The ultimate tactical marketing toolkit for tourism professionals

www.MyTravelResearch.com | Bronwyn@MyTravelResearch.com | +61 (0)408225766
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www.MyTravelResearch.com | Bronwyn@MyTravelResearch.com | +61 (0)408225766 Page 2
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 5
Three qualities you MUST have: Trust, Reputation & Authority (TRA) ........................ 5
What Contributes to Trust, Reputation & Authority? .................................................... 7
1. Content, and lots of it – fresh, continuous and of variety...................................... 7
2. Strong brand ........................................................................................................ 8
3. Mobile .................................................................................................................. 8
A few assumptions before we start.............................................................................. 8
Chapter 1 – Google My Business.................................................................................. 10
Getting Your Business Featured on Google for Free................................................. 10
Indexing Your Business with Google If You Already Have an Account.................. 10
Indexing Your Business with Google If You Don’t Already Have an Account......... 12
Google My Business and Reviews ............................................................................ 15
Content Marketing - Populating Your Website with Content for Better SERP Rankings
................................................................................................................................... 17
Chapter 2 – Blogging and Content Marketing ............................................................... 19
The Importance of Trust, Reputation & Authority (TRA) ............................................ 19
What Is Semantic Search and Why Does It Matter?.................................................. 19
Create a Monthly Content Marketing Calendar.......................................................... 21
Determining the Quality and Relevance of Your Content .......................................... 23
Your Blogging Checklist......................................................................................... 23
Don’t Forget to Add Pictures and Videos................................................................... 24
Chapter 3 – Video Marketing......................................................................................... 25

Why Video Marketing Matters for Travel Professionals ............................................. 25
Getting Started with YouTube.................................................................................... 25
Adding Your Channel Icon and Channel Art .......................................................... 26
Populating Your Channel Description .................................................................... 27
Uploading Your Videos .......................................................................................... 27
Applications for your Videos ...................................................................................... 30
Sharing Your Videos on Social Media.................................................................... 30
Embedding Your Videos on Your Site.................................................................... 31
Final Notes on Video Content.................................................................................... 31
Chapter 4 – Social Media.............................................................................................. 33
Distributing Content and Engaging with Potential Customers.................................... 33
The Power of an Engaged Audience...................................................................... 33
Remember, It’s Social............................................................................................ 33
Never Underestimate the Power of Great Visuals ..................................................... 34
Use Hashtags to Build Authority and Grow Your Network ..................................... 35
When in Doubt, Follow the Four V’s .......................................................................... 36
Chapter 5 – Mobile Marketing ....................................................................................... 38
Google Wants You to Be Mobile Friendly.................................................................. 38
Test Your Site with Google ........................................................................................ 38
Making Your Site Mobile Friendly .............................................................................. 40
Your Mobile Web Design Checklist............................................................................ 41
Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 42

There’s No Time Like the Present ............................................................................. 42
Your Semantic Web Checklist....................................................................................... 43
Mobile........................................................................................................................ 43
Branding – for Google................................................................................................ 43
Google My Business.................................................................................................. 44
Content Marketing ..................................................................................................... 44
Blogging Checklist ..................................................................................................... 44
Social Media .............................................................................................................. 46
Content distribution checklist..................................................................................... 47

Introduction
We are all suffering from information and trend overload and we know your time is
limited. This is why we have put together 5 ultimate marketing actions designed to
increase your revenue and visitation – if you do them.
Focus on these 5 key marketing activities and you will be well on your way to building a
strong brand that will make both your customers and search engines happy!
Marketing has transformed, and 2017 is the year to adjust or be left in the dark ages.
Marketing and branding are both closely tied to internet search. In the world of
‘semantic’ search that all major search engines like Google (and Baidu!) use, everything
you do and say on the web from now on will impact on your brand and your search
results.
The difference between the old days of two years ago and now is that you have two
types of customers to impress with your strong brand: travellers and Google. And if you
confuse your potential customers and Google with a weak fragmented brand, both will
go elsewhere. They won’t be able to figure you out.
Three qualities you MUST have: Trust, Reputation &
Authority (TRA)
Your ultimate goal over the year is to build trust, reputation and authority in the eyes of
the search engines and your customers.
There are opportunities now that we will never have again. It is about creating a depth
and wisdom to your brand that only trust, reputation and authority can deliver. To deliver

these key elements successfully, it is going to take one key ingredient – consistent
delivery over time of the tasks mentioned below. And luckily we are at the beginning of
our internet revolution.
Because we are at the beginning of the switch to semantic search algorithms and
broadly speaking, ‘The Internet revolution,’ you are well primed to create what David
Amerland; author of Semantic Search refers to as Trust, Reputation and Authority.
You need to have these three key ingredients as part of your online brand in order for
Google and other search engines to consider your website when it presents pages and
sites to a customer or traveller.
These are the key ingredients for you to create and build on. They affect both your
online and offline brand. Without these things, the search engines will not take you
seriously and will not present you in a traveller search query.
And more importantly, without these things, travellers will not buy from you or travel to
your destination.
When travellers search for inspiration when planning holidays and vacations, they turn
to the Internet. Google will only present pages and websites it trusts, deems to be of
good reputation, and which seem to have authority in their ‘niche.’
Why does all this matter? Because travel is one of the most consumed verticals on the
Internet.
Internet search is the one constant tool people turn to for inspiration and travel planning
at every point across the path to purchase. It’s the new word of mouth.

