Become a Home Based Travel Agent

“Content is King When it Comes to Your Website”
by Michelle R. Mangio, CTA,
Owner of Magical Escapes Vacations

As we start the New Year and commit to our resolutions and goals, let’s take the time to talk about what is needed to make your website really stand out… and, most importantly, bring more business to your (virtual) door.  This is the first in a series of articles to talk about how you can improve your website and through it, improve your sales opportunities.

So let’s start first with the basics: your website content.

Whether you choose to have a website that goes into all the details of travel, with complex itineraries, hotel reviews, supplier specials and more, or whether you choose to have a simpler website focusing on the benefits of your agency, one truth is universal when it comes to website visibility in the search engines: content is king.

The search engines – such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others – favor relevant, high-quality content.  What this means is that when you have good content, the search engines rank your site higher than others.  And that means when a potential client is searching the internet for travel-related information, they are more likely to find you.

You’ve probably heard a lot of people talk about “Keywords,” and about how important keywords are to your website.  Numerous articles can probably be written on the relevancy of keywords, but for now here’s what you need to remember:  Search engines rank you based on your keywords.  Keywords can be anything, from a single word to a phrase.   You need to determine what you want your keywords for a particular page on your website to be, and then make sure to focus your content on that keyword.

Use keywords in your content, but use them naturally.  If you try to “stuff” your website with your keywords – such as listing them over and over again – the search engines will actually rank you lower than someone who uses them within the content of the page.  If you want to sell river cruises, then talk about river cruises on a page within your website.  Write a short article about the benefits of river cruising, enticing your clients with the experience and encouraging them to contact you to book their own cruise. 

For example:

“Want the benefits of touring Europe without the hassle?  Then you might want to consider a river cruise for your next vacation.  Imagine:  cruising down one of the major rivers of Europe, watching the countryside drift by you.  You are sitting on a balcony, enjoying local wine, as you pull into the next town.  No need to check into a hotel or unpack; you can step right off and go on a local excursion, walk along the cobblestone streets, and experience all the town has to offer.  River cruising is the best way to see Europe.  Contact me today to start planning your river cruise getaway.”

Note the number of times “river” and “cruise” (or “cruising”) appeared above.  Those are my keywords, but they appear naturally in the flow of my article.  The search engines favor that kind of content and that kind of keywords.  When my site gets indexed by the search engines, clients searching for “river cruise” or “river cruising Europe” might come across my site.

Keep it simple and straightforward.  Internet users don’t want wordy articles.  (I know, I’m one to talk: wordiness is a particular problem of mine as well!).  But the reality is that online users are looking for information fast and quick.  It’s okay to link to a longer article, but your initial page should present the information in an enticing but quick-to-read format.  If a user has to read through a lot of text to find what they are looking for, they will not stick around to read it.  They will go back to the search results and try a different site.

Likewise, make it very easy to find the content on your website.  Just as they don’t want to read a lot, internet users don’t want to have to spend a lot of time looking for the content they are after.  Make sure your menu options and links are intuitive.  Say “River Cruises” for the menu link for the page that talks about river cruises, instead of something like “Other Cruises” or “Unique Cruises.”  While “Unique Cruises” might entice a user to click on the link, if they are specifically looking for river cruising and don’t see an option listed, they will go elsewhere to find it.

And that is why you should also focus on your niche.  Sure, a lot of us still sell all kinds of travel to all kinds of clients.  But in general, clients aren’t looking for “generalists.”  They are looking for someone who can book the specific kind of travel they are interested in, who knows that destination or type of travel.  Just because you have a page talking about river cruising doesn’t mean you can’t sell ocean cruising as well.  But it does mean clients looking for river cruising will know that you are someone they can talk to about that type of destination.  When a potential river cruise client is searching online, they are more likely to enter keywords in the search engine such as “river cruise specialist” or “book a river cruise vacation” or “river cruising Europe” than they are “travel agent” or just “cruise.”  So make sure you have a page that focuses on that type of destination or travel, so clients will find you.  Make it relevant to what they are looking for, and they are more likely to contact you for assistance in booking that vacation.

Finally, keep it new and exciting.  Post updates regularly.  Attach a blog to your agency website, and then post a link to the latest blog entry on your homepage.  Or just add new pages and articles to your website – always feature the newest one on your homepage – as you continue to grow your agency’s online presence.

Adding the link to your homepage keeps your homepage relevant and new.  It also makes it easier for visitors to find your latest content.  This is, after all, the page most clients will land on first, especially if they have received a business card, flier, or other promotional material from you.  Finally, the search engines like pages that are regularly updated.  They are more likely to rank you higher if your homepage has updates to it.  This doesn’t have to be daily.  Weekly is better, but as long as there is some update – even if only once a month – that is better than nothing.

When it comes to your website, and how well clients can find you online, content really is king.  There are other tricks to getting your website highly ranked, but in the end, if you don’t have good content, you won’t get good ranking.  More importantly, even if a potential client did find you, they won’t stick around if you don’t have good, relevant content.  Keep it simple, focus on the benefits and wow factor, and use those keywords.  In the end, you might find some new clients looking for what you have to offer.