7 Tips for Improving SEO for Travel Websites
Travel stopped in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. But now things are getting back to normal again. Post vaccination, countries and cities are opening their gates again with open arms to welcome tourists from all over the world. It is the best time to pay attention to your travel blog and earn valuable readers and followers.
However, if you are facing difficulty in attracting and engaging organic traffic on your travel website then maybe you need to give a second thought to your Travel Website SEO strategy. It is one of the most important aspects of attracting traffic and growing your travel website.
However, travel blog SEO is not similar to a content website or eCommerce platform. You need a well-planned targeted approach to reap SEO results for a travel website.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
SEO helps in attracting and increasing the quantity and quality of website traffic through organic search engine results of Google or any other search engine.
Through a well thought out SEO strategy you can rank search result pages and attract traffic without spending money on Google Ads. SEO for the Travel Industry requires a specific approach that involves multiple steps.
Let us dive in and understand the importance of each step to carve out a robust SEO strategy.
- Core Web Vitals
Google judiciously considers web vitals (a set of factors) in the webpage. Here are the few web vitals that you should always consider:
- Page load speed of the web page
- How quickly a webpage can become responsible for the user
- Mobile-friendliness of a webpage
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – time taken by the page to load
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – stability of the page as it loads
- First Input Delay (FID) – time taken by the user to interact with the page
- Google Passage Ranking
Google can rank a specific section of your website if the content is relevant to the search query. The passage allows Google to rank specific sections of the page and not the entire page. Google keeps on evaluating the web pages of travel websites including UX signals, on-page SEO, backlinks, and other ranking factors.
The benefit of passage ranking is that now you can even rank your single page with proper SEO optimization. You just need to segregate your travel website’s page into different sections related to a specific topic.
- User and Search Intent
You need to focus more on user and search intent. It helps you understand the main goal the user has while entering a query in Google. It is also essential because Google prioritizes the search intent of Google. Content not matching the search intent of the user will not reflect on the search engine result page (SERP).
Ensure thorough keyword research to match the search intent. It is one of the important aspects of SEO. For instance, travel search is normally related to “Thing do in place X” or travel guide of a particular location.
The more efficiently you are able to match the search intent, greater chances you have to rank in SERP.
- Google E-A-T
Link building is still a crucial factor to increase the domain authority (DA) of a website. You need to work hard on getting quality backlinks, however, Google now also measures the website on the basis of Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T).
It has become a crucial SERP ranking factor. Your content marketing should focus on your niche. For instance, if you have a solo traveler blog then your content should focus more on solo traveling hacks and tips. Create a detailed about page, easily visible contact page, terms of service and privacy policy. You should also include author byline on all blog posts to create more authenticity.
To attract more attention from Google, it is essential to write long form content. A 500 word blog will not help you much in SEO strategy. Longer content attracts more attention from Google’s E-AT guidelines. A blog of around 2500 words or more has become the norm. Try writing detailed blogs with all the relevant information. However, avoid writing fluff content just to make the content longer. If you are able to cover everything within 2000 words and express your authority then it is fine.
- Optimize for Featured Snippets
Short textual snippets that come at the top of SERP are known as featured snippets and it attracts a lot of clicks for users. It can help you drive more traffic to your travel website.
Add relevant keywords to snippet bait. Snippet bait is a short paragraph of 50-60 that normally offers crisp answers to asked questions. You can also create a numbered list, table, bullet list, and video for snippet bait.
- Mobile SEO for Travel Blog
Google now prioritizes websites that are mobile-friendly. Global mobile traffic has surpassed web traffic and the trend is expected to grow more in the future. Make that the website and content is optimized as per smartphone user. User experience (UX) of mobile websites plays a critical role in travel blog SEO.
Focus on enhancing mobile website experience including page speed, UX, content, and more.
- Video Content for Travel Blog SEO
Video content now attracts a lot of engagement. It has become crucial to attract traffic through short video snippets in search queries. With a travel website, it becomes crucial to present your blog with immersive visual representation.
It is advisable to embed engaging and relevant video content in blog posts to improve your bounce rate. You can also open a YouTube channel and promote it on your website to gain subscribers and engagement on your channel.
You can also embed short form video from your instagram account to enhance omnichannel engagement.
Wrapping Up
A travel website always has a lot of potential to attract tons of traffic. But you can’t achieve it organically without a proper SEO strategy. Above mentioned points can help your travel website attract more traffic and build relationships with visitors. There is nothing more valuable than an organic visitor who browses your website, consumes information, and also makes sales.
Do let us know if this SEO strategy helps your travel website grow organically.