Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing in travel, tourism and hospitality

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Search engine marketing is an essential component of the tourism, travel and in particular the hotel direct online distribution strategy. According to Forrester research about 80% of overall website visits begin in a search engine or a directory service. Many other surveys also show that up to 85% of Internet users rely on search engines to locate relevant information on the Web (e.g. Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc).

Search Engine Marketing is a complex undertaking that includes website optimization and turning your business website into a search engine-friendly website, enhancing the relevancy and richness of the contents, developing customer segmentation strategy and destination web strategy, performing relevant keyword search analysis, boosting the keyword density of the visible copy, developing page titles, description and meta tags, performing search engine registrations, launching search marketing campaigns in all four search formats, etc.

Search engine marketing has four unique aspects:

• Natural (Organic) Listings
• Paid Inclusion Listing Services
• Keyword Search Marketing (Pay-per-click Marketing - PPC)
• Local Search marketing

Each of these aspects requires the development of a differentiated approach and marketing strategy. Here is a brief overview of one of the search marketing formats, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing:

Pay-per-click marketing:
Pay-per-click (PPC) or Pay-for- performance services as they are sometimes known have become extremely popular and smart way to position your company brand and local properties as 'Sponsored Links' or enhanced listings on top of the search engine results. Over 50% of every online advertising dollar in 2007 will be spent on PPC and paid-inclusion vs. less than 20% on display advertising (e.g. banner ads).

TA Fastrack is one of the early adopters of Pay-per-click (PPC) Marketing. Our consultants have been actively using and devising PPC campaigns for many years. Currently we manage the PPC marketing campaigns of several tourism and hospitality companies.

PPC is the most aggressive way to influence your appearance on the search engines. TA Fastrack foresees increasing importance of this search marketing format and considers it as a major short to mid-term distressed inventory disposal tool:

• Direct-to-consumer channel
• Customers visit and book on hotel website
• Preserves Brand Integrity
• Ideal distressed hotel inventory disposal tool
• Captures new customer segments
• Takes advantage of local events and happenings
• Free impressions-great branding effect at no cost

TA Fastrack Services:

• Prepare the Pay-Per-Click Marketing Budget
• Creative & Campaign Set-up & Management Services:
  • Keyword analysis
  • Destination focused research
  • Promotional copy creation
  • PPC services set up
  • PPC campaign management
  • PPC bid management
  • Branding PPC campaigns
  • Global and Local PPC campaigns
  • Direct-response PPC Campaigns
  • Thematic PPC Campaigns
  • Event-related PPC Campaigns
  • Ongoing reporting

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