Marketing

How to Create Compelling Travel Content that Attracts Lots of Web Traffic

Attracting web traffic is key to the majority of marketing plans. Whether you’re running a tourism business or setting up a travel blog, compelling content is the way you can get new visitors and bigger audiences to your site. But it’s a saturated market out there.

There are endless blogs and publishers, so standing out can seem like an impossible task. With the right copy, the best photos and a foolproof plan, you can create the content people want – and see your traffic hits soar. Follow these tips to help guide you through what you need to do.

  1. Use keyword planning

Before creating any travel content, you need to know what your target audience is searching for, and what they want to get from you. Keyword planning is vital at this point, so it’s worth dedicating a number of days to complete this. You’ll want to start by finding the most obvious phrases that you want to rank for: maybe it’s ‘travel’, ‘holiday’, ‘Europe’ or ‘Australia’. These are the most competitive phrases, so ranking highly in search-engine results for them will be a long-term goal.

Next, concentrate on your long-tail keyword planning. These are often easier to rank for and are more likely to convert. The longer a search query, the further down the buying journey someone is. These keywords are more specific and may be focused around a question. You can then create content that firstly addresses your broader keywords, while also answering the long-tail needs.

  1. Guarantee the best writing

The most compelling travel content shares one feature: brilliant writing. Photographs and images go a long way towards attracting people to your site and showing what a country, city or hotel is like, but crafting the right words is even more important. You can win or lose customers purely on the strength of your written content, so it’s essential to make it as good as possible. Using travel copywriting services is an easy way to guarantee this. You’ll be employing people who know what works, how to engage an audience and the best way to describe a destination. Plus, it frees you up to concentrate on finding the best topics to explore and places to visit, while the copywriter makes the magic happen on paper.

  1. Pay attention to headlines

Your headlines are another way to attract more traffic to your website. Headlines work in two ways: on an SEO level and on a reader level. It’s a well-known statistic that David Ogilvy, the original ad man, said back in the 1960s – 80% of people will read your headline but only 20% will read the copy below it – so you need to make sure your headlines sparkle.

Writing a headline is an art form in itself – you need to tease, excite and inspire your readers, all in as few words as possible. Plus, you need to be honest about what your content is offering, or you run the risk of looking like clickbait. On another level, your headlines can have a big effect on your SEO. Using the right meta titles, keyword placing and character count in your headlines can help or hinder when it comes to search-engine results.

  1. Invest in a great camera and software

To create compelling travel content, you need high-quality photographs. As so many people run travel blogs and websites, the standard of your images can set you apart. This is particularly important if you’re advertising a hotel, holiday let or tourist attraction. The best copywriting in the world can make your topic sparkle, but brilliant photos bring it to life.

If you’re on a budget, many of today’s smartphones take website-quality pictures and most have intelligent built-in software that automatically edits and adjusts them. However, if you’re looking to make a more serious commitment to your content, consider investing in a proper camera.

  1. Learn how to take photographs

Once you’ve got your camera, learn how to use it – taking great photos is more than just pointing and shooting. You need to frame your object correctly, choose the right editing tools and limit the exposure in each shot. There are plenty of online courses to help you with your photography, and you can pick up a lot by following great travel photographers on social-media sites like Instagram. Having well-framed, artistically shot photos in your content will show your audience you’re a quality site creating reputable content. People will soon search for your content.

  1. Add guest blogging to your to-do list

When you’ve written a brilliant blog post – or had one written for you – it makes sense to post it on your own site. However, pitching it to another blog or publisher could help you attract far more traffic. Guest blogging has remained popular for so long because it works. Not only does it boost your credibility and reputation, it also has multiple benefits for your SEO efforts.

On top of this, it’s a surefire way to unlock new audiences and drive new visitors to your site. However, to get the most from your guest posting, you need to create stellar content. It needs to be well written, well researched, take a different angle to other bloggers, and be supported by excellent photos.

  1. Pay attention to the best travel blogs

Make a list of the best travel websites and analyse them carefully. What are they talking about? How often do they post? What content do they create? Studying their range of posts and the creative ideas they use will help you come up with your own plans. You can also pick up other valuable tips such as writing styles, tone and information to cover.

When you start off, using popular blogs as a guide will help you get into the routine of creating content and posting it. You don’t need to worry about experimenting with different kinds of content, as you can see what other people have done and how well it worked for them. There are several tools on the market that can help you gauge the performance of pieces of content.

  1. Get off the beaten track

If other websites talk about a certain bar or hike – don’t join the crowds. By all means check it out and do a swift article, but forge your own way. Find places that really inspire your audience to set out and travel. Speaking to locals and long-timers in the area you’re staying will help you find these hidden treasures.

Once you’ve discovered somewhere new, you’ll end up with many new ideas for content – whether that’s reviews of attractions or restaurants, a guide to the area or a video about your journey. Because it’s a new place, people will seek out your content: it’s fresh and exciting, and ultimately reflects what it means to travel.

From your copywriting to your photography to your keywords, a lot of effort goes into creating a single piece of standout content. However, once you get into the groove of briefing a piece and seeing it through to completion, it’ll become second nature. And of course, when you see how beneficial these great articles and blogs are – it’s the best incentive to do more of it!

If you have any questions, please ask below!