What Contributes to Trust, Reputation & Authority?
1. Content, and lots of it – fresh, continuous and of variety
The only way your customers and potential customers are going to find you on the
Internet via search is with content. If you don’t have content, travellers will not find you.
It is that simple. This is generally the answer I give people when they ask me why they
should focus on content marketing.
Your content should be genuinely useful, shared and commented on, and on your
social media platforms. Your followers should be engaged and you should be having
meaningful conversations with them. In a sense, it is no different from when you deal
with customers face-to-face.

2. Strong brand
This means not trying to be all things to everyone. It means strong marketing and
consistently talking to your well developed and evidence-based personas or segments.
Weak brands that are fragmented and inconsistent are hard for travellers and Google to
trust. You won’t be found.
Your brand is who you are. Think about the people and businesses you want to
connect with: you want to know who they are. If you wouldn’t deal with a brand you
didn’t trust, why do you think YOUR potential customers would?
3. Mobile
Plan totally for mobile. More people are searching on mobile than ever before, and are
often more likely to search on mobile than on a desktop. And now, Google are
penalising those websites that aren’t mobile friendly.
The Internet and Google has changed the way our potential customers find us and what
information they will receive, and in doing so, has profoundly changed how we need to
market our businesses and manage our online presence.
So good luck and here we go...
A few assumptions before we start
A few assumptions are being made before you go ahead with the action plan we have
created for you. If these aren’t true, you need to sort these out before you start.
1. You are clear about who your customers are. Your customer is central to every
decision you make. Be very clear, this is really important. You will do more damage if

you try to be all things to all people. So have a think about who it is you will be talking
to – families, couples, seniors etc. Can you imagine talking to them as a person?
2. You have your branding in check. You are clear about what your business or
destination is and represents, as well as your competitive positioning. Consistency
around your messaging, words, imagery and visuals is really important. The main
reason is that not only will your customers be confused, but Google will be too. And if
Google is confused and the algorithms can’t work out what your business or destination
does, it will not present you when customers are searching. It is that simple.
3. Google is your new customer. The one consistent source that every traveller uses
across the path to purchase is the internet – at every single stage. It is just the way it is.
So for those of you who say ‘I am technically challenged,’ maybe it’s time to see it as an
opportunity for a career change or a new learning opportunity.

Chapter 1 – Google My Business
Getting Your Business Featured on Google for Free
First of all, if you want to make it in the travel and tourism business today, you need to
be searchable. You can have the best connections with the most luxurious hotels, the
coolest tour guides, and the most stunning amenities in the most popular destinations in
the world, but if Google can’t find you, you’re not going to have a lot of success.
Fortunately though, it’s actually pretty easy to gain more exposure and customer leads,
just by taking a few minutes to set up Google My Business.
With this free service, you can list your business with Google, which will ensure you
show up in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs for short) not only when
viewers are performing Google searches, but also when they’re doing a search in
Google Maps or on Google+. Basically, when you index with Google My Business, it is
much easier for your customers and clients to find you no matter what device they’re
using.
So how does it work and how can you make sure that your business always shows up
in search results? Google will potentially present your business when travellers are
dreaming about or planning their visit. Or, they will be able to find you in destination
when conducting specific location-based searches on their mobile.
Start by getting online and going to https://www.google.com/business/
Indexing Your Business with Google If You Already Have an Account
If you already have an account with Google for your business, click on “Sign In” to the
left of the blue “Get on Google” button at the upper right hand corner of the screen. If
you don’t have an account for your business, click on “Get on Google” and skip this
step.

Once you click on “Sign In,” you’ll be taken to a page that prompts you to categorise
your business.
If you select “Brand,” you’ll be taken to a page where you can get started creating your
Google+ page, which will help improve your web presence and give you a boost in

Google SERPs. If you choose “Storefront” or “Service Area” you’ll be taken to the same
map page you would go to if you had clicked on “Get on Google,” and the process from
here will be the same.
Indexing Your Business with Google If You Don’t Already Have an Account
If you don’t have a Google account for your business yet, click on “Get on Google.” This
will take you to a map with a search bar, where you’ll be prompted to enter your
business’ name and address.
Go ahead and search for your business’ name and/or address, and Google will attempt
to locate you. For example, when we enter “My Travel Research,” it locates our office’s
address on the map for us.

