Keyword research for travel companies

Successful travel keyword research begins with understanding your target users and their search behaviors.

The focus should be on finding relevant keywords with the right search intents, rather than solely prioritizing search volume.

This process reveals important site elements, such as resource guides, video content, or even the justification for a travel blog and non-commercial content.

Keyword research is not limited to SEO purposes. It can identify gaps in the user journey and provide broader business insights.

For example, iIbudget hotels compared to luxury boutiques or highlight that the rebranding of the Czech Republic to Czechia has not gained traction.

How to approach keyword research as a travel brand

Based on my experience with 50+ travel companies, a common mistake is focusing on a small subset of keywords and seeing their rankings as all-important.

While some keywords are crucial, it’s vital to attract visitors at different stages of their journey by being relevant for a variety of search queries.

The steps to effective keyword research:

• Find all relevant search phrases and group them into categories.
• Align categories with website priorities.

Categorizing keywords now simplifies reporting and progress tracking later. It also helps you better understand the beat of your website, as seasonality affects month-to-month traffic levels.

Understanding Travel Keyword Search Intents

Search intent is the cornerstone of effective keyword research. It refers to the purpose behind a user's query—what they hope to achieve by performing a search.

For travel companies, understanding these intents allows for the creation of highly targeted content, improving both user engagement and conversion rates.

The Four Types of Keyword Intents

Understanding the different types of search intent is crucial for creating a successful digital marketing and SEO strategy.

Whether prospective travelers are seeking information, navigating to a specific site, comparing products, or ready to make a purchase, their search behavior reflects distinct goals.

By aligning content and website experiences with these intents - informational, navigational, transactional, and commercial investigation - travel businesses can effectively guide users through their journey, delivering the right message at the right time.

Informational Intent (Know)

Users with informational intent are in the early stages of their journey. They’re looking for answers, guides, or insights.

• “Best places to visit in Europe”
• “What’s the best time to visit Bali?”
• “How to plan a road trip across the USA”

These would be content types like:

• Blog posts
• Destination guides
• FAQs and travel tips
• Educational videos

Navigational Intent (Go)

These users want to find a specific website or brand. They already know where they’re headed and use search as a shortcut.

• “Booking.com login”
• “Airbnb Rome apartments”
• “Delta Airlines baggage policy”

You must ensure when users are searching for your brand or specific aspects of your brand the user experience is designed for them, and doesn't have friction points.

Even though you may not be judged on the performance of branded queries that are navigational, every brand touchpoint should be positive, as negative brand touchpoints build up and impact conversion.

Create clear and structured site navigation.

Optimize your homepage and key landing pages for branded search terms.

Transactional Intent (Do)

Transactional queries indicate users are ready to take action, such as booking a trip, buying travel insurance, or signing up for a travel package.

• “Book flights to Paris”
• “Buy Eurail Pass online”
• “Best budget hotels in New York City”

At a product level, you want to ensure you have:

• Clear calls-to-action (CTAs)
• Comparison pages (e.g., “Best travel insurance providers”)
• Valid promotions and discounts (if applicable)

Mixed Intent Queries

A single query can often have multiple interpretations, reflecting different types of user intent, such as informational, navigational, or transactional.

This is also known as a query having multiple common interpretations, some may be more dominant than others.

For example, a search for "Rome tours" might indicate a desire for general information, directions to specific tours, or the intent to book one.

To address these mixed-intent keywords effectively, it’s crucial to provide diverse content formats on high-intent pages, such as FAQs, booking options, and reviews. This ensures your site meets the varied needs of users, regardless of their specific goals.

Optimizing for travel moments

Travel moments refer to specific instances or phases within a traveler’s journey when they experience a distinct need, emotion, or action related to their trip.

These moments can occur before, during, or after a trip and often correspond to key stages in the decision-making or travel process. Recognizing and optimizing for these moments helps travel businesses provide timely, relevant content and experiences.

Dreaming Moments

When people are inspired to travel but haven’t decided where to go. They browse destinations, watch travel videos, or scroll through social media for ideas.

Planning Moments

When travelers research and compare options, such as destinations, accommodations, transportation, and activities. They seek detailed information to build their itinerary.

The time just before departure, when travelers might look for packing tips, check weather updates, or confirm reservations.

Booking Moments

When they are ready to make decisions and secure reservations for flights, hotels, or tours.

