Related FAQ's
State Navigation Pages | Region Navigation Pages

The most popular FAQ that innkeepers ask about BBOnline concerns how our city navigation pages work.

Actually, there are three questions about the city navigation pages that are often asked:

1. How do we get the picture of our B&B at the top of the page?
2. How is the order of the B&Bs determined? Are they not in alphabetical order?
3. Can my B&B be included in city X?

Since BBOnline is headquartered just outside of Nashville, Tennessee, we will use Nashville as our example. You may click here to open another web browser to our Nashville city navigation page OR scroll down this page as we have copied November 16th's version of the Nashville page below.

How do we get the picture of our B&B at the top of the page?

Each night, we re-generate each of the 3,000+ city navigation pages on BBOnline. One of the tasks performed each night is selecting the B&Bs that are "featured" for the day on the city pages. Each night, one to four B&Bs are randomly selected to be "featured" for the day by having their picture, name, location and link to their BBOnline content posted at the top of the page. The number of B&Bs featured on a city page is based on the number of B&Bs advertising on BBOnline that are located in that city or are listed on that city page as being nearby:
1 B&B on the city page = 1 featured B&B each day
2-5 B&Bs on the city page = 2 featured B&Bs each day
6-9 B&Bs on the city page = 3 featured B&Bs each day
10 or more B&Bs on the city page = 4 featured B&Bs each day

All B&Bs that advertise on BBOnline are included in the pool of possible B&Bs to be selected. We do NOT charge innkeepers extra to be featured on the city pages. However, we do "weight" the odds of being selected by the size of the B&B's BBOnline Marketing Level so that innkeepers who spend more money with BBOnline are featured more often. Innkeepers with higher marketing levels have a greater chance of being selected. Imagine a large jar containing ping pong balls:
B&Bs with Marketing Level 1 have 1 ping pong ball in the jar
B&Bs with Marketing Level 2 have 2 balls in the jar
B&Bs with Marketing Level 3 have 3 balls in the jar
B&Bs with the Feature Marketing Level have 4 balls in the jar.

Each day, one to four of the ping pong balls in the jar are selected at random, and those B&Bs are "featured" for the day!

On November 16, 2004, The Big Bungalow Bed & Breakfast, East Park Inn - An Urban Bed & Breakfast, End O'The Bend Lodge & Landing and Blue Moon Farm were the four lucky B&Bs selected to be featured. If you click on the Nashville city page link above, the "odds" are very high that four different B&Bs are featured today.

The bottom line is: we don't charge extra for the feature. If you aren't featured today you might be featured tomorrow and you are more likely to be featured if you have a higher BBOnline Marketing Level.

On the city navigation page for each B&B, we include the B&B's name, link to their BBOnline content and their "tagline". For B&B's on the right-hand "nearby" column, we also include the city where the B&B is located since they are in a different city.

B&Bs in both of the columns are ordered by their BBOnline Marketing Level, with the higher levels listed first. If there are any Feature Marketing Level B&Bs, they are listed first, followed by Marketing Level 3 B&Bs and so on.

What if there is more than 1 B&B with the same marketing level? We randomly "shuffle" B&Bs within the same marketing level from one day to the next. Each night when we re-generate the city navigation pages, we sort the B&Bs first by their marketing level and secondly by a random number. In our example, several of the Nashville B&Bs have the Feature Marketing Level. If you compare the order listed below from November 16, you will probably see a different order if you click on the "live" Nashville city page link above.

Often, innkeepers will ask if they can be listed on city X. Many times, when we investigate we find that their B&B is listed as being "nearby" the city in question.

B&Bs are listed as "being nearby" a city if they are within approximately 20 miles of the city. In the Nashville example, B&Bs in Franklin, College Grove, Murfreesboro, Mt. Juliet, etc. are listed as being "nearby" Nashville. To determine this proximity, we use the latitude and longitude for each zip code in the city and the latitude and longitude of the B&B to determine if the B&B is within the nearby range.

We do NOT charge extra to be listed on multiple cities.

Political borders (regions, states, countries) do not hamper the city pages when considering which B&Bs are "nearby". For example:
the North Conway, New Hampshire page includes B&Bs a few miles to the east that are located in Maine.
the Victoria, British Columbia page includes B&Bs across the U.S. border in Friday Harbor, Washington.

If you feel that your B&B is not listed as being "nearby" a city and you feel it should fall within the 20 mile range, please let us know. You may send an email message to us and we will review your request.

We also have the capability of including cities/towns in our city navigation system where there are no B&Bs on BBOnline, but there are B&Bs located nearby. Here are a few examples:
Akron, Ohio and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

If there is a city/town "nearby" your B&B where there are no B&Bs on BBOnline (or perhaps no B&Bs at all) and the town has some "visitor interest", please let us know so we can check into adding the city to our navigation system. You may send an email message to us and we will review your request.