Marketigation helps a local, iconic accommodation business, Yongala Lodge by the Strand, do a major upgrade to its website and social media. The new website helps Yongala Lodge better showcase their business to its clients. It also helps them to drive traffic and bookings through it.
Background of Yongala Lodge
The owner of Townsville’s Yongala Lodge by the Strand, Astrid Hancock, made a huge change in her life in 2018. She worked as a manager in the Mount Isa library. But now she bought the business of Yongala Lodge in Townsville. Yongala Lodge is an iconic, historic motel offering affordable accommodation by the Strand since 1980.
Having only little former experience in the accommodation field, Astrid Hancock needed to learn all aspects of the business really fast. “We needed to work a lot in the beginning on organising everything and fixing things up in the building. We also needed to get business operations, e.g. booking, cleaning, check-ins and check-outs, run effectively. My managerial background has absolutely helped us organise and figure things out.”, says Astrid Hancock the new owner of Yongala Lodge.
The problem: Outdated website with no support and minimal social media exposure
Astrid Hancock inherited a company logo and an old website with the business. However, the website was already developed several years back. Additionally, there was also some outdated information on the website. New management of Yongala weren’t able to edit their website content. Furthermore, the old website looked quite dated too, so they needed a new website as soon as possible. Their social media outlets needed to be updated and optimised too.
Being very busy with running the company, Ms. Hancock started looking into some digital marketing specialists to help her out. Says Astrid Hancock “We were approached by some marketing companies overseas, but we wanted to hire a marketing expert who’s located physically close to us. And we wanted someone who understands our local business.” Adds Hancock “One of our contacts referred and recommended Marketigation to us. Since their quote was very competitive, we had no doubt letting Marketigation do our marketing.”
Astrid Hancock, the owner of Yongala Lodge by the Strand
One of our contacts referred and recommended Marketigation to us. Since their quote was very competitive, we had no doubt letting Marketigation do our marketing.
The Process: From planning to website go-live
Yongala’s old website didn’t have any content management system (CMS). Therefore, Marketigation recommended Yongala to manage their new website using Word Press. Says Hanna Hakio a Co-founder and Marketing Specialist at Marketigation “Word Press is a very handy and effective CMS system for small and midsize companies. It’s very user-friendly, intuitive, SEO friendly, customisable and completely free”. Hakio continues “Many small companies have limited marketing budgets. A CMS system doesn’t have to take a big chunk out of your budget, so you’ll still have money left for marketing actions that really yield results.” Hancock adds “Yes. We didn’t want to pay $100 for each typo we need to fix on our website. So Word Press was a really good option for us. Now we’re able to make small edits by ourselves, since Word Press is really easy to use.”
Hanna Hakio, Co-founder and Marketing Specialist at Marketigation
Word Press is a very handy and effective CMS system for small and midsize companies. It’s very user-friendly, intuitive, SEO friendly, customisable and completely free.
Planning and competitive analysis
The process of upgrading Yongala Lodge’s website started off with very careful planning. Making a new website was a good occasion for Yongala to really think who they are. In addition, they also needed to think about what they offer and to whom, as well as the main selling points and messaging. Many small business owners have that only as silent knowledge. Thus, it’s highly recommended to write it down and ensure objectivity. Marketigation also helped Yongala Lodge in competitive analysis and adjusting their marketing messaging accordingly.
Website go-live
The new website went live in 3 weeks from the initial planning session. During that time many important things happened, e.g. website structure, URL structure, domain transfer, website hosting, Word Press installation, theme selection and installation, content (text and images), SEO optimisation, testing and publishing. Tells Astrid Hancock “We had some technical issues when transferring our domain to the new registrar. That added a minor delay to the process. But Marketigation helped us with all technical matters along the way.”
The Result: A modern, effective, SEO-friendly website
Astrid Hancock, the owner of Yongala Lodge, is really happy with their new, SEO-friendly website. Word Press is very flexible and allows them to make edits along the way as needed. And most importantly, the new website links directly to their booking system. As a result, they can drive bookings directly through the new website, without needing to pay a commission to a third party. Customer feedback regarding the new website has also been very positive.
Social media marketing: Facebook and Google
Marketigation helped Yongala Lodge kick-start their social media presence as well. Presently, Yongala Lodge wants to concentrate mostly on Facebook and Google. “It’s very important to convey a consistent message throughout the website and social platforms.” specifies Hanna Hakio, Co-founder and Marketing Specialist at Marketigation. Going forward Yongala’s marketing plans include improving website imagery and traffic. Says Astrid Hancock “We’ll need more pictures of our rooms and facilities, and we’d also like to update our logo. And we’re also thinking about starting blogging, so we can drive more organic traffic to our website.”
Astrid Hancock, the new owner of Yongala Lodge by the Strand
We didn’t want to pay $100 for each typo we need to fix on our website. Now we’re able to make small edits by ourselves, since Word Press is really easy to use.
Hakio says “Yongala Lodge now has a user-friendly and professional website and some social media presence. So their marketing basics are well covered. From now on it will be so much easier and more effective to build your business and marketing on a solid basis.” And adds “I’m thrilled our team has been able to help Yongala realise its new website. And I’m sure you’ll see even greater business success going forward”. Marketing is a key success contributor in today’s digital world.
Check out the new website of Yongala Lodge by the Strand. For a free website consultation and quote, contact Marketigation by email at info@marketigation.com or by phone at +61 431 372 622. Marketigation is a local Townsville marketing business who operates under an ABN number as well.
About Yongala Lodge
Yongala Lodge by the Strand is a well located, clean motel for your next stay in Townsville. Contact us to book your next stay at a premium location in Townsville at info@historicyongala.com.au or by phone at 07 4772 4663.
About Marketigation
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