What is SEO?
SEO: The Basics
Every day, millions of internet users use search engines to guide them to what they need. The firms who land at the top of those search results will receive more traffic and are likely to realise greater sales. Being the first and most obvious choice in search engine results can have massive effects upon revenues and market share.
The History of SEO
Search engines and market responses to their methods grew in tandem in the mid-90’s. As the first search engines began to catalogue the early web, the early sites began to realise how they could maximise their own appeal. As search engines are constantly being refined, jobs in SEO have developed with the complexities of these new requirements and demands.
There are a number of less than honest techniques that were developed to fool search engines into placing a site higher than it deserved. This is known as “Black Hat SEO” and began with methods such as placing repetitious white text on a white background. Search engines are constantly seeking to make SEO jobs more transparent and truthful, effectively making them “White Hat SEO”. Of course, there’s nothing illegal about outwitting the system and black-hat techniques are still very much in use, it’s just a question of whether you want to get quick results with higher risk or more patient results with less to fear.
Search Relevance
It’s extremely important to direct the right traffic to your site. If you want to sell Cruises you don’t want to appear top of the search list for actor Tom Cruise. It’s a silly example, but relevance often requires a degree of human understanding and is something that search engines class as their very highest priority. If a site is targeting the wrong traffic it can frustrate misdirected users and sink without trace. With a little tweaking it can strike gold.
How Can SEO Help Travel Firms?
The benefits of SEO are similar to those from any form of marketing. An SEO specialist can help a travel firm be seen by the right people. Travel, more than most industries, can be very specific. Ten firms could focus on the same destination and still sell ten different products. Every grade of accommodation, every style of activity, every type of traveller can be catered to by somebody. A family looking for a luxury getaway is a completely different market to a young group of friends on a budget, even if both are looking to stay in the same city. Yet both groups may be searching for ‘Holidays in Barcelona’. So, jobs in SEO focus on finding out exactly what each type of user is seeking and advising their client how to appear at the top of the right search phrases, ready and waiting to provide just that.
As such an integral part of the modern travel industry, jobs in SEO seem set to grow and develop along with the industry as a whole. The more competitive business becomes the more a talented SEO specialist seems a vital addition to any firm and a necessity for any travel company looking to compete in online sales.
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