Optimise your destination pages for search engines
As a tour operator, the most important pages on your website are your destination landing pages. These are the pages that promote a specific destination that your business offers tours to.
Most people tend to focus on their home page and imagine their visitors going through their website from this as a starting point. However, in a lot of cases this is not the way a user navigates through your website. If you play your cards right, a user is sent to a specific travel destination page, straight from the Google search engine.
Let’s say a potential customer is interested in a round trip to Mexico. They will most likely use Google to search for something such as ‘Round trip Mexico’. By optimising your Mexico destination page for search engines, you have the highest chance to get a spot in the top results.
In this article
How on-page SEO helps your business
So, how do you get that top spot? The answer is: search engine optimisation (SEO). The practice of optimising specific pages on your website for search engines is known as ‘on-page SEO’. The reason for using SEO techniques on your travel destination pages is simple: it helps your content rank higher in search engines and improve your visitors experience on a destination page.
Higher ranking destination pages means more website visitors, which allows you to:
- Establish your brand name
- Generate more leads
- Grow your business
- Save on advertising costs
7 tips to improve SEO on destination pages
So, how do you improve your on-page SEO for travel destination pages? Firstly, you should know that Google uses a great number of factors to determine its ranking. By complying with these factors in the best possible way, you’ll have the highest chance to get good ranking content.
The most important factors your content should comply with, are:
1. Have great quality content
Good quality content is what makes a travel destination page deserving of a high ranking in the search engines. Determine what value your content brings to the table. Not sure where to start? Use our ‘7 tips on how to write appealing travel content’.
2. Use the right keywords
Before you can optimise an individual page, you have to know which keywords you should use. Keyword research helps you determine how many times and if people are searching for specific keywords. Choosing more specific keywords with lower competition might increase your chances on success.
3. Improve your title, headings and URL
Once you’ve determined your keyword(s), you should think about keyword placement. An easy place to start with keyword placement is by adding your main keyword to:
- Page title
- Headings
- URL of your page
4. Write a compelling meta description
The meta description is a brief summary of a page, which is often displayed by search engines. Having a good meta description can help you stand out. It’s key to use your keyword in the meta description, preferably at the beginning.
5. Optimise your images
Help the search engine find out what your images are about by:
- Using a descriptive image name (mexico-roundtrip.jpg)
- Adding an alt tag to describe your image (Mexico round trip with beach extension)
Another way to optimise your images is by reducing image file sizes. Images often are large in size, which makes your page load slower. Easily reduce your images’ file size by using tinypng.com.
6. Use internal and outbound links
Help search engines better understand your website’s structure by linking to relevant pages within your own website (internal links). Also, don’t be afraid to link to partner websites (outbound links). Do you suggest interesting activities during your tours? Provide your visitors with a link to them.
7. Pick up on page speed and mobile experience
It’s important, to both search engines and humans, to have travel destination pages that load (very) fast and are perfectly readable on every device (especially smartphones). If it’s too technical for you to try and comply with modern day standards, ask help from your website developer.
Start doing SEO on destination pages
Getting started with SEO may feel like a challenge. However, your travel destination pages are a great place to start.
These pages belong to the most important of your website and the extra attention you give them with SEO can directly help you attract new customers. Use the tips in this article to get started right away!
PS: applications for the free SEO-check are closed.
Responses
Dear Anne, Dear Rick,
Thanks a lot for your great work. You both keeping tour operators motivated through your great advise.
I’m not an SEO expert and therefore applying for a free SEO check for our website http://www.amozanzibartours.com
Warm regards, Noreen
Hi Noreen,
Thank you for applying for our SEO check. I’ve just emailed you the report, hope it helps you improve the ranking of your page!
Dear Anne & Rik,
Many thanks for your email and got the email notification for free SEO check for our Website: http://www.eemtravels.com.
So glad to see all these useful resources from good tourism institute.
Thanks
Aabiskar
Hi Aabiskar,
Thank you for applying for our SEO check. I’ve just emailed you the report, hope it helps you improve the ranking of your page!
Dear Anna
Many thanks for the information
My name is Moses
I don’t ha e an expert Seo for now
Here is my website
http://www.madagascarcruiseexcursion.wordpress.com
Hi Moses,
Unfortunately the email address you’ve used doesn’t seem to work. Could you send me an email at rik@goodtourisminstitute.com?
Hi Anne & Rik
Thanks for your support. Could you please check our website http://www.fortextravel.com
Kind regards,
Johnson Manish
Fortex Travel, Kerala
Hi Johnson Manish,
Thank you for applying for our SEO check. I’ve just emailed you the report, hope it helps you improve the ranking of your page!
Comments are closed.