5 reasons your tourism business needs a blog

There's a saying in the marketing biz: "Content is king." These days, big brands are creating bucketloads of content to entice, inspire and educate you about their products. Blogging can be an incredibly powerful tool to tell the story of your business. It's especially powerful for the tourism industry, which is primarily `concerned with selling experiences. Blogging gives you a platform to paint a picture of that experience for your guests and visitors. 

Here are five more reasons why your tourism business needs a blog. 

Blogging encourages more visits to your destination’s site 

Blogging is the core of any search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign for the simple reason that search engine algorithms love updated, relevant content. Google is constantly updating its algorithms in order to level the playing field for everyone. Now, you can compete against the big names in your industry, as long as your website constantly provides useful, relevant, high quality, and authoritative content.  

Each blog post can target specific and relevant keywords and search terms, giving your website a boost when it comes to being found by search engines. The goal is to secure a better position in the search engine's results pages (SERP). A higher ranking means you attract more people to your site more easily. More web visitors should result in higher conversion rates.

To make the most of your blog, do this:

• Create posts relating to current trends, making sure to use those 'trendy' terms in the body of your blog
• Post regularly
• Share your posts on social media
• Encourage comments and engagement

From there, the blog will build itself and establish your name as an authority in your industry. The search engine will reward you with a better ranking in its search page results. 

Tackle it today: Google your operation type and location (e.g. restaurant Sunshine Coast or cellar door Kangaroo Island) and see where you rank. If you're ranked anywhere but the first five results, you may want to consider taking aggressive action to improve your SEO.

Blogging gives you a platform for your travel stories 

Everyone loves a story. That's all marketing is, you telling prospective customers the story of your offering. As a tourism operator, you are going to have a wealth of stories to tell about your business, your region, client experiences, personal experiences... Each of these stories gives prospective customers a little bit more information about what you offer.  

Blogging builds a dynamic online presence  

Blogging is a great tool to build relationships with potential customers. Blogs not only educate people about your business but they also enable your readers to market for you. When readers engage with your blogs, by commenting or sharing amongst their networks, they draw attention to your brand and help to promote it. This costs you nothing! But with increased exposure and the endorsement of your readers, your credibility as a brand grows. 

This holistic engagement builds your brand and fosters a dynamic online presence. 

Blogging lets you take advantage of user-generated content  

Travellers LOVE User-Generated Content (UGC) - i.e. reviews, comments, feedback from fellow-travellers. Made by an objective third-party, this type of content is seen as authentic and trustworthy by others. 

Having a blog for your business lets you take advantage of this type of content by giving your past customers an opportunity to engage with your business, long after their experience or stay has ended. 

Blogging can be your platform for your best content  

Spoiler alert: blogs don't just have to be words! If you've got showstopping videos, flashy photos or media of any kind, your blog is the place to show them off. It's static, so it won't disappear into the background like so much social media content does, and easy to find on your site. 

In the past decade, so many social media platforms have come and gone. Building a blog, on the other hand, has proven to be resilient from all the changes happening in the fast-paced world of the internet. And it still plays a key role in any kind of online marketing strategy.