Keywords are the building blocks of digital marketing. Think of them as the language your potential customers use when they're searching for travel services online. By understanding the language of your customers, you can establish a better connection with them.
The words that describe your business and its offerings—like "luxury cruise packages" or "budget-friendly city tours”—are examples of keywords. They give a clear picture of what type of travel advisor you are and what kind of trips you plan.
Here’s what you need to know about keywords and how you can use them to your advantage to help establish and grow your travel business.
Fashioning Keywords
Keywords serve a few different purposes. On the technical side, they’re a way to signal to search engines what your business is about so that you can rank well. And once someone comes to your website, they’re a way to sprinkle common phrases across your website so that visitors are left with a clear understanding of you, your business, and the travel you sell.
When you’re creating keywords, think about the types of travel services you offer and how your clients might search for them online. You want to make sure these phrases reflect what your business is all about.
Brainstorm words and phrases that describe these services accurately. For instance, if you specialize in luxury cruises, keywords like 'luxury cruise vacations' or 'premium sea travels' could be a good start.
Put Yourself in Your Customers’ Shoes
To kickstart your keyword strategy, in addition to thinking about the travel services you offer, you also need to consider how your potential customers might search for these services online. This involves getting into their mindset and understanding their language habits. We all search for services and questions we want solved online—think about how you do these activities as a consumer and try to fit that thinking into your keyword strategy.
Overall, think about your keywords as compasses guiding your travel business towards the right audience. The right keywords will attract the right leads who truly are interested in your business and booking a trip with you based on what you have to offer.
Strike a Careful Balance
As a reminder, keywords are like a shorthand for your business. If you were playing a word game, they’re the three or four words you would use to try to get someone to guess the type of travel you sell.
Think of your website as a roadmap. It needs clear signposts to guide visitors, and search engines, through the landscape of your travel services. These signposts are your keywords.
To effectively use keywords in your content, you need to sprinkle them throughout like breadcrumbs. But remember not to overdo it—too many keywords can make content hard to read and may even get penalized by search engines for 'keyword stuffing.”
And on a personal level, you don’t want people to be turned off or overwhelmed by the way you’re marketing yourself. What’s more, selecting keywords just because they have high search volumes is not the way to go. Your keywords are unique to you, and any you write should reflect this thinking.
Try to establish a careful balance that establishes who you are but doesn’t do so in huge flashing letters.
Selecting Where to Place Keywords
As important as having keywords is where you choose to place them. There are specific mechanisms best designed for this practice—in headlines for blogs on your site, subheaders, and descriptions for what different sections of your site or a blog are about.
These are the most visible and best presented items on your website, and it’s where you should place your keywords. Keywords are designed to be impactful, so it makes sense, then, to position them in a place for maximum visibility to show to anyone who comes across your business what they're going to get when they make the decision to work with you on planning their dream vacation.