Travelling is passion, travelling is relaxing and travelling is enriching. Different people travel for different reasons. But one thing that remains common between them is travelling. The destinations may differ based on personal choice and interest but one thing remains the same and that is the quest for an amazing place to tour to.
Earlier like any other business, travel industry also operated in a different manner, mostly offline. But with the advent of Internet and online booking facilities, the presence of a travel website is now a must for every travel agency. People like me can now book their complete Europe tour sitting in the living room of their home in India.
So, how do I find the best deal or a reliable agency who can book me an awesome Europe tour right from the comfort of my home in Delhi? Well, the answer is online search. Online search or SEO has made it possible for the travel agencies to reach to their hundreds and thousands of potential customers throughout the globe. So now it has become mandatory for every good travel agency to implement SEO if they want to expand their business.
For the travel industry, a key driver in achieving their business goals is getting those vacationers choose their holidays and their company. And Travel SEO is a hugely important tool in achieving that success.
Why Focus on Travel SEO?
Researches have shown that Internet rules the mode of booking a holiday package or a flight deal. The increase in the trend has been tremendous during the past few years. As much as travel agents still have a place in the travel industry, the impact of the internet cannot be ignored, and the travel sector is arguably in the most need of that online focus.
Customers are increasingly moving towards online channels to fulfil their travel and so in such a scenario, travel agencies can not ignore the importance of ranking high on search engine results to be visible in front of the potential customers.
Today, we can find every major travel agency be it Thomas Cook or Expedia, having their online portal for booking holidays and more.
Understanding Travel SEO
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process of proving the relevance and value of a travel portal or any other website for a particular search term with a view to moving up the search engine rankings. With an online focus being so prevalent in the travel industry, travel SEO services should be of high priority for any travel business seeking to succeed online.
However, travel SEO is not only about keyword researching and making on site and off site changes. Its value runs far deeper than simply being found on Google at the point of booking. The journey of a potential traveller starts much before than booking a package. The overall process of booking a tour to conversion passes through various steps like ability to research, discuss and share information, recommendations and reviews. Usually, very little of this journey happens outside of Google. Whether a customer is researching a new destination, finding reviews of a company they’re considering booking with or searching for excursions they can take whilst on holiday.
This is why doing SEO for travel websites is different from regular websites as merely ranking on top with the search term “Holidays” or “Kerala Trip” is just not enough. And this is where the challenge lies for travel SEO.
To explain the above point, a customer may indeed search for ‘holiday’. But it is very important to know what kind of holiday they are searching for? For instance perhaps they’re not even thinking about a ‘holiday’ package but trying to look at the list of upcoming holidays. Or they are looking for a confirmed date for a particular holiday.
That means that travel SEO is far more dependent on thinking further down the line. It is very important to know what kind of holiday the traveller is searching for. The information whether they are looking for a budget trip to Kerala or a luxury house boat trip is very important to move further with the conversion. And this is where the long tail keywords come into existence.
We had done SEO for a travel agency who was dealing only with luxury Rajasthan trips and so the keywords like backpack tours or budget Rajasthan travel were useless for that particular website.
Only a good SEO agency is competent enough to consider all the facets of travel SEO and getting high conversion rate for you.
Link Earning and Reviews in Travel SEO
Travel SEO is also very much dependent on high-quality link earning and reviews from previous customers. Reviews play a vital role and are a major deciding factor in the life cycle of holiday bookings. Sites like TripAdvisor are good examples for getting recommendations.
Social Media and Travel SEO
It’s not only SEO in the ‘traditional’ sense that is vital for the travel industry. My experience of working in the travel sector is that social media also plays a huge part in travel SEO.
The travel industry is huge and a great potential lies online. Agencies can either hire an excellent team to look after the SEO of their portal or partner with a good and reputable SEO services provider who can take care of all the aspects of promoting their website online.
We, at Brandconn Digital, have more than a decade of experience in working with travel agencies and Bed and Breakfast owners. If you are also looking for a good offshore outsourcing partner, you may like to learn more about our digital marketing services for travel websites. Contact us and we will get in touch with you with all the details.
