The travel industry, which had been stagnant for a few years due to the pandemic, has recently been bouncing back. After losing approximately 75% of its value in 2020, the travel industry is expected to contribute a record $11.1 trillion to the global economy.[1]
Establishing a strong digital presence is extremely important, considering that over 70% of travelers book trips online [2]. SEO is a key digital marketing strategy that helps business rank their websites high in search results.
If you’re looking to boost your travel agency’s SEO, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about SEO for the travel industry and how to boost SEO for travel agency.
What Is SEO for Travel Agencies?
Search engine optimization (SEO) for travel websites is almost identical to any other industry. It’s a simple process of optimizing website elements and building links to improve ranking in Google results pages.
Simply put, SEO is necessary if you want your website to be more visible in search engines and attract more travelers.
SEO for travel websites has some unique challenges, such as:
- Competition: Well-established companies like Expedia, Tripadvisor, and Booking.com, which claim many high-volume keywords, will be your major competition.
- Keyword density: Target SEO keywords for a travel agency with a solid search volume and strong booking intent.
- Hotel pack queries: Certain queries, like “resort” and “hotel,” tend to trigger a “hotel pack” on Google that shows a list of establishments right there.
To address these challenges, create an SEO strategy that targets the right keywords, meets user intent, and helps you surpass your competitors on Google.
How to choose an SEO company is a frequently asked question. Check out our webinar to understand the metrics people use when choosing an agency, including a travel agency.
Why SEO Matters for Travel Agencies?
You’re probably wondering will SEO will work for your business? No matter your travel agency’s size, age, or niche, SEO will help position you for success. More than 60% of travelers use search engines like Google and Bing as their primary resource[3]. They rely on search engines to find everything from countries they’d like to visit to travel agencies with which to book their trip.
Your website needs to appear at the top of the search engine results to attract the right kind of travelers, as most users don’t get past the first few results.
That sounds good on paper, but if you know anything about SEO, you know it takes time to get results. Wouldn’t it be easier to invest in PPC for specific keywords and climb the top of Google SERPs that way? Yes, it would be. However, you wouldn’t get the same results.
According to a Search Engine Journal study, the first three results on Google get around 56% of clicks, while the rest—including the ads—get only a fraction of clicks[4].
Now, don’t get us wrong, we’re not against PPC. We at NUOPTIMA have helped our clients generate six figures with Google Ads. Check out our Icy Bear case study.
PPC ads can give you immediate visibility to the right kind of audience. However, first building credibility for your target audience before investing in PPC, you should first build credibility with your target audience.
For agencies seeking more immediate visibility, running targeted Google Ads campaigns can complement your SEO efforts and drive quick results. Learn more about how a Google Ads agency can help you reach your target audience effectively.
SEO allows your target demo to get to know your agency and discover what you’re all about. Here are a few simple benefits of SEO for travel websites.
More Leads for Your Agency
SEO (organic search) is still the most effective channel for lead generation. Of course, the lead acquisition is all about quality. You can get thousands of leads to your website, but if they’re just random people not interested in your offer, they won’t convert.
Luckily, SEO allows you to attract targeted traffic interested in your agency. People tend to look for services and destinations they’re interested in. This targeted approach ensures that the leads you bring to your website will more likely convert, guaranteeing a high return on investment.
Cost-Effectiveness
Websites that don’t invest in SEO won’t appear on top of SERPs – there’s nothing more to it. There’s practically no chance for you to end up as one of the top ten results on the first page on accident if your competitors are actively investing in optimization. And they certainly are.
As stated earlier, PPC can give you instantaneous results. However, as soon as you stop advertising on Google, the surge of traffic will stop. With SEO, while it may take a bit longer to see significant spikes in traffic, once you rank traffic, it will flow non-stop.
SEO leads convert faster than those acquired by traditional outbound methods like cold calling or advertising. Research has shown that SEO leads have a nearly 15% close rate while outbound leads have a less than 2% close rate[5].
Business Growth
No one can 100% guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. The algorithm is unpredictable, and results are often volatile. However, the results will undoubtedly come if you plan everything carefully and execute it correctly. Just consider these numbers:
- SEO drives 1,000% more traffic than social media[6]
- Three-fourths of people don’t go past the first page of Google[7]
- SEO reduces the cost of customer acquisition by nearly 90%[8]
SEO will continue to give you results long after your initial investment. Multiple pages on your website will continue ranking high months and years after you created them, and they don’t need much upkeep.
