Shifting your business online is a tricky process and can require a helping hand. Hear from Go Cotswolds and learn how 5874 helped them get online fast.
Another round of ’10 QUESTIONS WITH…’ and this time we’re talking to Tom from Go Cotswolds all about his site, working with 5874 and how reviews are a vital part of his business.
Tell us about Go Cotswolds
‘We’re a minibus tour company providing day tours of the Cotswolds (an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) from Stratford-upon-Avon and Moreton-in-Marsh on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. We also provide charter tours and private hire on request.’
How did the business begin?
‘As a keen traveller I’ve been on many tours around the world and I’d always been surprised that my local area, the Cotswolds, had a limited offering of affordable guided tours. For such a well-known and beautiful area, it’s a pretty difficult place to travel around if you don’t have your own vehicle, so for many years I talked about the idea of buying a minibus and doing guided tours – combining my knowledge for the local area with my passion for travel. So in 2013, I finally quit my job and – after travelling around Africa for a few months – decided to give it a go. We’ve now been doing tours for over 3 years!’
What made you come to 5874?
‘Rupert! We play cricket together and as someone that knows me, marketing and website design/development, it seemed the perfect fit for our requirements.’
How did you find the setup process of your site?
‘Our website was already set up before we came to 5874. We’d built it ourselves and it was a bit clunky and not as user friendly as we wanted. Rupert and Lucy changed this by tweaking a few things to make it look and work more professionally, as well as making it a lot easier for us to change and update ourselves. The whole process was very simple and we accomplished most of it in a morning over a few coffees!’
Did you have any specific requirements?
‘As I mentioned above our initial requirements were to make it look more professional and be more user friendly. As well this we wanted someone on hand to help us with updates and support us if we happened to break something whilst updating the website – which tends to happen when I’m tinkering with the website!’
5874 set you up with Event Calendar Pro. How has this improved the way customers book tours via your website?
‘It’s the only way customers can book their tours directly through our website so it’s important that it’s simple to understand, secure and easy to use. Events Calendar Pro is just this – we’ve seen online bookings, through the website increase exponentially since we’ve introduced it.’
5874 support Go Cotswolds on an ongoing basis with general website support. How do you feel this support process works?
‘It’s on an as and when basis. I don’t do too much to the website aside from blog posts, basic tinkers with the text and uploading tickets, but if I break something, try and change something I don’t know how to, or need something new doing, I simply send an e-mail to Rupert & Lucy who are on hand to help out. In addition to that, Rupert and I will get together once or twice a year to see if there are any further improvements/additions we can make to the website going forward.’
Since the setup of your new site have you noticed any difference to the number of site visits and tour bookings?
‘As a marketing graduate this is an area of personal shame as I don’t use Google Analytics to keep a track of site visits! Something I’m hoping to master this winter to help work out where to focus our marketing spend for 2018. However, since the website has become more established we’ve had an increased volume of online bookings year on year. 79% of our day tour bookings this year have been through the Go Cotswolds website compared to 60% in 2016, 33% in 2015 and just 5% in 2014.’
How important and online review sites like Tripadvisor to your business?
‘Absolutely vital. I don’t know anyone who travels these days that doesn’t cross check their research through guidebooks/company websites with TripAdvisor. By having a high volume of good quality reviews it gives people the assurance they need to go ahead and book. It also helps customers to build a picture of what sort of tour you provide as well as the customer service they’re likely to receive should they make an enquiry. We’re pretty reliant on it!’
What's the best tip for those wishing to start a business?
‘Just do it! If you don’t give it a go, you’ll never know.’
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