1 Abstract Armenia is a developing country that relies heavily on tourism for economic stability. Our project, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, was to create recommendations for user friendly and effective websites that would help decentralize economic prosperity by promoting tourism to rural Armenia. By defining the target audience, researching tourism attributes, and assessing competitor websites, this project established guidelines to use Search Engine Optimization and advertising platforms effectively. The outcome of this project will support efforts to increase tourism to Armenia as a whole and specifically to the rural areas. 1 Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following people for their support in making this project successful. Michael Aghajanian, Advisor Thank you for enabling us to produce a quality report and for leading us towards critical thinking. Thank you for making this project one of the most valuable experiences of our lives. Professor Diran Apelian, Advisor Thank you for teaching us the value of being a good professional. We still felt your presence and morals guiding us even after you had to go back to the US. David Bequette, Gabriel Seder & the My Armenia Program, Sponsors We are grateful to have the opportunity to work with you over the summer. We hope you find our report helpful and perhaps consider hosting other WPI students in the future. Professor Creighton Peet, Preparatory Term (ID 2050) Professor Thank you for introducing us to IQP and for the lessons in professional writing. We treasure the opportunity you gave us to understand Armenia’s culture before actually getting there. Project Donors We would like to thank Michael and Elizabeth Aghajanian, Diran and Seta Apelian, Ara A. Apkarian, Stephen Ariyan, Aziz and Wendy Asphahani, Aram and Terez Bassenian, Yervant Chekijian, Family Eye Care Center & Optical Gallery, John and Michelle Fashjian, Roger J. Hajjar, Kyle and Trisha Heppenstall, John and Tanya Hovanesian, Luther Khachigian, Michael C. Lemmon, Arden Sonnenberg, VJ Technologies (Vijay Alreja), and Renee Zabela. This project would not have been possible without you. Thank you for your all your support. Your efforts really meant a lot to our academics and our future careers. Mark Aghajanian, Donal Boyd, Peter Graffman, Marie Keep, and other interviewees Your insight was vital to our project and we really appreciate your time and effort. Jesse O'Toole, WPI Librarian Thank you for making sure we adhere to academic standards of referencing papers. Professor Nelli A. Hovhannisyan, Yerevan State University Thank you for your help and guidance. 2 Authorship James Kradjian, Christine Lujuo, Harsh Rana and Alexis Zoffreo all contributed to the research and writing of this report. Different sections of the report were assigned to different group members and were then reviewed by the rest of the team. A further breakdown of authorship can be seen below. James Kradjian wrote parts of the Background chapter regarding tourist distribution techniques. He extended the Methodology chapter by writing about methods of defining the target audience (objective 1) and recommending a search engine optimization plan (objective 4). Additionally, he wrote parts of the Finding and Recommendation chapters about the previously mentioned objectives (1, 4). James was also responsible for editing the reference list. Christine Lujuo wrote parts of the Background chapter regarding benefits of distributed tourism and challenges of tourism in rural Armenia. She extended the Methodology chapter by writing parts of the methods behind defining the target audience (objective 1) and recommending a search engine optimization plan (objective 4). Additionally, she wrote parts of the Finding and Recommendation chapters about the previously mentioned objectives (1, 4). Finally, Christine also wrote the first draft of the acknowledgement section. Harsh Rana wrote parts of the Introduction chapter and the Executive Summary. He also contributed to the Background chapter regarding prior efforts in Armenia. He extended the Methodology chapter by writing the methods behind creating a keyword list (objective 2) and website optimization through content and design (objective 3). He also wrote part of the website advertisements methodology (objective 5) with regard to conversion techniques. He further wrote parts of the Finding and Recommendation chapters about the previously mentioned objectives (2, 3, 5). Alexis Zoffreo wrote parts of the Introduction chapter and the Executive Summary. She also extended the Background chapter by writing about the case of tourism in Armenia and concentrated vs. distributed tourism. Additionally, she wrote the summary of the Background chapter. Alexis was responsible for explaining the methods behind website advertisements (objective 5) and website analytics (objective 6) in the Methodology chapter. She further wrote parts of the Finding and Recommendation chapters about the previously mentioned objectives (5 and 6). In addition to the above mentioned breakdown of individual responsibilities, James Kradjian, Christine Lujuo, Harsh Rana and Alexis Zoffreo were all responsible for editing the paper for grammar, flow and content as a group. 