Become a Travel Agent

Google Levels the Playing Field for
Home Based Travel Agents
Tom Ogg

So how does a travel agency compete with the Internet giants? How can they justify paying for the cost of banner advertising? How can really small agencies participate in an advertising campaign without going broke in the process?  Finally, how can an agent tell if a campaign is really working and worth the expense?

Enter Google’s AdWords. Simply put, Google’s AdWords allows even the smallest home-based travel agent to compete with the likes of Expedia, Travelocity and other Internet giants. The fact that web surfers (consumers and potential clients) can find what they want on the web with a minimum of effort has ushered in a new era for travel marketers offering their products in this environment. If a consumer wants to find a shore excursion offering bone fishing in Cozumel, they only need ask Google the question and viola, the answer appears immediately. But the answer contains two elements. The first (and most prominent) are the sponsored links that correspond to the keywords “Cozumel Bone Fishing Shore Excursion” that the consumer (future client) used to gain such a response on Google. Second, are the free links that responded with the highest ranking to the specific keywords that were used. Google is able to tell what websites are about and deliver the sites with the most relevancy to the keywords.

How did the travel companies in the links get there? How can you get there? How the free links got there will be a topic of a future article, but how the sponsored links got there will be the topic of today’s. The fact is, if you are not in the top five free links or top three sponsored links, then you are simply not in the game. Until recently, small agencies simply could not play the game and have to give ownership of on-line marketing to Expedia, Travelocity, and other Internet giants. Not any more!

While Oveture.com really evolved contextual advertising technology, Google perfected it. Google drives about 80% of the Internet searches at this point and is more than worthy of your attention. In fact, I suggest you take this article to your computer and log onto Google right now.

Google AdWords allows Agents to advertise to a very specific consumer demographic based on precise keywords a consumer uses to search the Internet. If you are selling cruises to the Western Caribbean and offering a packaged bone fishing excursion (as an example), then Google AdWords can deliver potential clients to your web site that used the keywords “Cozumel Bone fishing Shore Excursions” to your site. It is that simple. Google can identify specific keywords and relate them to Google Adword advertisers and deliver the appropriate advertisement in a heartbeat and with complete effectiveness. Google’s AdSense has allowed for Google AdWords to populate the most meaningful web sites on the Internet, so that your ad will show up on every web site that offers content relative to your keyword search string.

How hard is it to start a Google AdWords campaign? Do you have 5 minutes? Simply log onto http://www.Google.com and hit the “Advertise With Us” link. Follow it to Google AdWords and you are there. You can join and start serving ads within 15 minutes. The first thing you do is identify the keywords that you want to respond to. Be very specific. You can select a good number of keyword strings and you can monitor their success as the campaign progresses by viewing the detailed reports you can generate in Google. Then you will need to bid for the keywords. Google will give you a range for your bid. The upper regions of your bid will get you maximum exposure (highest placement in the sponsored links) and the lower range, minimal exposure. Next you can set your marketing budget. Say that you would like to receive 15 leads a day and the bid rate is $1.00 for maximum exposure. This means that you will be featured as the number one link (on top of the giants) until you achieve 15 clicks to your website and have fulfilled your budget for the day (a total of $15). That would put you on top of the major Internet players until you achieved you daily budget. Your budget could be as small as $1 per day or as large as you want. Since there is no long-term contract, you can start and stop a campaign at will. If you get too busy, halt the campaign until you catch up and then start it again.

Of course, if you deliver content that is not relevant to the keywords, the consumer will not stick around to buy anything. If you have optimized you site (or page) for the visiting consumer so that they will find everything they need, then they will probably buy something. Offering the right content is everything when paying for keyword-sponsored ads. In real estate it is location, location, location, but on the Internet, it is content, content, content. Here are a few tips;

Deliver your clicks to a special page optimized to receive them and offer an immediate call to action.

Be sure that your special page has a log analyzer on it so that you can monitor the page’s visitor activity.

Only use keywords that are explicit enough to capture consumers into your exact realm.

Pay careful attention to your click-through to conversion ratio. The higher your conversion ratio, the more advertising you can afford.

Finally, realize your full potential as an expert in the products you are selling and don’t be intimidated by the Internet giants. You are David and Google has given you the ammunition to outperform the giants.

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ALL NEW!
STUDY COURSE
April, 2007 Edition
Available NOW!

A complete Independent Study Course for starting a home-based travel agency is now available for shipping. This is a professionally edited new book that will help you get started in record time. 

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April 2007 Edition
Available NOW!

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ALL NEW
WORKBOOK

Finally a comprehensive workbook companion to the Study Course. This workbook, start-up check list and test will make starting your own home-based travel business easy. If you plan on starting your business soon, be sure to purchase the workbook companion to the How to Start a Home Based Travel Agency Independent Sturdy Course.

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