If the address isn’t a correct match, you can simply click on the “Add your business”
button. If you type in your business’ name and you don’t get any results, you’ll see a box
like this one:
Just click on “I’ve correctly entered the name and address.” Whether you click on this or
“Add your business,” a dropdown box will appear, prompting you to enter relevant
information about your business’ name, address, phone number and category.

Fill this information out completely, and you’ll notice a prompt below it with a checkbox
that says, “I deliver goods and services to my customers at their location – important
information.” As part of the travel industry, many of you won’t be in this category, but
many hotels, restaurants, tour guides, and other businesses will find it useful. If you do
make some local deliveries, you’ll want to check this box before you click the “Continue”
button.

If you checked the box, you’ll be prompted to fill in the area where you deliver goods
and services.
After you fill in this information – or, if you don’t deliver any goods and services locally,
as soon as you click “continue” – a box will appear verifying your company name and
address with a checkbox stating, “I am authorized to manage this business and I agree
to the Terms of Service.” Click on this checkbox and then click “Continue.” This will
register your business and address with Google, and will also automatically create a
Google+ page for your business, both of which will help boost your ranking in search
engine results when your clients search Google for businesses and services like yours.
Google My Business and Reviews
One of the greatest benefits of using Google My Business is the ability to obtain reviews
for your business. When you search for your business in Google Maps, you may notice
a link that allows you to write a review at the bottom of the card that appears in the
search window.

Why is this such an important feature? Consider the average customer searching for a
business online. When choosing a hotel, destination, tour guide, or other travel
business, they want to know that they’ve selected a business they can trust. As we
mentioned in the introduction, trust, reputation and authority, plus a strong brand are

essential to driving more traffic and more business in today’s online travel market.
Reviews from customers give you a means to build all three.
Customers are more likely to trust reviews from peers (other customers) than a
company’s ad copy. Furthermore, when customers leave reviews, you have the ability
to respond to them. So, if you get a bad review, you have the power to give a
professional, courteous, unemotional response, and show the whole world that your
business is honest, forthright and caring.
Not only that, but Google will add stars once you have five reviews. In regard to
hotels, we have also recently seen that reviews now appear in the Google search
knowledge graph. This means that if a customer is searching for a hotel, the reviews
show in the search pages. If you want to be visible to Google and your customers, get
on Google My Business, encourage your customers to leave reviews, and be sure to
actively respond to reviews in a positive, informative and helpful tone.
Content Marketing - Populating Your Website with Content
for Better SERP Rankings
Of course, just having a presence on Google My Business won’t ensure that your
business will be at the top of SERPs. To improve your SERP rankings, you need to
populate your website with fresh content on a regular basis. But what does that mean?
Disregard anyone who tells you simply to stuff your site full of keywords. If you do,
Google will punish you by either pushing your site down in its SERP rankings or by
removing it from search results entirely. Your goal should be to write compelling, useful
content that focuses not only on your business but also on the area you serve - your
destination(s), local restaurants and other attractions, and other interesting local
information your customers may benefit from.

As you write this high quality content, your secondary goal should be to use keywords
naturally throughout your site’s content. Again note, your goal is not to add as many
keywords as possible without concern for the quality of your writing. If you use keywords
naturally and focus on creating trust, reputation and authority, your site will potentially
be presented in the search results.
Starting a blog with consistent, quality posts that are relevant to your business
and have beautiful images and videos is a good place to start. The content should
be interesting enough to be shareable. Creating content, posting to social media, along
with having your business indexed with Google My Business and encouraging
customers to leave reviews, will help you immensely in customer searches for
businesses like yours.
Don’t be afraid to create content. You just need to make a start – we all need to start
somewhere. Try to write something, post a picture or make a video at least once a
week. We’ll discuss how to do this in a number of proven and effective ways in the
next chapters, starting with blogging and content marketing, and then moving on to
video marketing, social media, and mobile marketing.

Chapter 2 – Blogging and Content Marketing
The Importance of Trust, Reputation & Authority (TRA)
Creating a blog for your website is one of the most effective means to populate your site
with content with the goal to improve your SERP rankings and TRA. It also becomes a
digital asset for your company. It gives you an opportunity to create, build and nourish
your trusting relationship with your potential and current customers. This is important for
two reasons: today’s search engines use semantic searches to find the most relevant
results for their users, and today’s customers are looking for deep connections with
brands and transactions.
Customers want to get to know you. They’re looking for genuine and meaningful
connections with the brands they use, and they want a reason to continue choosing the
businesses and brands they work with and purchase products from. You’ll go a lot
further with engaging content that shows you’re an authority in your sector than you will
with putting an ad in the paper once.
What Is Semantic Search and Why Does It Matter?
To understand why quality content matters so much for your search results, you’ll first
need to know how the search engine algorithms that determine those results work.
Semantic search refers to the way Google and other search engines determine the best
results for a user’s search based on what they type into the search box. It can be
broken down into two basic factors that use information from your site and information
that Google has gleaned from the user.
Google’s old search algorithm could be ‘gamed’ by tactics such as building artificial links
and stuffing poor content with keywords, but today’s search engine relies on
“semantics,” that is, the meanings, relevance and context of each user search. As a
result, search results are now more in tune with the individual searcher, drawing on