3 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 2 Authorship 3 Table of Contents 4 Table of Figures 7 Executive Summary 9 1. Introduction 13 2. Background 15 2.1 The Case for Tourism in Armenia 15 2.1.2 Natural Attractions and Ecological Diversity 16 2.1.3 Yerevan 16 2.1.4 Rural Areas 17 2.1.5 Vayots Dzor 18 2.2 Concentrated vs. Distributed Tourism 21 2.3 Benefits of Distributed Tourism 23 2.3.1 Benefits to the Rural Population 23 2.3.2 Benefits to Tourists 24 2.4 Challenges of Tourism in Rural Armenia 24 2.4.1 Language Barrier 25 2.4.2 Rural Infrastructure 26 2.4.3 Capabilities of the Tourism Industry 26 2.5 Tourist Distribution Techniques 26 2.5.1 Marketing and Information Technology 27 2.5.2 Social Media Presence 28 2.5.3 Mobile Applications 28 2.5.4 On-site Activities 28 2.6 Prior Efforts in Armenia 29 2.6.1 Websites 30 2.7 Summary 31 3. Methodology 32 4 3.1 Defined the Target Audience 33 3.2 Developed Keywords Lists 35 3.3 Determined Website Optimization Strategies through Site Content and Design 38 3.4 Recommended Additional Search Engine Optimization Techniques 41 3.5 Enhanced SEO through Website Advertisement 42 3.6 Determined the Best Methods to Track Website Analytics 43 4. Findings and Conclusions 44 4.1 Objective 1: Defined the Target Audience 44 4.1.1 Tourist Affinities towards Armenian Attributes 44 4.2 Objective 2: Developed Keyword Lists 49 4.3 Objective 3: Determined Site Optimization through Content and Design 55 4.4 Objective 4: Recommended Additional Search Engine Optimization Techniques 57 4.4.3 List of Potential Links 59 4.5 Objective 5: Enhanced Search Engine Optimization through Website Advertisements 63 4.5.1 Social Media 63 4.5.2 Website Advertisements 64 4.5.3 Conversions 66 4.6 Objective 6: Recommended Analytics Plan 68 5. Recommendations 71 5.1 Recommendations from Objective 1: Defined the Target Audience 71 5.2 Recommendations from Objective 2: Developing the Keywords Lists 73 5.3 Recommendations from Objective 3: Determined Site Optimization through Content and Design 74 5.4 Recommendations from Objective 4: Recommended Additional Search Engine Optimization Techniques 78 5.4.1 Web Design “Dos and Don’ts” Recommendations 78 5.4.2 Search Results Sample Recommendations 79 5.4.3 Linking Recommendations 79 5.5 Recommendations from Objective 5: Enhanced Search Engine Optimization through Website Advertisements 81 5.5.1 Social Media Strategy 81 5.5.2 Conventional and Unconventional Advertisements 82 5 5.5.3 Conversions 86 5.6 Recommendations from Objective 6: Recommended Analytics Plan 89 5.7 Final Remarks 91 References 92 Appendix A: Sponsor Description 97 Appendix B: What an IQP is and how this project qualifies to be an IQP? 100 Appendix C: Interview Protocols 101 Interview Protocol for Mr. Mark Aghajanian 101 Interview Protocol for Mr. Donal Boyd 103 Interview Protocol for Mr. Peter Graffman 105 Interview Protocol for Ms. Marie Keep 107 Interview Protocol for Mr. [redacted] 109 Appendix D: Interview Transcripts 111 Mark Aghajanian, Interview Transcript 111 Donal Boyd, Interview Transcript 116 Peter Graffman, Interview Transcript 123 Marie Keep, Interview Transcript 128 Anonymous Expert, Interview Transcript 140 Appendix E: Defining the Target Audience Survey 149 Appendix F: Site Content and Design Deliverable 152 Appendix G: Web Advertisement Deliverable 165 Social Media Presentation 165 Conventional and Unconventional Advertisements Presentation 180 Conversions Presentation 198 Appendix H: Analytics Plan Deliverable 215 6 Table of Figures Figure 1: Map of Armenia in the Caucasus region 9 Figure 2: Block Diagram depicting the timeline of our project 10 Figure 3: Map of Armenia showing it provinces 17 Figure 4: Image from Areni festival in Vayots Dzor 18 Figure 5: Excavation site in the Areni Caves 19 Figure 6: Entrance to the second floor of the Noravank Monastery 20 Figure 7: View of Vorkskan restaurant in Vayots Dzor 21 Figure 8: Distribution of Tourists in Armenia 22 Figure 9: Bar chart representing the nominal monthly wages differences 22 Figure 10: Pie chart representing countries that tourists often come from 25 Figure 11: Homepage of black sea silk road website 30 Figure 12: Block Diagram depicting the timeline of our project 32 Figure 13: Sample heat map showing a matrix of demographics and Armenia’s attributes 33 Figure 14: Process