Whether you're a travel agency, hotel company or travel brand, bringing your target audience to your website is a key way to increase your direct sales. You're most likely aware of the importance of SEO. But how does it work, and how can you implement SEO elements to boost your digital presence?
Let’s take a look at how an effective keyword strategy can optimise your travel website and boost your business.
Why is SEO important?
SEO, or search engine optimisation, determines how visible your page is to your audience. It’s crucial for any online business, particularly for travel brands, which need to stand out in a highly competitive market.
While many companies rely on paid strategies to secure a higher search engine ranking, such as Google Ads, you can improve your ranking organically by optimising your website with keywords and other SEO elements.
Having a website that ranks high on the SERP (search engine results pages) drives organic traffic without the need for paid advertising. It’s a cost-effective strategy and hugely valuable for your online presence.
By ranking highly for specific user search queries that are directly related to your travel business, you can increase the flow of relevant traffic to your website. This translates directly into increased revenue.
How to conduct keyword research
One of the most important SEO steps, keyword research helps you find what your audience is looking for and signpost them towards your site.
There are so many ways to find the right keywords for your travel content. Start by thinking about how travellers would search for your services and try to integrate the phrases they’d use into your copy.
Utilise advanced keyword finders such as Keyword Tool or Semrush. These tools can assist in creating an effective keyword strategy based on search volume, country, and difficulty to rank. They also allow you to monitor future SEO trends in the travel and tourism industry.
Long-tail keywords are particularly great for travel content. Travel is such a broad sector, so what you offer will not be relevant for every traveller. Long-tail keywords, such as ‘best beachfront family hotels in Andalusia, Spain’, help you get specific about what you’re offering, making it easier for search engines to connect you with your niche audience.
How to integrate keywords into content
Well-written, keyword-sprinkled content is like gold dust. Search engines can differentiate between natural, informative content that is written for users and content designed purely for algorithms and will penalise the brands for taking shortcuts. Keyword stuffing, (using as many as possible in a short space), is a big giveaway.
Instead, keep things light and subtle within the text. Use keywords in your H1 header and H2 and H3 subheads. This helps Google catalogue your text and also helps your readers orientate themselves.
You can also use them within the copy, where they are particularly effective at the beginning and end of the text. Just keep in mind that you’ll want to integrate them naturally to avoid being penalised.
Other ways to use keywords
Keywords aren’t just for content on your website. You can also use them in the metadata, which is what appears on search engine results pages (SERPs) and is used to describe information about your website. This metadata helps search engines connect you with your audience.
Meta titles (or SEO titles), meta descriptions and URLs (web addresses) are all important. The URL is particularly useful when it comes to integrating long-tail keywords. These should be a maximum of 62 characters for meta titles, 120 to 160 characters for meta descriptions and a URL that’s around 75 characters, connected by hyphens. These should all make sense and include a keyword if possible.
You can also work keywords into the alt tags of your image. When searching for relevant content, Google doesn’t ‘see’ your images. Instead, it sees the alt tag, which should describe what the image is showing. If the alt tag contains a keyword, it demonstrates that it’s relevant to your audience, boosting your overall SEO.
Optimise your site
With such fierce competition within the travel industry, having a clear keyword strategy is crucial. As a travel company, you face unique challenges when it comes to using keywords and SEO most effectively.
Using expert travel SEO services brings more traffic to your website, helping you build a more successful travel brand with organic and sustainable growth.
Our creative content agency helps travel brands drive organic traffic and reach their target audience. Get in touch today to find out more about our on-site SEO services.
