How Luxury Travel Brands Can Optimize Their Local SEO

Change is constant, but the last couple of years have brought unprecedented change to the luxury travel industry. As a result, many brands have found it significantly more challenging to stay relevant and provide their customers with their desired experiences. As the pandemic caused travel to slow, the luxury travel brands competed for fewer customers. 

How can luxury travel brands stay ahead in this ever-changing climate?

The answer is local SEO. More than 97% of users search online to find a business in their local area, making it essential to your marketing strategy. This article will break down what you need to know to help your luxury travel brand thrive, and stand out from your competition.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO is the process of optimizing a website for local search results, including improving your website's visibility in search engines like Google and Bing, as well as apps like Yelp and TripAdvisor. The idea is to help customers find your business when they need a service or product you can provide.

For luxury travel brands, this includes booking services, travel advice, finding deals on airfare and hotels, or simply looking for the best restaurants in town. Hiring a digital marketing agency that knows your area can ensure that your business pops-up when others search for your services or products.

How is Local SEO Different from Traditional SEO?

Traditional SEO (search engine optimization) optimizes a website to rank higher in search engines. It includes on-page keyword research, improving page load speed, and creating high-quality content that ranks well with Google's algorithms. Local or nonlocal businesses use traditional SEO since it helps you get found by customers searching online from any location. 

While traditional and local SEO are essential aspects of your marketing strategy, they have different focuses.

Local SEO helps to match those in your geographical area with the right results. For example, suppose you want good sushi restaurants in Cincinnati. In that case, local SEO provides the right results for that geographical area instead of generic results that don't match your specific request.

However, traditional SEO focuses on ranking your website for a specific service, regardless of location, such as "online iPhone accessories boutique." This is because there is no local address needed for the second search, meaning that local SEO wouldn't be relevant unless you had a physical location.

Four Factors that Impact Your Local SEO

1. Google My Business

Google My Business is a powerful tool for local SEO. It allows you to claim your listing, update information that appears in search results about your business, and connect with customers by responding to reviews or messages posted on your page.

When optimizing your account, make sure to include:

• Location - The physical address where your business operates should be visible and accurate.
• Hours - Be sure to list your hours of operation so that customers can find you when they need you.
• Service Area - This is a great way to let people know where the boundaries are for your business, and it's also essential information if someone in another city wants help finding local services like yours.
• Photos & Videos - Post photos or videos of what makes your company unique! These images will show up on Google Maps, allowing users an easy visual search experience.

2. High-Quality Local Link Building

If you're looking to grow your local SEO, search engines note how other sites link to yours—helping the search engine understand the importance and relevance a website has for its users. It is essentially an online popularity contest, with the winner determined by Google’s website ranking algorithm. 

To rank higher on Google, you will need to link to highly authoritative websites in your industry. For example, a luxury travel agency should be linked to websites like TripAdvisor and well-known travel publications like Forbes Travel Guide. 

You should have links to make your website a one-stop-shop for potential travelers. 

• state, county, and city websites
• museums, 
• historical sites
• other tourist attractions 
• Local community groups - chamber of commerce, the local historical society, or outdoor recreation groups

Another great way to build high-quality backlinks is through content marketing on social media platforms like Facebook Groups and LinkedIn Groups.

3. On-Page Optimization

It would be best to optimize your website regularly to improve its performance in search engines. This includes keyword research, page speed optimization, and ensuring your website is mobile-friendly.

You should set up your website to ensure that it is easily crawlable and readable by search engines. A website is crawlable when a search engine can access the page, navigate easily between pages, and the links work as they should. This involves having a sitemap, avoiding duplicate content, and ensuring that your pages are indexed correctly.

Optimizing your pages for search engines also includes creating high-quality content that is appealing to the end-user. For example, creating local guides for your area or writing blog posts about the latest travel trends can be considered high-value content.

4. Local Keywords

When it comes to local SEO, you'll want to focus on including keywords and phrases that are specific to your city, region, or state. Google uses those keywords to match you with those looking for businesses like yours in their area. 

Doing little keyword research will go a long way to improving your local SEO. Using tools like Google Adwords Keyword Planner or another keyword planner is a great way to determine which keywords are right for you. Including these local keywords on your website, in your content, and on your social media posts will help you rank higher for relevant searches and bring in more customers.

Find the Right Local SEO Help for Your Luxury Travel Brand

A Las Vegas SEO agency well-versed in local SEO can set your luxury travel brand on a path for success. Find a full-service digital marketing agency with plenty of experience creating successful online strategies for large and small businesses.

Contact our Las Vegas digital agency today if you're looking to improve your brand's visibility and drive more traffic to your website. Our passion is helping other brands develop a solid online presence and succeed in the digital marketing world.