SEO for Travel Websites | Best Travel SEO Tips (2022)

The travel industry has many components, including hotels, airlines, car rentals, resorts, and tourism boards. And SEO for travel websites is a unique challenge and one that can often be difficult to overcome. With the high number of websites competing for top page rankings, it is important to be aware of the challenges and opportunities that travel sites face.

Travel customers are also more likely to search for what they need, rather than specifically looking for a brand. This means that you have to work harder on your travel website SEO to make sure your brand shows up at the top of search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.

Competition is tough because there are so many travel brands competing for attention. The travel industry has had its ups and downs, but it remains one of the biggest money-makers in the world, which is why so many people want a piece of it. How to SEO for travel website is needed for any travel blogger, travel agency, and travel company. Here are the top 10 tips for improving the search engine optimization of your travel website.

How to SEO for travel websites

SEO for travel websites is not the same as for other sites. Google’s search results for travel queries are dominated by big brands like TripAdvisor, Expedia, Kayak, so it can be tough to get your site ranked highly. However, these are 10 tips specific to travel SEO that will help you to boost your website’s ranking in Google, Bing, and other search engines.

Must read: GMB SEO: How to Do SEO for Google My Business

1. Do keyword research

Search engines want to see that you have pages matching the search terms that people are using. As a result, it’s important to include your target keywords in your web copy, as this will help Google understand what your travel website page is about. But don’t just stuff your pages with keywords; make sure they flow naturally in the text and appear in headlines and subheads where possible.

Any successful SEO strategy begins with keyword research. To find keywords that are relevant to your travel website, use a keyword tool like the Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush. These tools will help you generate a list of keywords and then analyze their search volume and competition level so that you can determine which terms are worth targeting.

2. Write unique content

Content is king! That’s what you are told by every SEO expert, and it’s true. If you have amazing content on your travel website, people will want to link to it, share it and engage with it. This will then tell Google that your website is stunning and relevant to the search terms that your potential customers are using.

This may be a little easier for travel websites, as you have lots of exciting destinations and stories to share with the world. Summarize everything they need to know in one place. Include a mix of text, images, and videos. Encourage user engagement as well by adding a comments section at the bottom, so users can share their own stories about the place, destination too!

3. Keep your title tags under 60 characters

One of the best things that you can do for your SEO for travel website is to ensure that your title tags are unique and relevant. Your title tags help search engines understand what each page is about, and they’re displayed prominently in the search results.

The first rule of writing title tags is to keep them under 60 characters. If you go over 60 characters, your title tag won’t be fully displayed in Google SERPs. You should also include your target keyword in your title tag, preferably toward the beginning of the tag.

Must read: 10 SEO Tips & Strategies for eCommerce Websites

4. Use H1 and H2 tags

The first step to improving your SEO for travel websites is to make sure that you have the right tags in place. These are H1, H2 tags, and these tags tell the search engines what’s important on your page.

You do not want to overuse tags but you do want to use them at least once and make sure you use the same keywords that you’re targeting.

5. Optimize your images

Images play an important role in search engine optimization. If you are a photographer or a travel blogger or if your website contains many images, then you should optimize those images for search engines, and you have to consider the following things when optimizing them:

Use keywords in the image title
Use keywords in the alt tag
Use keywords in the description

Use online compression tools or plugins, these tools reduce the file size of an image without sacrificing quality. WordPress plugins like WPSmush and Sirv are great for this.

6. Structured data markup

Structured Data Markup, or Schema, is a form of microdata that allows search engines to understand the information on your site and display it in rich snippets in search results.

You can mark up many different types of information on your pages, including reviews, events, people, organizations, and products. This can help your site display richer search results. Also, It helps search engines understand the information on your website. It increases organic traffic to your travel website. It can generate additional leads and revenue for your business.

7. Internal linking

We all know that Google loves big, fat, juicy websites. But even the biggest website in the world can fail to rank well if it isn’t structured properly. That’s why we spend so much time talking about internal linking and how important it is too good SEO. Internal links are links within your own site page or website. They are links that point from one page to another within a website.

There are many options and strategies when it comes to internal linking. You can use internal links to link between important pages on your site or link to product pages from travel blog posts.

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8. Build backlinks (off-page SEO)

Building backlinks, or getting other websites to link to yours, is one of the most important things you can do for SEO on your travel website. The more links you have pointing at your site from others (and especially from high-authority sites), the better your site will rank in Google and Bing.

For example, if you run a tour operator business in Washington DC, getting a link from local, tourism websites, government websites would be optimal. If you run a travel blog about food in Las Vegas, having a link from Las Vegas or USA-based would be great.

9. Optimize page load speed (Desktop & Mobile)

There are still a lot of travel websites that aren’t optimized for mobile visitors, which is unfortunate because mobile users now account for more than 50 percent of all web traffic worldwide. And if your site isn’t optimized for mobile visitors, you will get penalized by Google.

Google officially rolled out its mobile-first indexing policy in March 2018. This update meant that if your site wasn’t optimized for mobile users, meaning the mobile version of your site didn’t contain the same content as your desktop site, you would be demoted in search engine rankings. So, if you haven’t already done so, you need to switch over to a responsive design that automatically resizes content and images.

10. Use social media to build your site’s authority

Social media is an effective way to increase your site’s authority. When you post high-value content in your blog, share it on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. If it gets widely shared, Google will see your content as high-quality and authoritative.

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram are a great way to build your website’s authority, especially if you’re just starting out.

Must read: SEO For Food Bloggers | 10 SEO Tips For Food Blog

FAQs on SEO for travel websites

What is travel SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Travel SEO mean, it is the practice of optimizing your travel websites to make them appear higher in search results.

Why should I care about SEO?

Optimizing your travel website’s content and structure helps search engines understand what your site is about and how it relates to keywords. If you want to rank higher in search results, you need to make sure your travel website is optimized for search engines.

Why should I do SEO for my travel website?

If you have a travel website, then you know how competitive the market is. If you want to get noticed, then you need to optimize your site. You can use SEO techniques to improve your ranking and increase traffic.

How much does it cost?

The price varies depending on what type of optimization you want to perform. There are free tools out there that will help you with basic SEO, but if you want to go beyond that, you’ll need to pay for the services.

Do I need to hire someone to do SEO for my travel website?

No, not at all! A lot of people think they need to hire someone to handle their SEO, but you don’t actually need to spend money to get started. There are plenty of free tools online that will help you with SEO.

Will SEO work for my travel website?

It depends on what kind of optimization you want to do. If you want to rank high in search engines, then yes, it will definitely work. But if you want to rank well in local searches, then no, it won’t work.

Is SEO safe?

Yes, it is completely safe. In fact, it’s been around since the beginning of the internet. People have been using it to optimize sites for years now.

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Conclusion

If your business is targeting keywords like vacation, travel, etc., you will be able to rank and earn revenue by optimizing your website with the strategies mentioned above. Choose a destination-related keyword and target it across all pages of your website. We hope you enjoyed our article about SEO for travel websites.