historical information and data that Google has collected about them, such as
geographical location, search history, social media sharing and online behaviour.
One of the most important implications of Google’s semantic search is that what
appears on Page 1 of a Google search result is different for every search query, every
mobile device and every desktop. There is no longer the single Holy Grail metric of
Page 1 based on a keyword search.

When you perform a search for Paris, you’ll see a page much like the one above. At the
heart of semantic search is a complex nexus of information and relationships that might
be invoked by a user search. The above screenshot shows a hypothetical search for
“Paris.” On the right hand side, a search for Paris turns up what is called a “knowledge
graph,” which contains general facts about Paris. A set of information directly related to
things about Paris, such as events and points of interest, are depicted in small images
underneath the factual information.
Google’s overall goal has always been centred on the user experience, matching
search queries to the most relevant web pages, and this is still what Google does.
If you focus on your customers by providing clear, informative and accurate content
about your business, your services, the destinations around you, and/or the destinations
you serve, then you’ll have a much better chance of showing up higher in a search
query.
Of course, this is all great in theory, but how do you put it into practice? Below, you’ll
find the tools and structure to help you create a schedule and calendar for your blogging
and content creation efforts that will improve your TRA and show your prospective
customers (and Google) that you are an authority to be trusted.
Create a Monthly Content Marketing Calendar
We’ve seen many complex content calendars, but let’s make it really simple. Here is a
very simple structure for you to use:

For each month’s topics and hashtags, you’ll do some research on what events are
coming up, services to highlight, deals, destinations, business, and other relevant
topics, and you’ll fill your columns in with content similar to this. In many cases, you will
probably be doing this anyway for your customers and visitors.
Your monthly calendar will allow you to pick broad themes and topics for each month,
and then each quarter you can fill in more details about specific blog post topics,
Facebook posts, YouTube videos, and other content that fits with the theme for the next
three months, allowing you to choose the right content at the right time.
We recommend doing this on a quarterly basis, as you’ll have more information about
upcoming deals and sales, events, and other details each quarter than you’ll have at the
beginning of the year. This will give you a manageable schedule for all of your
upcoming posts throughout each quarter. Here is a refined version.

Determining the Quality and Relevance of Your Content
Now that you know how to create a calendar for all of your posts, you’re probably
wondering what to write about and how to determine whether or not you’re choosing the
right topics and content. Contrary to what you might think, a successful blog doesn’t
happen by accident. Here are a few topic ideas to help get you started:
• Lists or reviews of the most popular restaurants in your city or destination.
• Annual events that tourists won’t want to miss.
• News and happenings in the community.
• Reviews or lists of other businesses with services that travellers will find helpful.
• Nearby destinations and attractions.
• Specific annual, monthly, or regular events related to your business, products,
services, or destination.
• Frequently asked questions – these are great topics for content.
Once you have decided on your topics, follow this checklist to optimise your content and
posts. Google uses these things to gauge the quality of your content.
Your Blogging Checklist
Who is the target audience – which persona am I talking to?
Does the blog post represent my brand and tone of voice?
Have I used key words naturally in the text? (if it doesn’t make sense, you
will be penalised)
Is the blog post scanable, i.e can customers easily pick out the key points –
bolds, breakouts, images, bullets?
Does it read well on both mobile and desktop?

Do I have links to other websites and pages that reference some of the
points I am talking about?
Do I have links to other pages on my website (internal links)?
Do I have high quality, optimised images to accompany my blog post?
Have I created hashtags around the blog post for social media?
Does the title represent what the post is about?
Don’t Forget to Add Pictures and Videos
Finally, before you hit “Publish” on any blog post, make sure you include a few
interesting images and/or videos. Studies have shown that web pages with a
combination of text and images are significantly more engaging than pages with text
alone. Furthermore, video can be even more engaging than static images.
Not only can you reduce your bounce rate and get more authentic engagement from
prospective customers who find your site when you use images and videos, but you’ll
also be looked upon favourably by the search engines.

