To compete in the search engine marketing (SEM) space requires an approach that considers the important role that both organic and paid channels play.

We know that the process of researching, planning and booking a holiday is a complicated journey for your customers, and it doesn’t follow a simple path. Google research labs have identified 5 individual travel stages: dreaming, planning, booking, experiencing and sharing. Getting your total search strategy in shape is a great way to ensure visibility, throughout this user journey.

One thing is for sure, your potential customers are more than likely to go through the majority of their holiday booking process online. According to the 2023 Statista Trends Global Survey, 80% of global travellers surveyed feel it’s important to be able to book their trips entirely online, with 86% of Millennials and 83% of Gen Zers leading the charge. Google search is a key player in this process, and having the right strategy in place is essential. A ‘total search’ approach can markedly enhance your travel business’s SERPS visibility and performance, when taking into account  the 5 travel stages. Organic Search (SEO) is critical during the dreaming and planning stages, with paid search integral when users are ready to book.

Measuring organic and paid search results separately is shortsighted. A total search approach enables brands to align their PPC and SEO activities, creating a combined search strategy that leverages the strengths of both channels. This holistic approach enables marketers to analyse all results on a search engine results page (SERP) and build a strategy based on this combined data.

The Power of Total Search Strategies

To have a consistent and relevant share of voice on Google search, it’s important to make sure that your SEO and paid search teams and strategies are well coordinated. It’s a common mistake to run strategies in silos, which risks missing out on the integrated advantages that an aligned approach delivers.

A strategy that combines organic and paid search enables your travel brand to tackle the search landscape comprehensively, enabling alignment and the opportunity to maximise visibility, share of voice, and overall impact. As well as this, by sharing data across both channels, strategic decisions can be made as part of an ongoing test, learn and refine the approach to total search.

Individual Strengths of SEO and Paid Search for Travel Brands

Benefits of SEO Authority

Consistent and relevant organic rankings will enhance your travel brand’s credibility. Potential customers often turn to organic listings in the early stages of their holiday booking process, seeking information and authoritative sources to engage with during this important research phase.

Don’t just take our word for it. A 2023 survey by Statista identified that on average, travellers spent over 5 hours consuming online travel content to seek inspiration and plan their trip in the 45 days before finally booking their journey.

Relevance

Traffic via organic search is often the result of a long-tail search query that’s based on asking a question, seeking specific information, or simply finding a solution to a problem that a potential customer is facing. These users are actively seeking information and can be nurtured through quality content marketing. At this stage, they may not be ready to book a holiday, but your content and authority will be exactly what they’re looking for.

Long-term gains

Optimised content that’s powered by strategic keyword research will improve your organic rankings, leading to measured and sustained growth for the long term. It takes time and effort, but an organic strategy that focuses on content and authority is an investment that can yield ongoing results.

Benefits of Paid Search

Results and Agility

Paid search (PPC) campaigns are a great way to quickly drive relevant traffic to your website. As a lead-gen and conversion channel, this can be particularly successful when your audience has awareness of who you are as a brand and the services that you provide. Leveraging SEO, content marketing, and other strategies such as social media can further drive recognition and authority at earlier stages of the holiday booking process, meaning that when your audience knows what they’re looking for, your tailored ad will resonate, leading to improved CTRs and better quality traffic.

As well as this, updating ad-copy is quick and simple, giving you the chance to to tailor your messages to the right people, in the right places, at the right time. With a well managed budget, Paid Search will ensure your messaging is visible to your target audience, who are primed and ready to search with intent and visit your website to engage and act.

Bottom Funnel

Paid search is ideal for targeting those potential customers who are further down the funnel in terms of their holiday booking research and are more likely to be in a position to book that dream escape. Users at this stage of the booking process are expecting to see paid search ads that match their search intent. So if this is about destination offers or pricing, these users are more likely to click through to your site with a greater intention to book.

SEO and Content Marketing strategies can effectively prepare and prime this audience with information and education. Paid Search is the crucial integration to secure traffic from intent based search.

Targeting

Google Ads detailed targeting options will enable you to reach specific demographics such as age, gender, and location. This reduces wasted budget and erroneous impressions, creating relevant ads for your audience.

The Power of Total Search

An integrated search team can unlock the true potential of your travel marketing. A total search approach combines the power and influence of both SEO and paid search, maximising the strength of each strategy and enabling your brand to have a more substantial market share.

With a total search strategy, your travel brand can achieve a cohesive approach that goes beyond isolated metrics. This holistic approach will leverage the full spectrum of search performance, enhancing presence and driving sustained and measured growth.

Jam: Your Partner for Total Search

Here at Jam, we specialise in total Search, offering a platform that tracks and analyses your travel brand’s market share. By delivering insights into both paid and organic search performance, Jam can help you to be informed and reactive to the complete picture, ensuring your travel brand excels in the competitive digital landscape.

By harnessing the combined power of paid and organic search, your travel brand can achieve remarkable results, building a strong, cohesive online presence that drives conversions and revenue. Embrace the Total Search approach and unlock the full potential of your search marketing strategy.

Need some help getting this off the ground? At Jam, our dedicated team of travel marketing experts are on hand to partner with you to propel your total search strategy to new heights. Just provide your details below, and we’ll reach out to you shortly.

Sources: Statista, Google