How to do local SEO for travel websites?

Preparation for local search engine optimization

Local search engine optimization (SEO) starts with a well-optimized website’s content. In recent years, mobile searches have outstripped desktop searches, so a good project should include a responsive design that fits all types of devices.

You should also improve page speeds. Your website needs to download quickly. Use Google Page Speed ​​to check current conditions and follow the suggestions for improvement.

It’s clear that local SEO makes sense for a local business. It can be a site dedicated to a destination, such as a hotel, restaurant, or a website about Istanbul or New York.

There are some basics needed to get good results with local search engine optimization. In this article, we will cover various aspects to develop your local strategy properly.

Focus on local on-page SEO

Everything always starts with optimizing the content on your website. Basically, content is what causes the user to follow you or not.

Local on-page SEO optimization checklist:

• The name of the city you want to position yourself should be in the title tag, meta description, h1, h2 tags, images, text and URL.
• The meta description has no SEO value but if written well it will prompt the user to click on your site.
• Use keywords naturally. Always write your content for your users, not search engines. Avoid keyword stuffing.

NAP is good for local SEO optimization

NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone. So check that you have NAP on every page, both in the header and footer of your site. It seems obvious, but make sure the data is the same everywhere on the web. If you update your address or change your phone number, it is important that you update this data.

Refine your design if your template doesn’t have a NAP-appropriate place on every page. Or at least create a “Contact Us” page and link it to every other page of your website.

Make sure you have the same name, address and phone number everywhere. This means taking care not only to update your own website, but also the Yellow Pages and other catalogs and resources. People can get confused if a website has different contact information.

If you are not local to the area where you are doing local SEO, learn the local rules. For example, in the US, people type the country code as 001 instead of +1. By the way, in the Czech Republic, phone numbers are written starting with a plus.

Share your correct physical address

Imagine you have a website, Facebook page, Google MyBusiness account, or other resource, but do not write down your physical address. This is a very common mistake even for people who work both online and offline.

Data consistency is essential. Take the time to double-check all your data and always update it. Keep in mind that the contact page isn’t the only source for people to learn about your business.

Insert links from external pages

You certainly know the importance of link building. You don’t follow SEO principles to get more links, instead you aim to get more mentions about yourself and your business. You can place links on the home page, contact page and even create a landing page to generate the external link.

However, do not spam on forums or social networks. All links should be natural and useful.

Use Schema.org

Schema.org is used to create a unique language for search engines. In practice, it helps search engines understand what your site is about.

By adding the model’s local markup, you’ll help search engines understand that your activity is local and focused on that specific goal.

The easiest and fastest method is to use the “Hall Analysis” method:

• Enter various kiosks (business type, name, site URL…)
• Copy the code in the right tab
• Code of your site paste it in
• Test schema markup using Google’s structured data testing tool

Add your business to Google Maps and embed the map

At this point you will have a clearer idea of ​​how to do local SEO. Your address is your vehicle for attracting customers, both offline and online. Add your business to Google Maps and then embed the map on your website. This is very easy to do:

1. Go to https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/
2. enter your address
3. Copy the iframe code
4. Enter the code on your website

You can make your embedded map more attractive with http://maps-website.com/. To use it you have to get the Google Maps API key and then you will get the ready code to embed.

Create its own web page for each location

If your business has multiple locations, you’ll need to create different pages for each location. If you cover the same language locations (like the US and UK), you can have the same website versions but two NAP pages.

If you’re in the US and you’re in the UK, it would be difficult to communicate with local customers. You can even borrow a phone number from the other country with virtual forwarding. This is a way of providing convenience for locals without losing much money.

Add the website to Google My Business and local listings

Search engines and social networks are not the only sources of traffic. You can use local listings for local SEO. You need to put them on international platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, Hotfrog or Foursquare, but don’t forget the local ones.

For example, if you are making the website about Manchester, you may find the local listing or even the board where the traffic volume may be low. However, such traffic can generate more than 80% of your area of ​​interest.

Optimize your Google My Business listing

Google My Business is the international platform that allows your site to be displayed in Google Local Pack, Local Finder, Google Maps and in general organic rankings. It is a very fast and easy to use free tool.

Advertise your website on Google My Business and fill in all required data. Finally, Google will send you a code (by mail) to verify the address and integrity of your application.

Create local listings and reviews on Google Business

Comments are very helpful. It’s a long process that takes more than a few days. Often times, the user is not prompted to review an event. Of course, asking your users for their opinions is both important and helpful for local SEO purposes.

To get started, you can create your own link with Google My Business and share it with your users, encouraging them to review your business. Yelp is also a great site, but asking reviews is not allowed there.

Local SEO checklist

1. Preparation
2. Do on-page SEO
3. add NAP
4. Add the correct physical address
5. Add links from external pages
6. Use Schema.org
7. Add your business to Google Maps and embed the map
8. Create its own web page for each location
9. Add the website to a list

What you shouldn’t miss in local SEO in 2019

Online competition is increasing and gaining market share is not easy. That’s why it’s important for your business to focus on a specific region and understand how local SEO works.

This strategy can get you great results, but you have to be patient and consistent. Optimize your website to the maximum and aim to offer the best product or service to your customer.

And remember, word of mouth is still a powerful tool in 2019. Don’t just focus on the online. Your audience is also in the offline market. Even if you are selling plane tickets, you can also earn a great income offline. To prove this idea, read the interview with Maho Kevlishvili and learn about his experience building the airfare service in Georgia.