Travel Agent - August 20, 2007 - (Page 42)

Tech Advisor Search Engine Optimization 101 Techniques to increase traffic to agency web sites BY ALISON MCPARTLAND S ummer is finally coming to a close, and it was only a few months ago that you probably toned your body to prepare for swimsuit weather; but what about the fitness of your web site? With more than 80 percent of Internet traffic coming from search, it’s time to whip that web site into search shape. Here are some tips—search engine optimization (SEO) 101 if you will—designed specifically for travel agents; a guide to techniques that form the foundation to an advanced SEO and search engine marketing (SEM) campaign. I am writing with a few assumptions: Your site is a single, small-business travel agent web site; it’s written using a fairly standard mark-up language such as HTML or PHP; and, you are not using a content management system. is a program called Wordtracker (www. wordtracker.com). You can sign up for a year for $274.75, or pay $27.47 a month. This option is great for sites that are not constantly being updated, and gives you ample time to get some great keyword research done. As for keywords on your site itself, use two- or three-word phrases that are likely to be searched for by users. This should be at around 3-5 percent of your page text. To quickly check this in Word, go to Word Count, note the number of words and then go to Edit, Find and find the number of occurrences of your keyword. Once you have that, divide the number of occurrences by the number of words and you have your ratio. Keywords should appear in line content as well as keyword title, keyword phrase in description (first line) and internal navigation keyword links. scripts that browse the World Wide Web) come back to visit if you provide them with fresh content. If they come to your site and find updated content on a regular basis, they will continue to navigate throughout your site via the proper navigation we will cover below. Although writing new content can be time consuming, it is worth the effort to distinguish yourself from your competition. Take some time to think of ways you can create a community on your site—maybe have visitors post hotel reviews or give tips on restaurants and attractions. Cultivate Incoming Links Inbound links to your site from related and trusted sites can greatly increase your site’s visibility. Sites linking into yours with a page rank of four or better are ideal. In addition, look to gain incoming links from .gov, .edu, and .org sites, which are often more trusted and hence provide more valuable links. The more related the site’s links to yours, the more weight they hold with search engines. Imagine you are at a networking meeting and you posed the question, “What is the best resort in Cabo San Lucas?” and everyone in the room referred you to Paul, with the same response “…Oh, Paul’s an expert on that.” Create Unique, Relevant and Quality Content You are an expert in this industry; show it. The content on your site and the frequency with which you update it are essential for search engines as well as visitors. Web crawlers (programs or automated Focus Your Keywords One of the common misconceptions of SEO is looking at optimizing your site for broad terms like “travel agent.” The problem with this philosophy is the term is just too competitive. Instead, focus on your specialty, what you know the most about, such as family vacations in the American South or riverboat cruising in Europe. As you get more specific with your terms, you narrow your competition and create a niche audience that is more likely to convert to a lead. Wouldn’t you rather have someone visit your site who has a set destination in mind as opposed to someone just shopping around for the best price anywhere? One of the tools you can use to do this Make sure your agency is at or near the top of the Google search list 42 TravelAgent August 20, 2007 http://www.wordtracker.com http://www.wordtracker.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - August 20, 2007

Contents Editor's Letter News You Can Use Agenda: Fam Trips, Calendar of Events, Deal of the Week Cover Story: Hot Cruise Ports: 2008 and Beyond Central & South America: Costa Rica’s New Resort Europe: Heathrow Upgrades Hawaii: Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa Caribbean: Westin’s Plans in the D.R. Still on Track Africa: Pacific Delight Tours’ South Africa Itinerary Hotels: West Virginia Icon Gets Makeover Tech Advisor: Search Engine Optimization 101 Spa Luxury Travel Expo Update Advertisers’ Information Classified Marketplace People & Places

Travel Agent - August 20, 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.