Whether you’re a hotel, a travel agency, or you’re renting out cottages, the internet can be a powerful tool for bringing in would-be customers and convincing them that your holiday is the one of their dreams. Setting up your website is just the start, and once you’ve cleared that hurdle you need to populate your site with great content.
What is great content? It’s content that can not only connect with your customers, but help them find your site in the first place, and it’s content that brings to life what you have to offer. With that in mind, here are ten handy tips that you or your travel copywriter can employ to create content that succeeds on all levels.
Use tone of voice to establish brand personality
The thing that distinguishes one travel brand from another is the same thing that distinguishes one person from another – personality. If your brand lacks personality then it may be instantly forgotten as your visitors continue on their search for a desirable holiday. On the other hand, if your brand’s personality is changeable and all over the place it can be quite jarring. Take some time to determine the personality you want to convey and ensure consistency through even use of tone of voice.
Optimise with keywords
For your content to reach its full potential, it needs to contain keywords that raise it up the search rankings for relevant search queries. Keywords are a powerful way to bring in targeted traffic, but good travel copywriters will use these sparingly and within the natural flow of the copy. Be aware that instead of trying to rank for a highly competitive generic keyword, such as ‘holiday’, you’re likely to get better results by drilling down to a specific niche, ie. ‘family holidays in xxx’.
Keep it short and sweet
When searching for holidays people are aware of the massive amount of choice on offer online, and are unlikely to spend significant amounts of time reading about one unless they’ve already made a choice. Say what you want to say as succinctly as possible.
Use subheaders to highlight different aspects of a holiday
Linking in to the above point, people tend to scan online content rather than reading it in its entirety. Draw their attention to specific areas with subheaders such as ‘weather’, ‘accommodation’ etc.
Get down to the detail of your destination
Because there is so much choice available you need to really make your holiday stand out. Don’t use generic content that could refer to any other holiday, really get down to what makes yours special, and weave in brief details of specific sights and attractions in the local area.
Use adjectives to convey the flavour of a place
The most successful travel copywriters are able to evoke a sense of place that whisks the reader away to the destination. Using adjectives to add colour to your descriptions is a powerful way of doing just that. Don’t forget to evoke all the senses – Sight, sound, smell, touch and taste.
Ensure 100% accuracy
In trying to convince visitors to embark on your holiday you may be tempted to embellish on the details somewhat. However, even harmless misinformation can come back to haunt you, particularly when you’re badmouthed on social media.
Connect with people’s emotions
People often have specific desires that they are seeking to satisfy by going on holiday. For example, they may be looking for adventure, relaxation or romance. Connect aspects of your holiday to these emotional desires to really hook them in.
Use a call to action
Once you’ve got them excited about your holiday and ready to make that all important booking, don’t throw away that momentum by allowing doubt about how to take the next step. Use a clear and well defined call to action, such as ‘call xxx now to book’, or ‘click here to download our brochure’.
Call in the pros
If you simply don’t have the time or in-house resources to regularly create content that sells then it may be time to call in a professional travel copywriter or agency. They can work with you to create content that both the search engines and your customers will love.