Just imagine if you get a steady flow of leads to your travel website—say even 2,000 visitors a day—even if you manage to convert a small percentage of them, you’ll still profit. And that’s without spending money additional money at all.
On-Page SEO for Travel Agencies
On-page SEO refers to regular optimization of each page on your website. If you optimize everything properly, Google will give you a solid rank in SERPs, and you’ll see the first surge in traffic. Here’s what you need to pay special attention to:
Homepage
Your homepage might be more important than you know. Many travel agencies use their homepages as landing pages for their ads; in most cases, they are the first thing a lead sees.
For travelers, aesthetics mean a lot. In terms of content, your homepage needs:
- High-quality photos of people and properties
- Special offers and deals
- A few words about your travel agency
- Popular pieces of content from your blog
- Testimonials from satisfied clients you’ve worked with before
To improve SEO, include several signals to Google about the nature of your website and business. Optimize the title and description on the homepage and ensure your page has schema information and contact information.
Internal Linking
Hyperlinks lead the visitor to a different page on the same website. External links, on the other hand, lead to pages on various websites. Internal links help Google find, understand, and index all of the pages on your website. Also, strategically placing internal links can send traffic to other pages and increase their page authority.
Optimizing Titles and Descriptions
An SEO optimization isn’t finished without SEO titles, meta tags, and meta descriptions. Nearly 93% of top websites that generate the most traffic have title tags[9]. While title tags are relatively easy to write, you should abide by some standards when doing so:
- Try not to plagiarize your title tags
- Make sure to avoid keyword stuffing
- Make sure you have a unique page title
The meta description is the little snippet of text on Google under a page title. It should be between 120 and 158 characters, contain your main keyword, and tell the user about the page.
Enhancing Content
When creating content for the travel industry, ensure it sounds authentic. Paying $20 for a ChatGPT subscription and generating content will not do you any good. Travelers don’t want generic information about places they would like to visit.
They want content that describes the real experiences of real people. For instance, when writing a post about a trip to a specific destination, it’s essential to provide your readers with as much information as possible. Readers want to know everything from rebooking options to cleaning protocols.
That’s why user-generated content is so popular in the travel industry. Staggering 97% of people who embarked on a journey also sought advice from a reliable source before their departure[10]. You want to be a trusted source for your readers. Read our article to learn the difference between technical vs content SEO.
Mobile-Friendly Design
Nearly 8 out of 10 local searches on mobile phones result in a conversion. User experience is essential for SEO and brand reputation. If travelers visit your website with a poor experience, they’ll leave and never return.
However, desktop and mobile device experiences are much different. Your website needs to be mobile-friendly, have clickable links without zooming in, and be easy to navigate on small screens.
The NUOPTIMA team provides technical SEO services, including mobile optimization. You can expect us to:
- Analyze your website performance on both desktop and mobile.
- Implement a responsive design so your website has a consistent look on all devices.
- Optimize your content, load times, and overall website performance.
Off-Page SEO for Travel Agencies
After optimizing your website content, your job still isn’t done. Now, you need to build some links and establish yourself as an authority in the travel niche. Only then will you start seeing actual results. Here are the fundamentals of off-page SEO.
Building Backlinks
In a nutshell, travel link building refers to getting other websites to link to your website and increase authority.
Do you know how research papers strengthen their arguments with strong sources to give their research paper credibility? Websites work the same way. If credible websites use you as a source of information, Google sees you as an authority on that topic.
That’s why you need to reach out to other websites in the travel niche and start building links. Look for backlinks from relevant websites only. If you promote your content to cooking websites and ask for backlinks, in the eyes of Google, these links will hold little to no value.
Watch our video below to learn how to build backlinks on autopilot using tools and embeds, create valuable content, and employ PR tactics.
Using Social Media
Social media doesn’t have a direct impact on your SEO, sure. Shares and likes aren’t ranking factors. But social media can send a lot of high-quality leads your way.
According to a recent study by the Stelico Consulting Group, over three-quarters of luxury travelers selected their hotel brand, cruise, or airline based on social media research[11].
While this study’s results only show what high-class travelers prefer, the same applies to the average consumer. People use social media for everything from finding clothes and furniture to discovering tourist destinations and booking trips. A viral social media post can also send thousands of visitors to your website.
Connecting With Influencers
Influencers play a significant role in today’s travel industry. They use their platform to promote services, destinations, and agencies. Social media influencers help you gain a better social media following than you probably can.
