Study Highlights Google’s Key Travel Industry-Specific Search Ranking Factors
RealWire
Wed, 07/12/2017 - 16:04

SAN MATEO, Calif. (July 12, 2017) - New research from Searchmetrics identifies the important travel industry-specific search ranking factors that travel agents, airlines, hotel chains and other travel-related brands should consider in order to help improve their visibility in Google searches. 

A summary of the findings is: Travel brands rank higher by giving searchers a highly browsable experience, helping them easily gather and compare related information. They should also cover topics comprehensively, using more words and more large images, even if this means pages load a little slower. 

The research, published in a paper, ‘Travel Ranking Factors: Data Insights for Performing on Google’, is particularly significant now because Google is better able to deliver more tailored, industry-specific results, assisted by the AI and machine learning technology in its RankBrain system. 

“Google now more accurately determines searchers’ intentions by analyzing the keywords and phrases they enter in the search box,” said Daniel Furch, Head of Content Marketing at Searchmetrics. “It knows the context of individual searches – including whether they relate to travel, retail, finance or other verticals - and ensures that results reflect the characteristics that meet the needs of searchers. For travel marketers, as for marketers in other verticals, this means they can no longer focus solely on generalized, universally applicable rules to drive the best search performance. They also have to take account of specific factors that are important in their specific vertical.”