Experiencing Moments

While traveling, they might search for local restaurants, directions, or last-minute activities. These are high-intent, in-the-moment searches.

Segmenting Users by Search Behavior

A study by the University of Hong Kong (2006) suggests that users can also be segmented by their search behavior:

Specific users

These users have a narrow, well-defined goal and do not deviate. For example, “Flights from London to Dubai on February 10th".

Ensure detailed, accurate, and easy-to-find information on specific queries.

Exhaustive users

These users explore a topic more broadly, performing multiple searches to gather as much information as possible. For example, “Best budget-friendly European destinations.”

How to optimize for search intent

Nailing user intent is key to creating content that connects with your audience. By matching keywords to intent and optimizing your pages, you can guide travelers smoothly from discovery to booking.

Conduct intent mapping

Begin by identifying the dominant intent for each keyword, whether it's informational, navigational, or transactional. Once the intent is determined, ensure that the content type aligns with this intent to provide users with relevant and helpful information.

Analyze SERPs regularly

Regularly review the search engine results pages (SERPs) for your target keywords. This helps you understand how Google interprets the intent behind these queries and provides insight into the types of content that rank well.

Optimize content accordingly

Leverage structured data to improve your content’s visibility in SERPs. Additionally, ensure that your calls-to-action (CTAs) are aligned with the page's intent. For example, use “Learn More” on informational pages and “Book Now” on transactional ones.

Test and iterate

Continuously evaluate the performance of your content in meeting user intent. Use these insights to refine your approach and make iterative improvements.

By understanding the search intent behind travel-related keywords and tailoring your content to match, your brand can guide users through every stage of their journey—from initial discovery to making a booking.

Short-tail v long-tail

The long-tail vs. short-tail keyword concept, in my opinion, is outdated and misleading. Long-tail keywords often have low search volume, not because fewer people search for them, but because Google’s data reflects paid ad appearances.

• 70% of searches are long-tail, making them equally competitive.
• High search volume terms are attractive but may not align with business goals.
• Success often requires ranking for related queries to enhance user value.

Another important note is that a webpage will rank for multiple queries, even those you don't "design" it to. You will also see a keyword trigger multiple webpages on your website in the top 100 rankings.

This is why average rank in Google Search Console is not always a reliable metric.

Seasonal & trending keywords

Travel searches are often driven by seasons, holidays, and trends. Leveraging this information can give your brand an edge.

Use historical data and tools like Google Keyword Planner to identify seasonal patterns. Examples include:

• Summer: “summer travel deals”
• Winter: “cheap winter flights”
• Spring Break: “spring break destinations”

Identifying trends

Platforms like Google Trends, social media, and industry news help track trending topics, such as “adventure travel", which has seen 10% growth over the past 12 months, and is projected for a further 5% growth over the next 12.

Seasonality also leads to Google "changing" which websites and value propositions rank most prominently for specific queries.

Oktoberfest is a good example of this.

The keyword "Oktoberfest" follows a typical seasonal trend based on the annual event. Interest remains extremely low throughout the first seven months of the year, dropping to its lowest point in December.

Starting in August, attention for the keyword begins to rise, peaking in September, which coincides with the start of the festival in Munich. Interest quickly dips back down to below average after October.

During this "peak" period, Google changes what ranks in prominent traffic driving positions, likely as the surge in search interest brings a change in common, dominant interpretation and intent of what satisfies the query.

This can be witnessed in the following Sistrix graph:

It is possible for a travel website to weather this change and rank during the seasonal change, but it requires the right content to be in place, indexed, and clear beneficial purposes of the two different Oktoberfest pages.

Evaluating keyword difficulty

People often ask how challenging it is to rank for specific phrases or how long it might take to reach page one.

The truth? You’ll never know for certain.

Keyword tools can provide estimates, but these figures are usually based on backlink metrics - and backlinks, while important, the weighting of the importance varies greatly across different queries and isn't the be-all and end-all factor.

Sometimes, small websites rank on page one for high-difficulty keywords, while seemingly low-difficulty keywords feel impossible to crack based on the competition.

Focus on relevance.

If a topic aligns with your goals, create exceptional content that matches or exceeds the quality of what’s already on page one.

By consistently doing this, you’ll gradually gain traction, especially through long-tail keyword traffic, and your overall visibility will improve.