An independent travel agent search marketing strategy

Transcription

1 An independent travel agent search marketing strategy David Burdon

2 Experience Stena Line, Cosmos Created the Somewhere2stay.com brand 8+ years specialist involvement in search 300+ search engine marketing projects Travel SEO for hotels and niche tour operators SEO & PPC training for SMEs to Multinationals Working in highly aggressive search categories

3 Approach Theory Practical observations Recommendations Discussion

4 Search Practicalities No silver bullets. If it sounds to good to be true. Google organic search is getting much tougher No.1 for a small term beats No.11 for a big term Relevance more important than quantity Good search practise is incremental Wide range of free resources Almost everything is trackable and measurable

5 SEM Over-Site

6 Theory: SEM Over-Site Five Stages Pre-Site Planning stage On-Site Website content Off-Site Link building Post-Site Results,feedback Plus Maintenance, corrective actions, competitor response, tuning.

7 Search Strategy Objectives Assert influence over the value chain Reduce reliance on individual supplier, destination, package or mode Maximise unit booking margin Minimise unit booking costs Minimise unit customer acquisition costs Outrank both inter-type and intra-type competitors for selected terms. Become the dominant local agent website

8 Search Strategy Planning Campaign structure Organic Search Paid search Referrals Direct Clear understanding of search types Brand vs generic Destination, accommodation, activities Local vs national Seasonal and temporal Informational and transactional Each treated differently from search perspective

9 Play to your strengths Own your Location County City or Town District Location may be ambiguous Postcode Local airport

10 Play to your strengths Find your speciality Destination Country, region, resort, accommodation type, specific property Lifestage Singles, couples, families, post kids, retireds Lifestyle and activity Ski, diving, golf, walking, camping, exploring, cultural Events Weddings, honeymoons, stag parties, sports Price point Luxury, upmarket, mid-market, budget Accommodation type Hotels, apartments, villas, all-inclusive, gites Package type Packaged, bespoke, component, ancillaries

11 Google s Search Flavours Google comes in many flavours: Web Places Map Image Shopping Blog Real-time Each has a role to play

12 Google Local Search

13 Google Map Search

14 Google Shopping Search

15 Google Web Search

16 Google Place Page - 1

17 Google Place Page - 2

18 Outsmart your competition Define who they are They are probably nearby Search for them Work out how they compete with you Strengths Weaknesses Avoid head-on competition Find ways to do things better

19 Keyword Research Get a baseline Establish existing traffic levels and sources Use a good (Free) analytics package Track actual keyword activity WYPFISNNWYG Beware broad match (Semantics) Google, Yahoo, Word Tracker data Check out competition Trade volume for relevance and quality Synthesise all components

20 Top Travel Agent Terms Keyword travel agent travel agency travel agency UK travel agency London online travel agent travel agent UK travel agency in London travel agent London UK travel agency independent travel agent UK Searches 60,500 40,500 1,600 1,

21 Organic (Free) Search

22 Organic (Free) Search Prioritise Google 88% market share You will need off page activity e.g. inbound links Learn lessons from other engines Yahoo most on-page Bing a predictor of future Google ranking Be patient with Google Do the right things and monitor progress May take two to three months Check indexing and long tail terms Solid long term rankings is the priority Avoid all spammy techniques otherwise you will pay in the long run.

23 Organic Search Key Elements Keywords Keyword selection Less is more Alignment URLs Meta tags Copy Images Inbound Linking Anchor text Relevance Indexing

24 The Agency Website CMS template driven system SEO limitations Website aesthetics Location Destination Fares Package vs. Seat only Accommodation type Holiday types Off page has few constraints

25 Pay Per Click Clear Campaign Structure Campaign settings Display network? Segmentation Build campaign around customer types and needs Generic versus activities and seasonal Resort and property specific Ad groups Tailored copy

26 Improving Conversion Rate Match types Exact match preferred but used in conjunction with phrase and broad match. Negative keywords Beware low click through rates Quality score aim for 7/10 Specific landing pages Variable Geographic Focus By town or city The Polygon

27 Geographic Targeting Used for non-destination specific terms.

28 Feedback Dynamics of enquiries, bookings etc? Track conversions, traffic and rankings Look for blockages Look for winners Distinguish between seasonal variations and ranking variations. Distinguish between paid, organic and referrals Never forget you re a travel agent put commercial pragmatism over search perfection.

29 Integrated Search Integrate paid and organic search Integrate search with other tools in the marketing mix: Advertising Directories CRM Local promotion PR Especially on-line Data collection Newsletters Branding Capture the destination and accommodation positioning as part of the brand.

30 Return on expenditure Total website marketing costs Search marketing costs Total revenue Total revenue from search Cost/Revenue per visitor Cost/Revenue per search engine visitor Cost/Revenue per paid visitor

31 No Cost Recommendations Register your website with DMOZ - 0 Secure your Google Place page - 0 Optimise it - 0 Generate reviews - 0 Create a Blogspot blog - 0 Create a Wordpress blog - 0 Put analytics in place - 0 Join a link exchange scheme - 0 Join LinkedIn - 0 Set-up a Facebook wall page - 0 Join Twitter - 0

32 Parting thought Turn search engines into revenue engines David Burdon Simply Clicks