They understand your target audience and know how to sell to them. Recent research shows that over 70% of modern consumers trust recommendations from influencers[12].
Partnering with a travel influencer can help you reach thousands of consumers and refresh your social media channels with authentic and engaging content.
Local SEO for Travel Agencies
What exactly is local SEO? Similarly to standard SEO, it’s a set of techniques that help you rank your website. However, local SEO focuses on local-based search results on Google, Google Maps, and other search engines.
While all Google search results are personalized, mainly based on the user’s country, local SEO focuses on reaching users in narrower locations like districts and cities. Local stores and service providers can benefit from it.
Here’s how to get started with local SEO for travel websites.
Claim Your Google Business Profile
Previously known as Google My Business, Google Business Profile takes less than a minute to create and just a few to optimize. Here’s how to do it:
- Log into Google Business: Create an account if you don’t have one. Use a dedicated work account for business purposes.
- Fill out Your Information: Enter your business name and then select a business type, whether physical, online, or service-based.
- Enter Your Business Location: This is self-explanatory. If you have an online travel agency, you should enter the address of your website.
- Add Contact Information: Ensure you provide your email and phone number so potential leads can easily contact you.
- Further, Optimize Your Profile: Add a business description, photos, and other relevant information to improve your profile’s appeal.
Update your profile and encourage your clients to leave reviews. According to BrightLocal research, 77% of consumers “always” or “regularly” read reviews[13] when looking up local businesses, so don’t miss an opportunity to build up a positive reputation.
Check Your NAP Details
Google uses citations to verify a business’s reputable status. While citations are probably a minor ranking factor, according to Search Engine Land[18], they can significantly affect your click-to-call rate, conversion numbers, and overall user experience.
Create Local Content
Last but surely not least, you must incorporate location-specific keywords in your content, headers, and meta titles/tags. Go beyond local optimization; your website needs to become a trusted local information source. Start by checking out what your competitors have written about. Look for holes in their content and try offering something they haven’t covered yet.
Share valuable details about popular local spots, little-known places, and general tips. Here are some content ideas that will help you get started:
- Local Guides: Write about local attractions, food, and culture. Familiarize with consumers in your area to create keyword-rich content.
- Client Stories: Contact your previous clients and ask them to share their experiences. To enrich your content, include photos and/or testimonials.
- Interactive Content: People still love quizzes and tests. They’re sharable and increase users’ time on your website, which is a good sign for Google’s algorithm.
SEO Tips for a Travel Agency
We’ve discussed what SEO means for the travel industry, why you should invest, and some of the most significant benefits. Now, let’s get practical. We’ll go over some of the SEO tips for a travel agency. To give you an in-depth look into the SEO process, we’ve divided this segment into three parts:
- Research
- On-page
- Off-page
SEO Research for Travel Agencies
Travel is huge. All sorts of businesses fall into this category:
- Online travel agencies like Booking.com
- Destination guides like RomeSite.com
- Travel blogs like TheWorldTravelGuy.com
- Hotels and resort groups like Fairmont.com
- Luxury villa rentals like Bali Villas by Bali Villa Escapes
- Even attractions like DisneyLand.Disney.go.com
While there are different ways to perform SEO for these categories, there are also many similarities. So, all of the tips we’ll give you are universal.
Here’s how to perform basic research for your SEO travel campaign.
Keyword Research
Before optimizing website content, find some SEO keywords for a travel agency. You can do this independently using tools like Ahrefs and Semrush or Chrome extensions like Free Keyword Tool or Keywords Everywhere.
Fortunately, researching keywords for the travel industry is relatively straightforward. That’s because many of the keywords revolve around different places. You can reuse keywords for multiple destinations. Here’s a short example based on the keyword “beach holidays.”
| Keyword Modifier | Example |
| Beach Holidays in {country} | Beach Holidays in Spain |
| Beach Holidays in {region} | Beach Holidays in the Algarve |
| Beach Holidays in {city} | Beach Holidays in Barcelona |
These are just basic keyword ideas. You can use tools like Semrush’s clustering feature to find other keyword ideas.
If you’re performing keyword research for the first time, you may need professional keyword research services to ensure you’re targeting the right keywords with enough volume.
Content Strategy
Creating content that captures attention is becoming increasingly challenging. However, it’s not impossible. Plenty of opportunities exist to create content that ranks for competitive keywords. You just need to strategize well.
