SEO Travel
SEO Travel Digital Marketing
Workshop26/2/15
SEO Travel
What Are We Covering?• Why SEO?• The Key Principles of SEO• Content Marketing and How We Get Featured in
Top Tier Publications like the Washington Post & Daily Mail
• Case Studies of great digital marketing in action• Personalised Analysis of Attendees Websites
SEO TravelWho Am I?
• Travel enthusiast & digital marketer• Set up SEO Travel in 2011• On average SEO Travel clients improve organic
traffic by more than 100% in 12 months• Worked with lots of travel sites in a wide variety of
areas, from destination specialists to independent affiliates
• Helped clients rank for some of the most competitive phrases in travel as well as exponentially increase traffic
SEO Travel
SEO Travel
Why SEO?• Huge variety of phrases to be found through, not all
about headline phrases• Combination of good content and promotion can
bring great results which is cumulative, not reliant on ongoing advertising costs
• Reach people when they are searching to buy and using commercial queries as well as researching
• Social media good for brand exposure but people not looking to buy there, PPC ongoing expense, PR not at point of purchase
SEO Travel
SEO TravelWhat is SEO?
“Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's unpaid results—often referred to as "natural," "organic," or "earned" results.”
SEO TravelWhat is SEO?
• Different types of SEO – old spammy way, good sustainable way
• Approach of many SEO agencies isn’t optimum– Tunnel vision approach focused on just a few keywords– Better to set up your site well and optimise for all
keywords, create and promote great content and grow the reach of your brand – Authority SEO
• Sustainable strategy which steadily grows the performance of your site so it can become a recognised brand in the future, rather than crash and burn approach which can lead to penalties
SEO TravelWhat is SEO?
Two key aspects:
• On Page – Text, URLs, Site Speed, Images etc
• Off Page – Links, Social Media, Brand mentions etc
SEO Travel
On Page Optimisation
SEO TravelKeyword Research
• Keyword Research process is one of the most important to successful SEO
• There are lots of excellent, free tools out there to use
• Don’t rely on headline phrases and forget the rest - longtail traffic is abundant and less competitive
• Different types of phrase: Transactional (luxury holidays), Informational (where is hot in December), Navigational (tripadvisor Crete)
• Structure your site around your keyword research findings
SEO Travel
Less Competitive Sub Pages
Most Competitive Topic Page
Homepage
Informational pages
Blog
Most Competitive Topic Page
Most Competitive Topic Page
Less Competitive Sub Pages
Less Competitive Sub Pages
Less Competitive Sub Pages
Less Competitive Sub Pages
Less Competitive Sub Pages
Informational pages
Informational pages
Informational pages
SEO TravelHoliday type phrasesInformational phrases
Location phrases
Social media content phrases
SEO TravelKeyword Research
Tools:• Keyword Planner• Google Auto suggest• Google related search• Ubersuggest• Your Competition
SEO Travel
On Page Elements• URLs• Title tags• Copy• Headers• Images• Video• Internal Links• External Links
SEO TravelIMAGES VIDEO
COPY HEADER TAGS
EXTERNAL LINKSINTERNAL LINKS
TITLE TAG
URL
SEO TravelOther Factors
• Site Speed• User Engagement• Sitemaps• Hosting Location• Mobile Friendly
SEO TravelPanda
• Google’s update in 2011 targeting content quality• Important to avoid copied text• Also important to have lots of
content on key pages• Usability also plays a big part – make
sure you are satisfying user’s query
SEO TravelBlogging
• Everyone should be blogging!• Great way to get traffic through phrases
higher in the buying line• Also create content targeted at social
media and getting shares• Can attract natural links to your site• Shows you as an authority in your niche• Establishes trust which helps conversions
SEO Travel
Off Page Optimisation
SEO Travel
SEO TravelGood Link Profile
• Mainly branded• No repetition of anchor text• Mixture of sources – in content, sidebar,
directories, follow/nofollowed etc• Misconceptions – comments bad,
directories bad, forums bad. Everything is good if it has potential to raise awareness of brand
SEO Travel
Page it appears on
Body of page – editorial best
Surrounding content
Anchor text
Target URL
SEO TravelThings to Avoid
• Over optimised anchor text• Spammy links just for SEO• Link Networks• Anything automated• Anything which wouldn’t naturally happen
SEO TravelWhere to Get Links
• Directories• Friends• Guest Posts• Competitor Analysis• Content Marketing• PR
SEO TravelContent Marketing
• When done right can gain coverage on the biggest websites on the internet
• Amazing for brand visibility, SEO, reputation management, referral traffic etc
• Key is to create something of interest for large publications – doesn’t need to be the brand message
• Find the right hook and you can ‘go viral’
SEO TravelContent Marketing
• Game of Thrones in real life infographic
• Featured on more than 100 websites
• Including Washington Post, Business Insider, Mashable
• All time high traffic for client
• Referral traffic 245% higher than previous year
SEO TravelHow Did We Do It?
