As a travel agent or business owner for a travel agency, you know that traveling can be very stressful for some of your clients. That’s why they turn to you for assistance and guidance on planning the perfect trip.
But, because the travel industry is so competitive, you must develop a great local search marketing strategy to make sure that new clients are able to find you online before your competitors.
Here are three reasons why local search marketing matters for your travel business:
1. Inconsistent or incorrect data will ruin your local search ranking.
You know that most of your clients use your services to travel to a new place, and because they’re going somewhere that’s unfamiliar, they turn to Google or other search engines to find everything they need when they arrive.
Just the same, clients who have never used a travel agency before will research to find the best nearby travel agency when they plan their vacation.
What if these new customers can’t find you on the digital map because your information is incorrect or inconsistent?
It’s crucial that you keep your information up-to-date across all your business pages to maintain a high search ranking and to show up more easily on search engines.
This includes your:
- Business name
- Location address
- Phone number
- Website URL
Search engines place a lot of importance in consistently accurate data, and if even one directory receives something that’s wrong, it could hurt your search ranking and keep you from showing up first in search results.
Plus, if any of these are inaccurate, you may confuse potential clients who could search the wrong address or call the wrong phone number, and this will cause you to lose business.
2. We search locally for everything.
Local search engines in India are becoming increasingly popular, and now, almost everyone uses search engines to find businesses near their location. The ‘near me’ after every query is one of the examples of how locally we are searching for businesses.
Making your business’s online information correct makes a huge difference in your local business being found online.
3. Mobile searches and voice searches are popular things today
Since the world is getting more digital day by day, our way of searching things is also getting updated.
Now more Internet users are searching more frequently on their phones, and 48% of mobile users start their search on search engines.
Therefore, if you want to make your business shine you need your business’s website mobile friendly. On top of that, if your website isn’t optimized for mobile, search engines will not rank your business in their index & may penalize your business that will result in low to no users coming to your website from organic search.
Consumers search for businesses using voice search with smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo & Siri.
Currently, 40 percent of adults use voice search every day, and the number is expected to rise as voice search becomes more common and accessible.
Conclusion
I am not saying that one should completely abandon their traditional marketing tactics for attracting clients from their local areas. But, local search engines for business are much more impactful since your clients are more connected to the Internet than ever before.
And, although your business can benefit from PPC or social media, it’s important to have a robust local search marketing strategy as a foundation for your digital marketing plan.