Many local travel and tourism organizations continue to grapple against OTAs and larger national brands for organic visibility in search and social. In this webinar, we'll get back to the basics and talk about how to focus attention on keyword, content and social optimization tactics which will deliver measurable results as modern SEO continues to evolve into optimized content marketing.

1. Jeff Riddall – VP of Product
www.gshiftlabs.com
www.kurls.io
@gShiftLabs
Building Local Organic Visibility

2. hello
• VP of Product at gShift
• 20+ years of digital marketing
experience
• 8+ years with gShift
• Blogger
• Social Media Addict
• Craft Beer Snob
• Former Hockey Dad
https://imahockeydad.com
jeff.riddall@gshiftlabs.com
@Jriddall on Twitter
JRiddall on LinkedIn
jeffriddall on Instagram
jeff-riddall on Snapchat
Jeff Riddall on Facebook
+ Jriddall on Google +
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

3. agenda
• About gShift
• What is a Web Presence?
• The Modern Marketers’ Growing Dilemma
• Search and Social
• Who and Where is Your Audience?
• Content is Still King
• Optimize Your Content
• Distribute Your Content
• Measuring Content Engagement
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

4. about gShift
SaaS SEO, Content Performance and Influencer Marketing Platform for
Brands and Agencies
We gather billions of data points for thousands of web presences across 25+ countries.
To be the platform marketers rely on to execute on owned and earned digital strategies
proving ROI on content investments from keywords, through multiple channels,
complete to customers.
We strive to make your marketing life easier by bringing all of the data, insights and
reporting you need under one umbrella.
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

5. @JRiddall @gShiftLabs
why gShift?

6. @JRiddall @gShiftLabs
why gShift?

7. So What?
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs
so what?

8. marketers 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 buyers journey is complete
before a buyer even reaches out to sales”
Sirius Decisions
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

9. myth of the buyer’s journey
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

10. 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/
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

11. • Encompasses all of your brand’s
digital points of presence:
– Your website
– Off-site content – blog posts,
articles, press releases
– Social media accounts and posts
– YouTube and other video networks
– Social local – Yelp, TripAdvisor
– Review sites
– Directory listings
– Paid Ads
– Influencer generated content
– Dark Social - email, messaging apps
what is a web presence?
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

12. it all starts with 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
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

13. what does Google want?
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs
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 basic premise has never changed. Deliver the right
content to the right people at the right time.

14. content is still king
“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.”
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

15. optimize your content
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs
• All starts with intent-based keywords
and content – providing the best
answer to a searcher’s question(s)
• On-Site Optimization (Keyword rich
Title Tags, H1 Headings, links, image
alt tags, meta descriptions)
• Mobile Friendly
• Positive User Experience
• Engaging, Shareable Content (Text,
Images, Audio, Video) with clear Calls
to Action
• Social Media Distribution
• Relevant Backlinks

16. which keywords
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs
• Keyword research should
never stop
• Put yourself in your
searchers’ shoes
• Industry keywords
combined with
geographic and keyword-
based modifiers
• Keywords with
momentum
• Competitors keywords?

17. which content
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

18. answering questions
Via NYCGo.com

19. Google My Business
• Your 2nd website and primary
review source
• Encourage and respond to
reviews
• Post specials/promos/events
with links to relevant website
content
• Where possible, incorporate
Smart URLs to relevant pages on
your site e.g. specific product,
service or event pages
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

20. validate your other local listings
• Identify and validate all of your
points of presence in off-site
sources such as directories, local
social networks (i.e. Yelp) and
other review sites
• Where possible, incorporate
Smart URLs to relevant pages on
your website e.g. specific
product or services pages
• Monitor engagement with and
the relative effectiveness of all
distribution channels
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

21. then it all goes social
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs
• Customers visit your website to make sure
you exist and are credible.
• Research is done outside of your website
through social media or via people
(influencers) customers trust.
• Positive or negative feedback can be
published at any time during the process.
• These conversations are happening
whether you acknowledge them or not.

22. For Example
travel and tourism is social

23. travel and tourism is mobile
https://www.socialbeat.in/2017/05/26/5-digital-marketing-trends-transforming-travel-industry/
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

24. travel and tourism is mobile
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/data/mobile-near-me-searches/
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

25. establish connections
• identify and establish human
connections with relevant social
users and influencers Tip: Use
Instagram or Twitter 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 Image via richardborges.com
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

26. optimize your social posts
• social content is indexed and
can appear in search results too
• optimize social posts using
topical, related keywords from
blog or site content
• incorporate relevant keywords
as hashtags, which are the basis
of social search
• include visible social follow
buttons on your site and social
sharing buttons within your
content
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

27. distribute your content
• publish & distribute content
wherever you’ve determined
your audience is and have
established a following
• identify and build connections
with relevant influencers who
can help share your content with
their trusting audience
• use unique trackable links (Smart
URLs) to measure what is
working or not working by
influencer, channel, content
type, etc.
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

28. or let your audience do it
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs
• User Generated Content
• Let your customers tell
their/your stories
• Cultivate reviews and
testimonials on social
where they’ll be seen
and shared

29. user generated content
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs
The Art of Ride - Snowboarding Off Piste Backcountry
GoPro Hero 3+
https://youtu.be/Q5691RGDUJ4
Starbucks White Cup Contest

30. Measure and Optimize
• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• gShift for SEO
• gShift kontextURLs
• Social Listening
measure everything
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

31. Traffic
website traffic
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

32. Keywords
organic visibility
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

33. measuring content engagement
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs
• Reach, Likes and Shares are great, but
Clicks and Conversions are better.
• Leverage Smart URLs
• Measure and monitor top performing
content, engagement over time,
engagement by channel, by influencer,
by content type, by geography
• Define and monitor conversion paths,
which may cross on-site and off-site
content
• Optimize content distribution for
maximum engagement

34. key takeaways
• Today’s travel buyer’s journey is a pretzel
• Almost every journey starts with Search
• Identify who and where your audience is
• Create, publish, distribute and measure keyword rich, optimized content via targeted channels
• Validate, update and track owned off-site content
• Use analytics and Smart URLs to monitor engagement, optimize conversion paths, measure results
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs

35. Thank You
www.gshiftlabs.com
gShift Resources
http://gshift.it/ELU-Resources
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Contact Me Anytime
jeff.riddall@gshiftlabs.com
@JRiddall @gShiftLabs