This document provides a summary of a presentation on search engine optimization (SEO) for travel. It discusses key topics like trends in search behavior, understanding audiences, and optimizing websites. Specific tips covered include using tools like Google Trends and AdWords to analyze search volumes and consumer interests. Case studies look at analyzing traffic sources and optimizing elements like page titles, descriptions and images. The goal is to help attendees better understand search and how to improve visibility through SEO best practices.

1. UNIT 101

2. PRESENTING TODAY
In 8 short years, Ryan has helped build one of
Canada’s best user experience agencies, developed a
national honey company, and won the advertising
industry’s top awards at Cannes.
He’s recently quit his job as a director in SEO to travel
the world.
Follow him at @gosquab, @nudebeehoney and
@ryantylerthomas on all your social media channels.

3. SEO FOR TRAVEL

4. WHAT WE’LL LEARN
1 TRENDS HowTo Plan ForThe Future

5. WHAT WE’LL LEARN
1 TRENDS HowTo Plan ForThe Future
2 BEHAVIOUR UnderstandingYour Audience

6. WHAT WE’LL LEARN
1 TRENDS HowTo Plan ForThe Future
2 BEHAVIOUR UnderstandingYour Audience
3 OPTIMIZATION ImprovingYour Search Ranking

7. WHAT IS SEARCH

8. IN A SENTENCE: SEARCH
A question asked based on keywords. For example: “What are the best cheap
hotels inToronto?”
A customized list of results based on how you’ve acted in the past.
A contextual link between what a person needs and the most relevant
answer, chosen based on the data at hand.

9. GOSQUAB
GO
SEARCH IS A CONVERSATION
Search is part of the knowledge economy
and is a media channel driven by consumer
intent -We can only speak to a consumer
when they ask to be spoken too.
We can only speak to a consumer when they ask to be
spoken to.This is called consumer intent. In organic search
we’re not paying to be heard, which is why we call it
earned media. It’s a two way dialogue.

10. INSIGHT: VOICE SEARCH
4%
US Households
2b+
Commands/Week
20%
Search Queries
The Rise Of Voice Platforms - Comparing Voice Related APIs - February 2017

11. GOSQUAB
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SEARCH IS A RICH MEDIA
Thanks to Google’s Knowledge Graph, a SERP (search
engine results page) can contain a lot of information:
images, videos, itemized lists, maps, related questions,
product reviews, even relevant tweets.

12. RICH MEDIA MATTERS
Moz Rich Features - https://moz.com/learn/seo/serp-features
97% of search results
include at least one rich
feature – media or
structured data asset

13. VIDEO AND IMAGE MEDIA
Travel Channel Subscribers By Format
Travel Vlogs Offical Brand Channels Travel Tours / Footage Reviews and How To Offical Travel Publications
48%
Travel Content Takes Off on YouTube - Think With Google

14. GOSQUAB
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SEARCH IS CONTEXTUAL
The results you see are personalized to your browser
through cookies; your search history, web history, location
data, and social network data are all used to modify the
results you’re given.

15. MOBILE SPEED IN CONTEXT

16. COOKIES IN CONTEXT

17. GOSQUAB
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SEARCH IS BIG DATA
To calculate if a page is shown, Google’s algorithm uses a
combination of over 200 factors.With each successful
search, it modifies the results based on what it’s learned
from user behaviour.

18. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Food &
Beverage
Health Sports News & Media Lifestyle Automotive Retail Travel (no-
maps)
Real Estate Entertainment Banking
Mobile Search % By Category
GOOGLE DOMINATES MOBILE
95%
of all searches
on mobile are
through Google
Hitwise - http://hitwise.connexity.com/070116_MobileSearchReport_CD_US.html

19. ACTIVITY 1: TRENDS

20. IN A SENTENCE: TRENDS
Google has become a machine learning company; to be visible in search
you’ll need to provide the best content and the fastest speed to help Google
make decisions.
The best content is locally relevant to the person searching for it and contains
rich media like images and video to support what it says.
The fastest speed is accessible and readable for voice-based assistants using
structured data, and provides the best mobile experience for users.

21. INSIGHT INDUSTRY TRENDS
Eight five percent of travellers
“decide on activities only after
having arrived at the destination”.
To increase your ability to reach
your audience always ask:
“What do I search when I land in a
new destination?” 85%
Google / Iposo 2015

22. TOOLS FOR TRENDS
1 EXACTVOLUMES Google Adwords
2 INDICATORS GoogleTrends

23. GOOGLE TRENDS ACTIVITY
This activity will use GoogleTrends
and a few of the cities and places
The NewYorkTimes recommends
as places to visit in 2018.
You’ll Need:
1) GoogleTrends
2) Google Adwords
3) AccessTo Keyword Planner

24. GOSQUAB
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UNDERSTANDING TRENDS
Trends tracks search volumes on a logarithmic scale that is
relative to all the Google searches within a given region
during a given time period.That means it accounts for
population and digital adoption during a year or location.

