Need to get internet traffic for your travel website? Despite recent articles in the media, people are still checking out rates with online travel agencies, whether they are price shopping or learning more about destinations. If you are doing online marketing for trip packages, student tours, travel insurance, or airfares, then you need to take advantage of all the features that search engine marketing has to offer.
For instance, search engine marketing for travel websites can help put your site in the running with giants like Orbitz, Travelocity, and Hotels.com. If you serve niche markets (like luxury travel) or special destinations, then you can be competitive and get the kind of customers that you want. Cruise and tour operators use search engine optimization (SEO) to get found for packages related to specific cruise ships, personalized tours, and specialty adventure trips which can’t be created online.
Even though many agents still do most of their work over the phone or from a terminal, the internet is a great place to get business. In fact, agents with superior website marketing (through their own companies or through professionals like Web.com Search Agency) can create a loyal customer base. Search Engine Marketing and Pay-Per-Click (sponsored match) programs make it possible to target very specific market segments, so a few hundred leads per month can result in sustained customer growth.
Large travel aggregators may be too volume-based to go for niche customers, but travel agents who can offer different or specialized tours can definitely compete in the search engine world, even among the giants. Even if you have a hometown travel agency with walk-in clients, you can create a search engine marketing strategy that gets more local business and phone calls. Although travel agents aren’t as common as they used to be, savvy professionals can find ways to bring in customers who aren’t interested in DIY travel packages, and even though these people aren’t going to book their trips online, they are still looking for travel agents on the internet.