Chapter 3 – Video Marketing
Why Video Marketing Matters for Travel Professionals
We’ve already mentioned that websites with a mix of images, videos and text get more
engagement and are given higher priority than text-only sites. Video is another great
way to engage with your audience and more and more travellers are turning to video
and YouTube for inspiration.
According to YouTube’s analytical data, travellers are spending more time than ever
watching travel-related video content online. This includes destination related content,
hotels, tours, eating and shopping.
When we talk about video, we are not talking high end expensive productions - most
small businesses cannot afford these. However, everyone can take a video with a
phone. Think about topics around:
- you are a restaurant and you want to chat about your new spring menu, where you
source your local produce, what inspired you
- a stunning sunset, a local market close to your hotel, wildlife, the list is endless.
Getting Started with YouTube
If you’ve registered your business with Google My Business, then you now have a
Google account for your business. Go to YouTube.com and click the blue Sign In button
at the upper right-hand corner of the window. After you sign in, you’ll be taken to your
YouTube homepage, which will look something like this:

Adding Your Channel Icon and Channel Art
If you click on “My Channel” at the top of the menu to the left of the window, you’ll be
taken to your business’ channel. You’ll want to customise this page to give your viewers
a better idea of who you are and what you offer.
Before you do anything else, you’ll want to change your channel’s icon to your logo
or another easily recognisable image that people associate with your brand, even if it’s
just the size of a thumbnail. You can do this by scrolling over the blue default channel
icon on the left and clicking the edit button, which is shaped like a pencil. After you
upload a graphic for your channel icon, you’ll want to add channel art. This should be a
banner-sized graphic with your brand name, logo and brand colours. Your channel art
should stand out, and it should be instantly recognisable as your brand, but you don't
have to keep the same graphic forever. If you want to change it seasonally or update it
at any time, you can scroll over the upper left corner of your channel art and click on the
pencil-shaped edit button to upload a new image.

Populating Your Channel Description
Below your channel art and icon, you’ll see your brand’s name, and below that you’ll
find a button that will let you add a channel description. Just like the content on your
website, you want to populate this description with quality content and naturally pepper
keywords throughout it.
When you click on this button, it will open up into a channel description box where you
can write a thorough description.
Uploading Your Videos
After you’re done customising your channel page so that your viewers know who you
are and Google can more easily find your page when users search for your relevant
keywords, you’ll be ready to upload your first video. Next to the “Sign In” button at the
top right of the screen, you’ll find the “Upload” button.
Click on it, and it will take you to your uploads page, where you can select videos from
your computer and upload them to YouTube, import them from Google Photos, create a
live stream, or even create a photo slide show. Most of the time, you’ll most likely be

uploading videos from your computer, phone, or tablet, so you’ll just hit the “Select files
to upload” link.
After you upload your video, you’ll be taken to the next page. As YouTube processes
your video and prepares it to be viewed, you can add a video title, description, tags, and
a message for your viewers.

Again, make sure you populate these fields with keyword rich content, but – just like in
your blog, on your site, and on social media – don’t sacrifice quality for quantity
when it comes to keywords. Always make sure that your content is readable and
interesting, even if you have to sacrifice a couple of keywords here and there.
Very importantly, don’t forget to add your business name, address and phone number
and your website in the description. It is a small detail that is very impactful.
After you’ve filled in your relevant content, select the thumbnail you want for your video.
You can also choose to add it to a playlist, which can help increase your views, but you
won’t do that until you have enough videos uploaded to create a few different playlists.
Once you’ve done all that, just hit “Publish,” and your video will go live on your YouTube
channel.
Now that you have the nuts-and-bolts of creating a YouTube channel and uploading
videos, here’s a handy checklist that you can use whenever you upload new video
content to make sure that it’s search engine optimised:

Upload My Video to YouTube
Title: Be as descriptive as you can, using keywords where you can.
Tags: As many as you can – as long as they are relevant and fit with your
brand and audience.
Video Description: Treat it like a blog post. It is searchable content.
Describe the video in detail.
Include your name, address and phone number in the description –
exactly as it appears in your Google My Business listing.
Include your website URL in the description.
Applications for your Videos
In the next chapter, we’ll discuss the ins and outs of social media marketing, which will
include when you should post your video content to different social networks and how to
make it work for you. Before we move on to social media marketing for your travel
business though, let’s briefly discuss a few applications for your videos.
Simply having a good deal of consistent and compelling video content on YouTube will
help your SEO, but if that’s all you do with your videos, you won’t be getting the full
benefits of having a YouTube channel and video content for your website and your
business. To really make your videos work for you, you need to share and embed them
on your social media accounts and your website.
Sharing Your Videos on Social Media
Below your video and its description, you’ll see some options to share it with others.

