Online Marketing
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Online Marketing for Travel
Having a great website is just the start.
Once your travel website is live you need to let search engines know you exist or they might never find you. You might want to consider using pay per click marketing and search engine optimisation. Both have their benefits and drawbacks. We recommend testing the waters with pay per click using Google Adwords.
Pay Per Click Advantages |
Search Engine Optimisation Advantages |
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Immediate Flexible Easy to change / test Quick return on investment May be comparatively low cost compared to offline advertising - if done right... Can easily 'switch off' or 'turn down' when busy or 'turn up' at quieter times Easy to measure return on investment using analytics
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Traffic is 'free' Easy to measure return on investment using analytics |
Pay per Click Disadvantages |
Search Engine Optimisation Disadvantages |
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Costs have increased significantly over recent years and are anticipated to rise further Increasing competition in travel industry ppc
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A large upfront investment in terms of time / money or both is usually required Cannot stop or slow traffic / enquiries (a 'problem' many travel business' could happily live with) Can be many weeks or months before results are apparent Increasing competition in travel industry seo |
As travel agents all our online marketing efforts are concentrated on ppc and seo. Although some travel industry experts may extol the virtues of social networking, we personally believe for most small and medium sized travel agents and tour operators that the time and effort could be better spent elsewhere. Whilst blog entries and are good for search engine optimisation from a customer perspective it doesn't look great if entries are very sparse.
That said, there are always exceptions to the rule and if you are a travel agent or tour operator specialising in a very small niche it may be worth considering. Also social networking is recommended for hotels, B&B's, villas and cottages. In terms of travel agents and operators, conversely, it may be important for the 'big guys' who are interested in brand awareness as well as return on investment.