Search Engine Optimization Strategies for Travel-Related Content by @ChristineG

by Christine Gallagher on December 1st, 2010 | 1 Comment »

We often associate travel with certain times of year, such as summer and Thanksgiving. However, travel is a niche that people look for information on all year round, and it’s one the more searched for (and therefore highly competitive) topics on the web.

With that in mind, how can YOUR site benefit from all those searchers hungry for travel-related information?

1) Leverage Video

Why is video important in SEO? Because of something called “Google Universal Search.” This means is that when someone goes to Google to search for a particular topic, not only will results for web pages come up, but videos will as well. (YouTube videos in particular get preference, because Google owns YouTube!) The great thing about this is that there are much less video results available for any given topic than there are web results. This equates to more exposure for your videos and less competition.

A few specific tips for your travel-related videos: Be sure to give it a descriptive title of about 4-5 words that includes keywords. The description and tags are also important. The description should discuss the benefits someone would get by watching the video. Tags are what help people find your video and should describe what it is about. (Think about how people would search in Google for what for what your video covers.) Finally, be sure to include a call to action in the video itself to let people know where they can find out more information.

2) Use Social Media

When it comes to travel, as with a myriad of other topics, many people are bypassing Google in favor of social networks. They’re there searching for travel information and recommendations, so you want to be there too. One of the more important things you can do? Facebook is the #2 site on the Internet, and business Pages are indexed by the search engines, so set one up and make sure to include keywords in the title. Once you've created it, spread the word in order to get more supporters and keep it updated with new content.

3) Recognize That Content Is Still King

Blogging is still one of the best ways use keyword-rich content to your advantage. Blogs by their very nature are dynamic, meaning the content is updated often. In Google's eyes, this is a very good thing--it shows that their users are getting fresh information. A blog is a great way to get your travel-related content to rank well in the search engines.

The most important things to remember when blogging? Use keyword-rich titles, update your blog frequently and strive to provide quality information, not fluff. People will tell you that there is no shortage of SEO tricks you can use--but in the long run, consistent, thoughtful posts will give you the best rankings boost.

Bottom line? There are many different ways to optimize your site if you're in the travel niche—but these are three top tips you can incorporate in your SEO strategy easily starting today.

Christine Gallagher is a relationship marketing specialist and social media business coach. She graduated Cum Laude from Temple University in 2000 with a Bachelors in Communications and Mass Media and received a double Masters in Information Systems and Information Science from Drexel University in 2003.

Through her consulting, coaching and training business, Christine helps entrepreneurs and small business owners maximize their business profits using an integrated social media and online marketing strategy with a particular focus on blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. Christine also has a strong background in the world of Internet technology and is passionate about showing solopreneurs how to create powerful relationships using social media as well as teaching them how to stop trading dollars for hours by using online information marketing techniques. Christine was recently featured as a social media marketing expert in the book Get Scrappy: A Small Business Owner's Guide to Marketing On Less, as well as profiled as one of 16 Brilliant Business Minds on Twitter by The Huffington Post.