The “Share” tab allows you to click on whatever social media outlet you want to share
your video on. To share on Facebook, just click the Facebook icon, and a new window
will open up to let you share your video in a Facebook post. Below these icons, you’ll
also see your video’s permanent URL, which you can also manually copy and paste.
Embedding Your Videos on Your Site
Whenever you publish a new video on YouTube, it’s a good idea to embed it on your
blog or website to create a link between your site and YouTube and to give users more
opportunities to see your content. You can do this by creating a video gallery on your
site or you can embed your videos in blog posts. To do this, just click the “Embed” tab
next to the “Share” tab, and you’ll see a box highlighted code appear. Copy this, and
you can paste it into your blog and watch your YouTube video directly on your website.
Final Notes on Video Content
In this chapter our main focus has been how to get your video content online, but it’s
just as important to note that you don’t have to have a video crew around all the time to
create video content. Your phone is your best friend, and you can create compelling,
entertaining, and informative videos that are dynamic and engaging with nothing more
than your phone and the YouTube app. When you say goodbye to old faded images
and boring content and replace them with cool videos uploaded regularly, you’ll likely
see a significant increase in site traffic and sales conversions.

So, now that you understand how to create, share and embed your YouTube travel
videos, let’s discuss how to use this and other content to create effective social media
marketing strategies.

Chapter 4 – Social Media
Distributing Content and Engaging with Potential Customers
Social media marketing is incredibly closely tied to content marketing and semantic
search. In fact, it may help you to think of your social media platforms as distributors of
your content. Instead of relying on your viewers and prospective customers to find you
through a Google search and to check back with your blog and/or YouTube channel
regularly for new content, you can take that content directly to them through your posts
on social media.
The Power of an Engaged Audience
When it comes to social media, it’s much better to have a small army of engaged
followers than to have thousands of followers who aren’t engaged or are bored with
your content.
Consider this. Let’s say you have 100 followers that you’ve gained organically who are
truly interested in your content. They comment, like and share on a regular basis.
Engagement helps your TRA. Shareability and the fact that your followers click on your
links indicates to the search engines that you distribute content that is relevant and
interesting to your target market.
Always remember it is more important to have 100 truly interested and engaged
followers than 1000 followers who do not engage with or share your content.
Remember, It’s Social
Ensure you have a range of interesting content, compelling images, video and fun stuff.
Don’t post your deals and specials constantly. Although you do have permission to do
this if you are posting engaging, social content on a regular basis.

Never Underestimate the Power of Great Visuals
As you might have picked up from earlier chapters discussing images and videos,
visuals are incredibly important to the user experience for your website, your blog, your
YouTube channel, and your social media platforms. This is especially important with
your social media posts because you’re giving your audience just a glimpse of what
they’ll get when they choose your destination, restaurant, hotel, or other business over
the competition. Here’s why creating beautiful, inspiring, and dreamy visuals is a must.
The human eye is evolved to focus on images. Neil Patel tells us our brains process
visual input up to 60,000 times faster than text and 90% of the information sent to our
brains is visual.
Marketing guru Neil Patel shows us here that visuals are vital to online success.

Of course, you should never add a picture just to add a picture. Make sure your images
are relevant to your posts and that your images and videos work well with the posts
you’re writing and the messages you want to send to your audience.
Use Hashtags to Build Authority and Grow Your Network
When you use hashtags, your posts get grouped with other posts using those same
tags. It’s not at all unusual for viewers – especially on Instagram and Twitter, but also on
Facebook – to search for their favourite hashtags and check out accounts that they
don’t follow yet. You’ll get more views, likes, comments, and shares when you use
trending, relevant hashtags, and you’ll get a lot more exposure and a greater chance of
growing your audience with even more engaged followers.
Not only that, but hashtags are also indexed by Google, which means that using them
helps you become more of an authority in your field to search engines. Use the
following steps to make sure you’re using all of the appropriate and relevant trending
hashtags that apply to your posts:

• Create a list of 10-15 relevant hashtags that you use for your brand.
• Plan your content in terms of which hashtags you’ll use. (For an example of this,
take a look back at the sample blog schedule from chapter two.)
• Be consistent with your posts and your hashtag use.
• Use hashtags wherever you can, including blogs, social media posts, photos,
and videos.
When in Doubt, Follow the Four V’s
As you take all of this information in and start to apply it, you can use the four V’s as a
guide for any content you create and post:
• Variety – Give your audience a good variety of different material that’s relevant
to your destination, business, services, etc.
o In Content
o Formats such as text, images, videos, audio, PDF’s
o In social media
o Inbound links – authoritative and related
o Web traffic from a variety of sources
• Veracity – Always be authentic.
o Keep it real!
o Authentic content that portrays your personality
o Links to other local attractions, restaurants, shops and nearby destinations
o It’s about quality not quantity
• Volume – Post consistently and often. The more you post quality content, the
more people will see it, and the more they’ll be engaged with you and your brand.
o Content length posts
o Freshness
o Mentions / citations

o Quality links
o Website traffic
o User generated content (comments)
o Social media profiles
o Volume of followers is persuasive BUT only if they are active
o Engagement (conversations)
• Velocity – The speed at which content it is produced and shared. This includes:
o Website traffic – the rate at which a website grows
o Mentions across the web
o Links – when others link to your content
o User generated content that includes you
o Social media profiles
o The speed at which it grows
o Interaction and engagement

