active customers who are looking for tours to book.

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Read about Dylan's Tours and how they became one of the largest operators in San Francisco