NEWS/Quick-Takes:
Empty Malls - https://digiday.com/marketing/online-retailers-using-empty-mall-spaces-test-products/

The Science of Storytelling -
https://marketingland.com/the-science-of-storytelling-245561

The Expanding Market:
“DXB Entertainments saw the number of visitors to Dubai Parks and Resorts rise 48% during the second quarter and 46% during the first half of 2018. International guests accounted for 38% of visitors during the first half, while annual pass holders made up 25% of visits.”

Another Reason to Monitor your Brand:
“A post on a Facebook page called 'Six Flags Club' has been shared over 100,000 times with over 40,000 comments. The post writes that every single person who shares and comments within the next 12 hours will get 4 free Six Flags tickets. Western Mass News confirmed with a spokesperson for Six Flags Wednesday night that the page is not associated with the amusement park. We're told Six Flags is working with Facebook to try and take the post down.”

Peter Weishar is UCF’s new professor of themed entertainment design.


Main Topic:
SEO for Beginners

Step 1 - Keyword Research
Think about what keywords guests will use to find your attraction. Make sure to think about general categories and other terms that the general public might use. For example, not just haunted house, but also haunted maze, Halloween things to do, etc.

Step 2 - Setup your site correctly
Don’t put your text into images on your website. Make sure you have at least 150 - 300 words on each part of your page and you naturally include the keywords a few times in that text.

Google factors in how mobile friendly your website is and how long it takes to load. Make sure to compress the images.

Google Webmasters Program: https://www.google.com/webmasters

Plug-In for Wordpress -> Yoast SEO: https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/

Step 3 - Get other websites to link to your site:
Social Media Platforms
Community Event Calendars
Contact your local Visitor Bureaus and ask them to promote you on their website
Partner Pages
Local Bloggers, Newspapers, other media outlets
Attraction Directories, search “Things To Do”

Where to go next?
Creating a blog. Adding more content onto your site. Writing guest blog posts for other blogs and linking back to your site. Using keyword tools like Moz.com:
https://moz.com/explorer/
https://moz.com/free-seo-tools
https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo


Wrap-Up:

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