Chapter 5 – Mobile Marketing
Google Wants You to Be Mobile Friendly
There’s one more thing you need to know about today’s semantic search algorithms
and SEO for Google. Google rewards sites that are mobile friendly, and it penalises
those that aren’t. Why? Did you know that 75% of Australians own mobile devices?
Furthermore, of those users, 84% report that they cannot imagine life without the ability
to get online, text, listen to music, or check social media at any time, and 71% say they
never take time off from their mobile devices by turning them off.
The future of the Internet is mobile. In 2015 more Google searches took place on
mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the US and Japan. Google
is telling us to plan for mobile first and desktop second.
Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about whether or not your YouTube channel or
your social media pages are mobile friendly. These platforms have already accounted
for mobile users and both have mobile-friendly sites and apps that users can download.
The only thing you have left to worry about is your website. So how do you find out if it’s
mobile friendly? And what do you do if it’s not?
Test Your Site with Google
Want to find out in a flash if you have a mobile friendly website or not? Just plug your
URL into Google’s Mobile-Friendly Tester.

After a few seconds of analysis, Google should come back with an answer for you. If
your site is already mobile friendly, it’ll look something like this:
You can then see how your page will appear on a mobile device and learn more about
mobile friendly sites at Google’s Webmaster’s Mobile Guide.

Making Your Site Mobile Friendly
If your site failed the mobile friendly test, you have some work to do. You may want to
contact your web designer and developer to do the work for you. Google has helped us
here by publishing Google’s 25 principles of mobile design. To figure out how to fix your
site and make it mobile friendly if you used any of the most popular content
management or web design services, go to Google’s guidelines for customizing your
website software and follow the link that applies to your software.
Follow the instructions for your software, and you should be on your way. And, if you’re
still concerned that your website isn’t mobile friendly, you can use this checklist. If you
can check off everything here, then you’ll know your site is ready to go, whether your
potential customers are using desktops, laptops, phones, tablets, or other mobile
devices.

Your Mobile Web Design Checklist
Are you Google Mobile Friendly? Run your site through the Google Mobile
Friendly Tool.
Make sure you have claimed your Google My Business Page.
Have you applied Google’s 25 mobile site design principles?
Is your site speedy?
Is it easy to navigate?
Are your primary calls-to-action featured in your most prominent site space – e.g.
pricing and booking buttons?
Click to call button.
Is it easy to convert that person on another device? Remember, desktop in travel
is still important. We live in the age of multiple screens!
Don’t make people pinch and zoom!
Are your forms easy to fill out?
Are your visual calendars easy to see and fill out?
Does your content cater to mobile – micro-moments (e.g. can you read it whilst
waiting for a bus?) Is it concise and tight?

Conclusion
There’s No Time Like the Present
Now you have the tools you need to significantly improve your online marketing for 2016
and beyond. All of these actions are based on the principle of building trust, reputation
and authority. By creating compelling and consistent content that is locally focused, you
can improve your SEO for better traffic and more conversions. At the same time, you’ll
improve your online presence in the eyes of travellers interested in your destination,
accommodations, and/or services.
In conclusion, we’d like to point out that this is the perfect time to apply these actions
and principles. Semantic search is still in its infancy, and many websites, businesses,
and brands are not up-to-date with the way Google is evolving to better serve users.
Thus, while your competition may be stuck in the old days of counting exact keywords
and sacrificing quality for keyword counts, you can move ahead and gain significant
ground in creating trust, reputation and authority.
Use these marketing actions today, and you’ll see major improvements now and well
into the future for your travel and tourism business. By following these steps, you’ll help
your customers along the path to purchase. Good luck!

Your Semantic Web Checklist
The following has been created to inform best practice around content marketing for tourism businesses
and destinations…short on time.
If you follow these rules, it will keep Google and the search engines happy and improve your chances of
being presented in a user search query around your product, service or destination.
We abide by these things in our own business and treat it as the ‘new SEO’ formula.
Your three point semantic web check-list includes: mobile, branding and content.
Mobile
Google Mobile Friendly? Run your site through the Google Mobile Friendly Tool
Make sure you have claimed your Google My Business Page
Adhere to Googles 25 site design principles:
Is my site speedy?
Easy to navigate
Feature your primary calls-to-action in your most prominent site space – e.g. pricing and booking
buttons
Click to call button
Easy to convert on another device – remember, desktop in travel is still important
Don’t make people pinch and zoom
Check forms are easy to fill out
Visual calendars are easy to see and fill out
Content caters to mobile – micro-moments. Concise and tight.
Branding – for Google
Clear customer segments and persona. Do I know who my customer is / are?
Do I have a clear tone of voice and consistent language?
Be precise. On the web it’s easy to try to be all things to all people. That will only serve to diffuse
your marketing efforts and dilute your sense of identity. Be what you really want to be and trust
that it will help you connect with those who are your audience.
Develop a distinct online identity the same way you develop a distinct offline one.
Use Google+ for business for your business listing. Update your online presence in real time to
match your offline activities.

