Content continues to be King, but without proper focus, planning and attention to detail running a content marketing campaign can quickly become a wasted effort. This is particularly true in the ultra-competitive travel and tourism industries. Here Jeff Riddall, VP Product and Customer Success at Mintent, talks about how to plan, create, distribute and measure relevant, high-quality content, which will maximize your online visibility to drive traffic, generate targeted leads and improve your bottom line.

1. Content and SEO
Top 10 Tips for Travel and Tourism
Jeff Riddall
VP Product and Customer Success
jeff.riddall@getmintent.com

2. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
hello
• VP Product & Customer Success
• 20+ years of digital marketing experience
• 9+ years with Mintent
• Blogger
• Social Media Addict
• Craft Beer Snob
• Former Hockey Dad (imahockeydad.com)
jeff.riddall@getmintent.com
@Jriddall on Twitter
JRiddall on LinkedIn
jeffriddall on Instagram
jeff-riddall on Snapchat
Jeff Riddall on Facebook

3. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
agenda
● The Modern Marketer’s Growing Dilemma
● Content is Still King, Right?
● What does Google Want?
● The Top 10
● Stuff to Remember
● Q & A

4. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
the marketer’s growing dilemma
“Customers have moved from a discrete linear purchase path to moving at their pace
when and wherever they want”
Gartner 2015
“70% of the buyer’s journey is complete before
a buyer even reaches out to sales”
Sirius Decisions

5. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
myth of the buyer’s journey

6. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
in travel, the funnel is a pretzel
Research conducted by Nielsen for Google in 2014 showed customers spend an
average of 53 days booking their trip, during which they view 28 different sites over
76 sessions, while more than half of travelers use social media for travel tips.
http://www.traveltrends.biz/ttn555-consumers-overwhelmed-as-funnel-turns-to-pretzel/

7. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
content is still King, right?
“If the social web were a living
organism, content would be the air that
it breathes.”
“You must have at least one source of
original rich content and you have 3
viable options: a blog, a podcast or a
video series.”
“A source of rich content provides
something that is shareable,
conversational and engaging for social
platforms.” – March 2015

8. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
just not your content
“Putting information in the hands of
consumers thoroughly transformed the
process of buying a car, planning a
vacation, buying insurance, assessing
health and medical conditions,
purchasing a home, and investing in
stocks, to name just a few common
consumer transactions.”
“Nearly 80 percent of consumers don’t
trust corporate advertising in any form,
and the percentage is even higher for
younger customers.” - January 2019

9. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
everything starts with organic search
Search and social play an important role for customers throughout the customer life
cycle. People turn to both search and social channels throughout the stages of their
journey – with over 90% of customers report they use search at every stage of their
customer lifecycle and over 85% of customers saying they use social channels for
discovery and consideration or purchase.
Forrester, April 2016

10. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
what does Google want?
Current, relevant, authoritative content.
Organizations need to prove to Google they are the definitive source of whatever keywords (products,
services, content) they want to be found for.
Google’s mission has never changed - “to organize the world's information and make it
universally accessible and useful.” In other words, deliver the right content to the right
people at the right time.

11. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
and it MUST be mobile friendly
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-travel-smartphone-usage/

12. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
the top 10

13. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
1. focus where you have momentum
• Determine where you’ve already
established some level of authority and
build on it aka Page 2 SEO.
• Focus on the relative visibility of groups /
klusters of topical or logically organized
keywords rather than individual keywords.
• Create complementary, keyword-rich
content.

14. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
2. share real stories
• People relate to real stories about other real people.
• Paint a vivid picture for your readers.
• Encourage and make it easy for your audience to tell
their stories.
• Be prepared for the good and the bad.
“Tell an engaging story that guides your
audience members to the solution they
seek. Then, close with a conclusion that
inspires them to act.”
Darek Black
https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2020/09/how-
content-stick-examples/

15. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
3. address travel micro-moments
Google identifies 4 travel specific
moments in a consumer’s journey:
• Dreaming moments
• Planning moments
• Booking moments
• Experiencing moments
Create high quality, engaging
complementary content for each. https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-trends/micro-moments-travel-customer-journey/

16. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
4. answer all of their questions
Search intent optimization is all about delivering the right
answer exactly the way your target audience want it.
There are three major types of search intent:
• Do (also known as “commercial” or “high” intent): The
search user is ready to act (buy, join, etc.).
• Know (also known as “informational” intent): A search
user is looking for information.
• Go (also known as “navigational” intent): Search users
know which site or brand they want to go to.

17. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
informational intent based content
NYCGo.com

18. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
5. technical SEO still matters
• Google likes structure - Keyword rich Title Tags,
Headings (H1, H2, etc), internal and external
links, image alt tags, meta descriptions)
• Pro Tip: incorporate Calls to Action, including
phone numbers, into your meta descriptions –
no one else does.
• Incorporate schema where appropriate
(Products, Events, Questions and Answers)

19. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
6. and share friendly
• Include visible social follow buttons on
your site and social sharing buttons
within your content with attribution in
the social posts.
• Create engaging, shareable stories (Text,
Images, Audio, Video)
• Include Strong Calls To Action to
promote engagement and/or conversion.

20. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
7. optimize your social content too
• Social content is indexed and can
appear in search results too.
• Optimize social posts using topical,
related keywords from blog or site
content for consistency.
• Incorporate relevant keywords as
hashtags, which are the basis of
social search.

21. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
8. establish and nurture human connections
• Identify and establish human
connections with relevant social
users and influencers Tip: Use
Instagram, YouTube, Facebook
search to see who’s using keywords /
#hashtags you want to be found for
• Curate and share relevant content
from others in hopes of
reciprocation.
• Build your social community focused
on trust and relationships.

22. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
user generated and influencer content
@puremichigan

23. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
“Content builds relationships. Relationships
are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.”
Andrew Davis, Bestselling Author and Speaker

24. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
9. validate your external content
• Identify and validate all of your
points of presence in off-site sources
such as directories, local social
networks (i.e. Yelp) and review sites.
• Each of these “backlinks” influence
your authority in the eyes of Google.

25. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
10. measure everything
• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• SEO Monitoring
• Smart URLs
• Social Analytics and
Listening

26. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
“There are three objectives for content
marketing: reach, engagement, conversion.
Define key metrics for each.”
Michael Brenner, CEO, Marketing Insiders Group

27. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
stuff to remember
● Today’s buyer’s journey is a pretzel.
● Nearly every online buyer journey starts with search,
most of which are mobile.
● Their content is King.
● Build on your existing authority and momentum.
● Tell engaging stories and answer questions.
● Create, publish and distribute keyword rich, intent
optimized content.
● Measure everything.

28. mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10 @getmintent
Q & A
Download this deck from SlideShare
mintent.id/Content-SEO-Top10
Visit the Mintent blog
mintent.id/ELU-MintentBlog
Contact Me Anytime
jeff.riddall@getmintent.com
thank you