The travel and tourism industry has undergone drastic changes over the years, and your business must be aware of how to adapt to these changes.
With searches on Google soaring in the past few years, SEO is essential when working in the tourism industry, especially when posting content online.
Using SEO to your advantage can help boost your Google search rankings.
These rankings are essential for your tourism business, as most Google users don’t make it past the first search page.
Google’s useful content update is now entirely focused on ensuring recommended content, and ranking is based on content created for humans.
Content update is excellent news.
If you focus on the quality of your content and its benefits to your readers, you are more likely to get a comfortable spot on the first page of Google search results.
Enable experience prediction through content
Prediction experience about using attractive content To help users predict what their personal journey experience will be like – and it starts with getting the customer journey right.
Different content formats, such as an article, guide, or list of things to remember can make your content more engaging and eye-catching.
Be sure to include need-to-know information such as the weather, attractions your users see, and any other key details your reader needs.
Pay attention: It is your tours and activities that people are looking forward to booking, so be sure to provide a long, well-written description of the tour and what people will experience to give the reader an idea of what they can expect.
Since you are focusing on your SEO, make sure you take the time to describe the experience and include relevant keywords.
You can also use keyword research to help you determine what your target audience is searching for and write content that focuses specifically on topics that users are interested in reading.
Leverage user reviews and user generated content to create more useful tour package pages
User Generated Content (UGC) can influence the decisions of other users in several ways. Influencing users on others means your customers can be advocates, as word of mouth can influence a future buyer’s buying journey.
Tailored reviews from users who have tested your tour package can help engage the reader and encourage user engagement.
Allow users to share a review and provide a first-hand experience of your tour.
However, make sure this is a monitored space, and retain control over posted content if that is a forum/comment based option.
If you are not sure to use a forum/comment based option, there are other ways to encourage other UGC below:
- SurveysWhen a customer experiences your product or brand, contact them with a follow-up survey to get some ratings and feedback. Use this information to improve the customer journey for other users. Surveys are also good for your brand, as you may learn that you need to make improvements.
- membership: Offer users the option to become a member and pay monthly for membership. Motivate them with benefits like free and exclusive access for members only. Encouraging users to sign up can also increase your conversion rate.
- reviewsAsk your customers to leave a review after trying their tour package. Revisions can be made on your website, Google Business Profile page, Tripadvisor, or Facebook. Be sure to follow up on any comments that aren’t positive, and publicly thank users for excellent feedback.
- Social media: This tool can attract audiences from other platforms and show how great your tour is. Tagging your social media pages and sharing location can also build experience prediction.
The content of your bundle pages should be about your customer experience, not just selling products.
Make sure you think about your target audience and the type of content they want to consume and share.
For example, it’s a good idea to share an infographic showing the most popular destination for 2022, other travel predictions, such as a list of World Heritage Sites, or other travel-related facts and figures.
Showcase your expertise with specialized content
If you’re a safari expert, make sure you create specialized guides specific to trips, animals, and weather so that your users can get the most information from you.
Specialized guides are useful for users looking to improve their own experience.
Visualize what you’re talking about with your clients when they’re on tour, write about those experiences, and combine content with keyword research to help boost your content and make it interesting for the reader.
Make sure you contact people in a similar niche or area as your business.
Connecting like this is called link building, and organically asking them to add a link to their site about your tour can attract customers.
Connecting with influencers in your industry is another excellent way to increase your sales and conversion rates.
Also, include local vendors and partners that you would like to promote as part of your business.
Writing like this assures users that you know what you’re talking about and are very aware of where you’re going.
Create content that enhances the experience
Instead of trying to sell the tour directly, position your content around the surrounding areas.
Content that discusses local cities, places to eat, and places to visit provides much more value to your audience.
Exploring the site in your content as much as possible informs people of the potential experience they could have and allows them to imagine themselves there.
This kind of valuable content is basically product information that has been expanded and enriched.
When working on travel SEO, rather than focusing your content on prices, dates, and times, try to include content based on local towns and villages and great food. This will set the scene for the user’s imagination and build excitement.
Describe in detail the places you can travel to, the transportation routes, and the best ways to get around (for example, trains vs. buses). Food is also a popular topic for travelers, so explore the best places to eat, provide an overview of the menu on offer, and include a range of dishes to entice many readers.
To ensure the best success, always write with your clients. Writing with your customers in mind sets you apart from your larger competitors and intensive tour and activity distributors.
When writing those posts about your destination or experience, be sure to use internal linking and create a strong connection between the blog post and the tour activities.
Make sure you link to the places you’ll see on the tour, and make your post interactive and easy to navigate, making it easy for users to explore their options.
After creating content that enhances the experience and includes plenty of internal links and visuals, you can push your content further and include videos.
Don’t do this until after you’ve written an engaging piece of content, as any additional forms of media will add to your user experience and solidify the final step in your customer’s journey.
conclusion
As a tour operator, you want your business to do well, and keeping up with the constant changes in the SEO industry can be challenging. But when done right, it’s totally worth it!
Following the points in this guide will help boost your rankings, but don’t put off using SEO if you don’t see immediate results.
Getting results with SEO takes time; You have to be patient when reviewing your results and metrics, give it time, and keep checking back to see where your content is performing and where it might need tweaking.
More resources:
- Travel Content SEO Strategy: How to Build Links, Traffic, and Conversions
- 5 tips for more engagement and influence with branded travel content
- Content Marketing: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to What Works
Featured image: Prostock-studio / Shutterstock