• Game of Thrones hook was extremely strong – we released graphic around end of season
• Created something that looked great• Offered exclusive initially to a top-tier
publication• Compiled an extensive outreach list• Promoted like crazy on social media
SEO TravelHow Did We Do It?
• Game of Thrones hook was extremely strong – we released graphic around end of season
• Created something that looked great• Offered exclusive initially to a top-tier
publication• Compiled an extensive outreach list• Promoted like crazy on social media
SEO TravelHow Did We Do It?
• Game of Thrones hook was extremely strong – we released graphic around end of season
• Created something that looked great• Offered exclusive initially to a top-tier
publication• Compiled an extensive outreach list• Promoted like crazy on social media
SEO TravelHow Did We Do It?
• Game of Thrones hook was extremely strong – we released graphic around the end of the season
• Created something that looked great• Offered exclusive initially to a top-tier
publication• Compiled an extensive outreach list• Promoted like crazy on social media
SEO TravelHow Did We Do It?
• Game of Thrones hook was extremely strong – we released graphic around end of season
• Created something that looked great• Offered exclusive initially to a top-tier
publication• Compiled an extensive outreach list• Promoted like crazy on social media
SEO TravelHow Did We Do It?
• Game of Thrones hook was extremely strong – we released graphic around end of season
• Created something that looked great• Offered exclusive initially to a top-tier
publication• Compiled an extensive outreach list• Promoted like crazy on social media
SEO TravelHow Did We Do It?
• Game of Thrones hook was extremely strong – we released graphic around end of season
• Created something that looked great• Offered exclusive initially to a top-tier
publication• Compiled an extensive outreach list• Promoted like crazy on social media
SEO TravelOther Examples
• http://www.swissotel.com/promo/etiquette-map/
• http://www.contiki.com/roadtrip• http://live.intrepidtravel.com/• http://www.keepinspiring.me/best-
bucket-list-ideas/
SEO TravelSwissotel
• Swissotel Etiquette• http://www.contiki.com/roadtrip• http://live.intrepidtravel.com/• http://www.ovolohotels.com/en/hotels/
sydney/ovolo-1888-darling-harbour/#!our-story/c1udm
• Example of travel blogger post• http://www.keepinspiring.me/best-bucket-list-
ideas/
SEO TravelSwissotel
• Swissotel Etiquette• http://www.contiki.com/roadtrip• http://live.intrepidtravel.com/• http://www.ovolohotels.com/en/hotels/
sydney/ovolo-1888-darling-harbour/#!our-story/c1udm
• Example of travel blogger post• http://www.keepinspiring.me/best-bucket-list-
ideas/
SEO TravelOther Examples
• Swissotel Etiquette• http://www.contiki.com/roadtrip• http://live.intrepidtravel.com/• http://www.ovolohotels.com/en/hotels/
sydney/ovolo-1888-darling-harbour/#!our-story/c1udm
• Example of travel blogger post• http://www.keepinspiring.me/best-bucket-list-
ideas/
SEO TravelOther Examples
• Swissotel Etiquette• http://www.contiki.com/roadtrip• http://live.intrepidtravel.com/• http://www.ovolohotels.com/en/hotels/
sydney/ovolo-1888-darling-harbour/#!our-story/c1udm
• Example of travel blogger post• http://www.keepinspiring.me/best-bucket-list-
ideas/
SEO TravelSummary
• Do in depth keyword research• Set your site up correctly• Create great content and promote
it well• Always be pursuing great links
SEO TravelQuestions?
QUESTIONS?
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