Buffalo Online CVB Web sites Driving Interest and Traffic to Buffalo With two new Web sites created in the past three years, the CVB spent much of 2008 utilizing new technology, creating content, and implementing social media tools to disseminate information and drive visitors to visitbuffaloniagara.com and wrightnowinbuffalo.com. On the visitbuffaloniagara.com site, a newly implemented feature is the inclusion of video links to over a dozen Flash videos and slideshows about Buffalo attractions and events. The videos range from the CVB’s “Feel the Flavor” multicultural video to a look at the new Burchfield Penney Art Center to a slideshow of the new M&T Bank Rainforest Falls at the Buffalo Zoo. The videos complement the insider guides, digitized visitors guide, and downloadable podcasts – all of which contribute to an engaging online experience. The site’s content and new features are keeping visitors on the Web site longer. In 2008, the average time spent on the site was 3:08 minutes, up from 1:45 minutes in 2007. Visitors are looking at 33% more pageviews, over 2.2 million pageviews in 2008, compared to 1.6 million in 2007. The CVB received a 2008 Web Marketing Association award for outstanding achievement in Web site development for the visitbuffaloniagara.com Web site. The site was cited for having a superior interactive guide, use of video, bookmarking of pages to build an itinerary, and for taking the customer’s point of view when creating the site. Another award bestowed on the CVB for web development was a bronze Excalibur Award from the Public Relations Society of America Buffalo Niagara Chapter for visitbuffaloniagara.com in the Interactive Communications category. The wrightnowinbuffalo.com Web site continues to serve as an online resource for information on architecture, design and the arts in Buffalo. Wrightnowinbuffalo.com allows the CVB to promote our cultural treasures to the world through a content rich, highly targeted micro-site. Through online search engine optimization, consumers can easily find information on Buffalo’s rich array of art and architecture attractions. In 2008 the CVB fully embraced social media, blogs, podcasting, viral marketing and online media to speak directly to consumers. The CVB now utilizes Facebook, Flickr and You Tube to distribute content and images to a highly receptive audience.
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