Search engines still have huge potential for travel say experts
Agents and operators can still exploit the potential of search engines, according to speakers debating the issue at the Travel Technology Show in London.
Despite a widespread belief that search engine optimisation has reached its peak Hitwise director of research Heather Hopkins advised delegates there was still room for companies to use the medium.
βThe idea that it is locked up is a myth. If you take companies such as Opodo and ebookers only 9% of their search terms overlap.β
Hopkins advised travel companies to look at what search terms were working for competitors and be creative with their own terms.
According to figures from the internet tracking company the volume of searches for airports is higher than actual destinations but, competition for search terms incorporating the word βairportβ is less.
βOut of 17 searches for a destination more than half of them were for an airport.β
Googleβs vertical market manager for travel Daniel Robb argued pay-per-click advertising still had a place especially for companies wanting to get a specific commercial message across.
Robb said there were gaps βto be exploitedβ in online advertising because of the small share of budget going online in proportion to the amount of time individuals spend on the web.
He advised travel companies to get the right mix in terms of quantity and quality of keywords for pay-per-click and said terms such as βflightsβ cost about 10p while βflights to Majorcaβ costs about 5p.
Despite the cost, click through rates for βflights to Majorcaβ were far higher than for just βflightsβ.
Report by Linda Fox
Linda Fox
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