Here are some things to keep in mind when creating a content strategy for a travel website:
- Analyze top-ranking Google results to understand the depth of content required.
- Create superior content and link to authoritative sources.
- Focus on valuable, concise content over word count.
- Use original photos instead of stock images to stand out.
- Write naturally, avoiding keyword stuffing; relevant terms should appear organically.
Above all, focus on bringing value to the reader. You’re not creating this content for search engines but for real people.
Micro-Moments
The journey of a traveler—as a customer—has four phases:
- I-want-to-get-away (or dreaming moments): This is when people are still exploring their destination options without firm plans.
- Time-to-make-a-plan (or planning moments): These happen when the person selects a destination and starts looking up dates, flights, and accommodations.
- Let’s-book-it (or booking moments): When travelers finalize their plans and are ready to buy tickets and book rooms.
- Can’t-wait-to-explore (or experiencing moments): Finally, experience moments happen during the trip when the traveler wants to experience and share the journey.
Google calls these phases “micro-moments[14].” You can think of them as crucial points in the customer journey. Focus on banking for keywords and creating content for each stage to increase your chances of converting leads into clients.
Group your keyword into these four categories so you can capture the attention of your potential clients early on and maintain it throughout the customer journey.
Conclusion
SEO for a travel agency can help launch a business, attract leads, and finally convert them. The aim of SEO is not only to help you increase traffic. It aims to put you in a position to increase profitability and make steady money.
We live in a digital age, and maintaining an online presence is more important than ever. Your businesses can’t get lost in the noise. Contact NUOPTIMA and start your SEO journey today.
Book a call with one of our experts today, and let us help your travel agency.
FAQ
To excel in SEO for a travel business, follow these key steps:
- Conduct thorough keyword research to identify popular search terms used by travelers
- Create high-quality, engaging content tailored to each phase of the traveler’s journey
- Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and has fast loading times
- Build backlinks from reputable travel-related sites to boost your site’s authority
- Leverage local SEO to attract nearby customers
SEO in the travel industry involves optimizing website elements and content to rank higher in search engine results, thereby increasing visibility to potential travelers. It includes targeting travel-specific keywords, enhancing website usability, and building a robust link profile to compete against well-established travel platforms. This strategy helps travel businesses attract and convert more leads organically.
The best marketing strategy for a travel agency combines robust SEO efforts with targeted PPC campaigns and active social media engagement. SEO provides long-term visibility and credibility, while PPC ensures immediate reach to potential customers. Engaging content and influencer partnerships on social media further amplifies reach and drives traffic to the agency’s website.
To make your travel agency stand out, deliver unique and valuable content that addresses specific travel needs and interests. Utilize high-quality images, offer exclusive deals, and showcase customer testimonials. Maintaining an active and engaging social media presence and collaborating with travel influencers can also significantly enhance your agency’s appeal and visibility.
Sources:
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-04/travel-will-contribute-a-record-11-1-trillion-to-the-global-economy-in-2024?embedded-checkout=true[1]
- https://www.statista.com/chart/29622/travel-bookings-online-vs-agency/#:~:text=Despite%20the%20clear%20pluses%20from,of%20using%20a%20travel%20agency{[2]
- https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Technology/Expedia-group-online-bookers-use-OTAs[3]
- https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-first-page-clicks/374516/[4]
- https://www.searchenginejournal.com/inbound-vs-outbound-marketing-whats-best-2017/176422/[5]
- https://videos.brightedge.com/research-report/BrightEdge_ChannelReport2019_FINAL.pdf[6]
- https://blog.hubspot.com/insiders/inbound-marketing-stats?__hstc=200554097.649cc5d2995e67368a39e00795d29d75.1720687941091.1720687941091.1721918379130.2&__hssc=200554097.1.1721918379130&__hsfp=1985693072[7]
- https://terakeet.com/blog/seo-statistics/[8]
- https://ahrefs.com/blog/title-tags-study/[9]
- https://think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/micro-moments-reshaping-travel-customer-journey-b.pdf[10]
- https://www.jerne.com/jerne-releases-industry-first-study-of-travel-creator-partnerships/[11]
- https://aspiretravelclub.co.uk/news/amawaterways-taps-into-power-of-social-media-influencers[12]
- https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey-2022/#[13]
- https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2014/04/09/80-of-local-searches-on-mobile-phones-convert-study/[14]