Google My Business
Create your profile
Post with LOTS of content
Post videos
Post images
Post on Google+ with hashtags (these are indexed by Google)
Content Marketing
Content audit – what do I have? Articles, images, videos, pdfs
Content plan – repurpose old content
Consider how you can capture mobile micromoments in your content
How can you be HELPFUL and relevant to your customer – don’t just think about your own
product or service here
• Images, videos and text that is ‘scanable’
– “What to do in…”
– “where to go in …”
Create a content marketing plan – don’t make it complex. Repurpose your content
Have interlinked social media profiles. Use same URL
Aim to achieve ‘data density’ - place detailed information about what you do and why/where
your audience is most likely to find it
Do not market. Sell by educating and being useful to your traveller. Spend your time, instead,
providing to your audience the things they really want to know
What to do with that blog post, photo or video
Blogging Checklist
Who is the target audience – which persona am I talking to?
Does the blog post represent my brand and tone of voice?
Have you used your naturally in the text? (if it doesn’t make sense, you will be penalized)
Is the blog post scannble – bolds, breakouts, images, bullets
Checked that it reads well on both mobile and desktop
Do I have links to other websites and pages that reference some of the points I am talking
about?
Do I have links to other pages on my website (internal links)?
Do I have high quality, optimised images to accompany my blog post?

Have I created hashtags around the blog post for social media?
Does the title represent what the post is about?
Photos and images
Believe it or not, as the algorithms evolve and become more sophisticated at reading content,
the search engines can read photos!
• Use large quality images – pick them with care
• Images must relate to what you are writing
• Be original and consistent
• DO NOT use thumbnails, you are likely to be penalised by the search engines
• Optimise for fast viewing
• When you are saving them, Save as – what it is.
o For example “Tropical Apartments Port Douglas” or “Port Douglas Apartment”
or “Luxury Cruise Europe”
This helps identify what your brand does among the search engines – every little bit helps
YouTube Video
All videos should be uploaded by YouTube as videos become more important in search and
SEO. Google owns YouTube, so this makes sense!
A few things you should know:
• Comments made on YouTube can appear as individual posts on Google +
• YouTube videos feature high in Google search for relevant search queries
• It is a powerful search engine in its own right
Upload my video to YouTube
Title: Be as descriptive as you can, using key words where you can
Tags: As many as you can – as long as they are relevant and fit with your brand and
audience
Video Description: treat it like a blog post. It is searchable content. Describe the video
in detail
Include your name, address and phone number in the description – exactly as it appears
in your Google My Business listing
Include your website URL in the description

Social Media
• Don’t post and run. Encourage engagement and interaction with your audience. Create
a relationship with current and potential customers.
• Quality – Post content that is meaningful and good quality. If you don’t have something
decent or of interest to post to your personas/target markets, then don’t.
• Engagement – impacts directly on your brand equity and helps spread the word about
your business or destination.
• Authenticity – Define it as you understand it and as it relates to your business. Show it
in your social media and marketing activities.
• Comments – Check in daily, reply to ALL comments.
• Sing to ‘The Four V’s – together, they are a powerful cocktail:
o Variety – post a good variety relating to your brand, business, destination and
things related to it
o Veracity – Be as authentic as you can
o Volume – Post as often as you can
o Variety – Give an interesting variety relating to what you do.
• Hashtags – help create authority and expertise. Hashtags are indexed by Google and
show up in search!
o They help you become an authority in the eyes of the search engines and are
more important than you may think.
o Hashtag key rules:
1. Make a list of your hashtags – around 10 is good.
2. Group the content you post into hashtag headings e.g. #LuxuryTravel
#FamilyHolidays #PetFriendlyHolidays #Cruise #ParisHotel #SydneyHotel
3. Make a list of your social media platforms
4. Be consistent
5. Use where possible on all types of content – blogs, photos, videos

Content distribution checklist
What to do when you create a piece of content – post it to as many places as possible. Posting your
content to social media not only keeps you top of mind for your fans, followers and circles, but sends
social signals to search engines to tell them you are active on social media.
As a general rule, the following are great for the travel industry (in no particular order)
Hashtags should accompany all social media posts where possible
Facebook
Google + / Google My Business. DON’T FORGET – these will help your SEO on Google.
Post as often as you can
- keep your information updated
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram

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