Amarind Quence is the former webmaster for the Shigar Fort Residence website. We interviewed Quence on his last day on the job and got his thoughts regarding the importance of the website to the success of the hotel:
Us: What was your concept for the website?
AQ: We wanted to show that the hotel was both exotic and familiar at the same time. That is, we wanted to attract visitors who had a certain sense of adventure without scaring away less intrepid souls. We therefore emphasized the cultural aspects of Shigar Fort Residence combined with all the familiar things that one expects from a first-class hotel.
Us: How did you develop your content?
AQ: Ha! I’m a terrible writer, so we hooked up with a freelance writer with marketing experience. He provided us with first-rate copy that needed very few changes. We chose an American writer because we cater to American tourists. He charged a little more than our own countrymen, but it was definitely worth the extra amount.
Us: It looks like a lot of thought went into the design of the website. Can you describe how the design evolved?
AQ: We knew we wanted to start with a WordPress website because of its ease of use and custom features. We tried to arrange the topics in a logical hierarchy and devoted a separate page to each topic. As you can see, we used photo images that implied luxury and comfort. Many of our shots were taken at night to also imbue a little mystery into the presentation.
Us: Under your leadership, the website gained a high PageRank and achieved enviable search engine page results. What was your secret?
AQ: Backlinks were key. We knew that the right backlinks would improve our PageRank and give us the link juice we needed to appear on Page One of the search results for our chosen keywords. We used an Internet tool to check backlinks to our site, and this helped us realize the need to expand the quantity and quality of our backlinks. The same website that provides the backlink tool offers a high-quality link package for a very reasonable rate. I have to say, in our case it worked out beautifully.
Us: We understand this is your last day on the job. What future plans do you have?
AQ: What are you talking about?