Travel Case Study
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) CASE STUDY
SIGNATURE TRAVEL NETWORK MEMBER
CHALLENGE
Internet-based cruise-only travel agency needed reliable way to measure traffic on their website. Their referral business was excellent but they needed to expand their client base by attracting new customers to fuel growth and increase profits.
OBJECTIVES
- To increase traffic to website and grow customer base
- To increase the number of new, first-time visitors to website
- To understand traffic patterns, where traffic was coming from and going to
- To measure popularity of specific pages and content on website
STRATEGY
- Perform key word search analysis of cruise travel website content to find out what terms consumers are typing into Google and other search engines when they are looking for the best cruise values.
- Identify top 10 most popular search words or phrases.
- Insert these terms and phrases into the copy on the pages of the website that generate the most interest.
- Insert hidden labels on all photographs on website as additional draw to search engines looking for cruise information.
- Add Google Analytics to website to monitor and measure results. Google Analytics is a free service that shows you how people found your site, how they explored it, and how you can enhance their visitor experience. With this information, you can improve your website return on investment, increase conversions and make more money on the web.
RESULTS
The following results were achieved in the first four months following Search Engine Optimization of the travel agency’s website.
- Traffic generated by Google and other search engines increased steadily over the period, from 32.13% in Month 1 to 58.17% in Month four. Total month over month increase of 26.04%.
month 1
month 4
OTHER SITE USAGE STATS
BOTTOM LINE: Nearly 70% of visitors to the website were first time visitors delivered by the search engines, with each visitor visiting more than 5 pages per visit and spending nearly 5 minutes each visit — an eternity in Internet terms! The “Bounce Rate” measures how many people arrive at the site and leave right away without going to at least one other page. The 30.89% Bounce Rate means that nearly 7 out of 10 visitors were interested enough in the relevant content they found that they continued looking around the site rather then leaving. Conversely, only 3 out of 10 visitors came to the site and left right away. Any Bounce Rate below 50% is considered a low Bounce Rate.
TAKEAWAY MESSAGE: Knowledge is power. Monitoring your site with Google Analytics gives you knowledge you can act on.
