Why Your Travel Brand Needs A Blog

Content is the cornerstone of a good marketing strategy.

It’s what helps your business reach new customers, and gets eyes on your business in a market that is highly competitive. It helps your customer see firsthand what your business has to offer, whether it’s the magic of a destination or making it easier to get to that destination. The right content can help you stand out among your competitors and bring your potential customers from questioning to committed.

And one of the easiest forms of content to create and achieve all these things is a blog. It can increase website traffic, give you jumping off points for a variety of social media posts, increase trust in your company through sharing knowledge, and start warming up those cold leads.

How A Blog Can Help Travel Brands Thrive

Though it might seem like a simple thing, a blog can help your business reach new heights in a myriad of ways. One of the biggest ways it can help is through SEO, or search engine optimization. SEO-optimized content means your website is more likely to rank highly when people Google or Bing or Ask Jeeves keywords that are associated with your business.

Keywords play a huge role in bringing new visitors to your site, as well as backlinks. Backlinks are when other websites add a link to your site in their content, which basically tells the almighty algorithms that your site is trustworthy. It gives your site credibility and signifies you as an authority in your field. Even through all the changes of what Google considers important, backlinks remain one of the three most important factors in your SEO quality.

Beyond the nitty gritty of the technical stuff, having content that visitors can share is a great way to get your website in front of new people. Maybe it’s a sample itinerary that someone planning a trip shares with their travel buddy. It could be a friend recommending a smart suitcase for their pal whose suitcase always seems to get lost. Either way, having content people are compelled to share is a simple but highly effective way to grow your audience.

“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.”

Scott Cook

Sharing regular updates with industry insights and trends is also a surefire way to put your expertise on display and cement your role as an industry professional. Establishing yourself as a leader in the field creates confidence in customers who are considering your product, and a sense of loyalty from current customers.

Making Your Blog Work For YOU

It’s not enough to just type out a couple of paragraphs stream-of-consciousness style and hit post. To get the most out of your blog, you have to have a strategy. That starts with knowing your target audience. Knowing your ideal customer’s wants and needs is the key to a successful blog. Consider creating a buyer persona to help guide the direction of your content.

Then ask yourself: what type of content will resonate most with your company’s audience? How-to guides? Industry news? Top sights and hidden gems in a variety of cities? Whatever the answer is, remember that quality, not quantity, is key. The blogs that you post have to be valuable in some way to your audience.

Once you’ve got that quality content, you have to optimize it for search engines. SEO steps can look like keyword research, a strong meta description, and internal linking. You should also optimize for mobile and making sure load times are as fast as possible.

Finally, shout it from the rooftops. Promote your blog through social media, through email newsletters, and whatever other connection you might have to potential customers. It doesn’t end with sharing, however. Engaging with readers in comments on the blog itself or social media shows that you value your audience’s thoughts and opinions, increasing trust and credibility.

How A Freelance Writer Can Help

You may have read the last section and thought “who has time for all that?!” Hi, it’s me. I do. Hiring a freelance writer takes the pressure of written content off your team members. That way they can focus on building a highly successful business. Working with a freelance writer also gives you flexibility to adjust depending on your needs. You can invest in a monthly retainer with a set number of blog posts, email newsletters, or whatever your business needs. Or, if your content needs vary, you can work with a freelancer by project.

Freelancers also bring skill to the table that other employees may not have—we’re experts in writing engaging and well-researched content. We can also come at your content with fresh eyes, offering creative ideas that maybe you haven’t considered before. On top of that, we can provide consistency. What happens when the employee who’s handling your content suddenly has a big project to tackle? Through no fault of their own, content suffers, and so does your reach. A freelance writer provides content on a steady, pre-determined schedule and won’t be suddenly bogged down by a completely unrelated project.

Convinced that your company needs a blog? Get in touch! We can chat blogs, bucket list destinations, or favourite travel Instagram accounts.