Be effective

For best results, we recommend using Dynamic Rich Media links, available in the Create Links section of LinkShare. These links automatically update when Hotwire changes their content.

Add search boxes for more conversions

Put a booking engine on your site to make it easier for visitors to complete transactions, eliminating an unnecessary step from the shopping process. We recommend utilizing Dynamic Rich Media booking engine banners with a general Hotel and Car savings message -- these are the consistent best performers for most partners. Visit the Create Links section to see a wide variety of Hotwire search boxes.

Communicate the advantages

Make sure your visitors know that Hotwire offers unbeatable low prices on airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, vacation packages and cruises. Through our partnerships with leading travel companies, we can get you deals at ridiculously low prices.

How does it work? Our partners allow us access to their unsold inventory -- empty seats on flights, empty hotel rooms, and unrented cars -- at big savings. By showing the name of our travel partner after you book, Hotwire can get you travel deals that are significantly below published prices.

Put Hotwire at the top

Always place Hotwire links or banners above the fold (i.e., above the point at which a visitor must scroll down to view more content). Studies have shown that visitors pay most attention to the content that they see when they first arrive at a page.

Make it big

Bigger is better when it comes to banners. Studies have shown that large, dynamic banners convert better than small ones. Don't overwhelm your visitors with too many large banners, though. Integrate them into your site for best success.

Test, test and test some more

Keep trying new things to see what helps your clicks and conversions the most. Move a banner around, buy some search-engine keywords or even create a new page.

Know the basics

SEM is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your site. Effective SEM includes bidding on keywords, so your site will appear higher on results when someone searches on sites like Google or Yahoo. You may bid on any term, as long as it's not trademarked or branded by Hotwire. Bidding on misspellings of trademarks or brand names is also prohibited. Visit our Affiliate Agreement for full details.

For more information regarding SEM, we also recommend visiting the following pages:

• adwords.google.com/support
• searchmarketing.yahoo.com/rc/srch
• searchenginewatch.com/resources

Understand what to track and measure

In addition to clicks and impressions, focus on your price per click (PPC) and earnings per click (EPC). You can get a good idea of your profits by subtracting the PPC from the EPC.

Test new ideas

Once you know what to measure, it's a good idea to test new situations to find out what's most profitable for you. Test the position of your ads, the time of day they appear, the words you use and the layout of the landing pages visitors are sent to.

Know the competition

SEM can be a competitive environment. It's important to know who you are bidding against. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep up with larger companies that bid on thousands of popular keywords. Some keywords also have expensive price tags and may not be worth your SEM efforts. Instead, focus on little-known keywords that cost less, but provide a higher click-through rate. Yahoo offers a tool to track the popularity of keywords in their resource center.

Stay in touch with the environment

SEM rules and guidelines change often, and it's important to keep informed of any major changes that may affect your campaigns. Industry resources like Search Engine Watch are great places to find the latest information.

Partner with smaller engines

Internet searches usually originate from one of the four major search engines, but there's still a large portion of searchers on second-tier engines. Include these second-tier engines in your SEM campaign. Visit Search Engine Watch for an updated list of engines to consider.

Be original

Offer unique content to entice visitors to your site. The first step to a well-designed site is creating or acquiring unique content.

Make it easy to navigate

Once you have great content in place, the next step is helping people find it. A good site will allow a visitor to find what they need in three clicks or less. A great site will do it in two clicks or less -- or through a search box. Create several scenarios for how a visitor might navigate your site and see if you can complete each in three steps or less.

Define each section clearly

If you manage a travel site, divide it into logical sections (e.g., air, hotel, vacation packages, etc). You can make it even easier to navigate by subdividing each section (e.g., specific destinations, deals, etc).

Code each page effectively

Each page should be coded correctly and contain the following:

• Title tags: A unique 5- to 10-word description that lets search engines know what content will be found on the page. Use relevant keywords from the body of the page in your title.
• Meta tags: Keywords and descriptions stored in the code of your page, but not visible to the user. Search engines look at meta tags to get information on your site. However, avoid "keyword stuffing" (i.e., placing unnecessary or irrelevant information in your meta tags). Search engines may penalize you for keyword stuffing by ignoring your pages completely.
• Site map: An index that allows a search engine to find every page of your site. Arrange this map by groups with brief descriptions of each section. Take a look at Hotwire's site map for a good example.
• No dead ends: On each page, especially error pages, place links directing visitors back to your homepage or other important sections of your site. It's never a good idea to provide visitors with a dead-end experience.
• Robots.txt: A text file that tells search engines which pages to search and which to ignore. Visit Robots.txt for information on how to add this important file to your site.

Submit your site(s)

It may sound like common sense, but make sure to submit your site to popular search engines for inclusion in their listings. These are some of the engines you'll want to register with:

• The Open Directory Project: You categorize your site(s), then ODP distributes your information to the major search engines.
• Google
• Yahoo
• MSN