25. GOSQUAB
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INSIGHT: NEW ORLEANS
Worldwide SearchVolume for New Orleans has increased
47% in the past 5 years. Drill down into GoogleTrends and
discover a new item to add to your next travel plan in the
city.
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

26. GOSQUAB
GO
INSIGHT: VIERWALDSTÄTTERSEE
Lake Lucerne is a popular destination in
Vierwaldstättersee, Switzerland.What can you learn
about search behaviour from checking GoogleTrends for
bothVierwaldstättersee and Lake Lucerne?

27. GOSQUAB
GO
UNDERSTANDING ADWORDS
GoogleAdWords is a web-based media buying platform
that can be used to purchase advertising inventory in
search, display, and video content.

28. GOOGLE ADWORDS ACTIVITY
This activity will use Andrew
Harper’s Grand Awards hotel
winners as seed keywords to
discover industry insights.
You’ll Need:
1) A paid Google AdWords account
2) Excel or Google Sheets

29. GOSQUAB
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INSIGHT: HOTEL EMMA
The Hotel Emma is the most searched location onAndrew
Harper’s list in 2017. Based on search data what are some
of the features you’d be sure to include in your online
review?

30. GOSQUAB
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INSIGHT: VALVERDE HOTEL
TheValverde Hotel in Lisbon may be a hot location for
high end travellers, but what could you learn about
pitching the hotel based on its global search volumes?

31. ACTIVITY 2: BEHAVIOUR

32. INSIGHT: CONSUMER TRENDS
In the past 3 months, 47% of trips
were less than 3 days in length and
53% of trips where planned 30 days
or more in advance.
How is your content helping to
ease consumer “over research”
and help readers make better
decisions quicker?
Global
Booking
0 to 3 Days
4 to 7 Days
8 to 11 Days
12 + Days
Sojern.com ISSUE 4, 2017 GlobalTravel Insights

33. GOOGLE ANALYTICS ACTIVITY
This activity will use your site’s
Google Analytics linked to Google
Search Console to better
understand what you’re already
doing well on your site.
You’ll Need:
1) Google Analytics
2) Google Search Console

34. GOSQUAB
GO
UNDERSTANDING ANALYTICS
GoogleAnalytics tracks how users engage with your site.
Understanding theTraffic Sources that drive ClickThough
Rate is essential in creating the right content and
optimizing that content for your audience.

35. GOSQUAB
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INSIGHT: TOP PAGES
Log into GoogleAnalytics, head to Acquisition and check
Search Console. Under Landing Pages and Queries you’ll
see the top pages and top terms driving site traffic.What
does this tell you about your best content?

36. GOSQUAB
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INSIGHT: REFERRAL TRAFFIC
Inbound Links are a sign of trust for Google.When your
site’s content is linked from another trusted source, some
of the trust is given to you. Looking at your Analytics
highlights where your best referral traffic originates from.

37. ACTIVITY 3: OPTIMIZATION

38. TOOLS FOR OPTIMIZATION
1 FREE Google Search Console
2 FREEIMUM ScreamingFrog
3 FREEIMUM Moz
4 PREMIUM Deepcrawl + BrightEdge

39. RULES FOR SEO CONTENT
1 PAGETITLE 65 characters or less
2 DESCRIPTIONS 156 characters or less
3 IMAGE SIZE Less than 200kb per page
4 ALTERNATETEXT Less than 100 characters per image

40. RULES FOR SEO CONTENT
5 <H1> Unique & less than 70 characters
6 <H2> Unique & less than 70 characters
7 PAGE SPEED 5 to 6 seconds inTravel Category
8 PAGE URLS No underscores or uppercases

41. SITE OPTIMIZATION ACTIVITY
This activity will use ScreamingFrog
to identify opportunities to optimize
titles, meta descriptions, image
alternate text, and CSS files for
improved search ranking.
You’ll Need:
1) ScreamingFrog
2) A URL you’d like to optimize

42. GOSQUAB
GO
UNDERSTANDING SPIDERS
A spider is a robot that crawls all the URLs on a given
domain. Google’s spiders do this to index a site’s content
and ScreamFrog’s spider use this process to identify if the
correct SEO elements are in place.

43. INSIGHT: KEYWORD RANKING
IntrepidTravel Group’s branded
keywords rank for and are visible in
25,000+ searches a month, but its
site also ranks for unbranded
keywords with a total volume of
+2,000,000 searches per month!
How is your content and SEO
working together to improve your
visibility? Total Unbranded
Total Branded

44. INSIGHT: WRITING FOR SEO
Nomadic Matt seems to have
forgotten a meta description on his
Unusual Places category!
How would you write an effective
156 character call to action using
your knowledge of the top 20 most
searched phrases associated with
this content?
https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/category/unusual-places/

45. GOSQUAB
GO
QUESTIONS

46. NEED A FOLLOW UP
This presentation has been designed for theTravel
Massive community - with data sourced though
trusted research sources and best in class search tools.
For questions about this presentation please contact:
ryan@squabandpigeon.com

47. SAFE TRAVELS