White Water Rafting Company
The Original White Water Rafting Tour Company of the United States (which we will refer to as, ‘Expeditions’) called SEO Essential Solutions due to their lack of website traffic and bookings. Expeditions has been in business for over eighty years, under generations of river-runner ownership. Although Expeditions was the Original white water rafting tour company, they weren’t showing up in Search, their PPC (Pay Per Click) Ad costs were through the roof and they weren’t seeing bookings. Expeditions had hundreds of unclaimed permits for the current year, and could not earn steady bookings as they had in years past.
After conducting a complete digital audit of Expeditions, including SEO, Content and their Social footprint, the most prominent initial findings by SEO Essential Solutions included the following:
*The website’s main landing page was lacking a 301 re-direct, splitting page authority between www.Expeditions.com and Expeditions.com (without the www). In short, the strength of the website was being split in two, with exterior links to both pages. In adding the re-direct, link authority was passed to a primary landing page, increasing authority and rankings.
*There was a lack of consistent Facebook management that went beyond direct Sales Promos or Testimonials. The Facebook account looked “spammy” and sales oriented, instead of looking adventurous, fun and personalized.
*The AdWords and Analytics account did not have Goals set up to track conversions. Also, Keyword Research had not been conducted. Ad scores were low, driving costs up.
*Many of the Title and Description Tags for pages of the website were non-existent or duplicated. Others tags did not follow the best-practices guidelines. These negative indicators of an incomplete and non-SEO friendly site were trickling down to Google, Yahoo and Bing.
*Images were not optimized, leaving an enormous gap in traffic within the Google Images search arena.
There were three main objectives SEO Essential Solutions wished to accomplish for Expeditions. The first was to re-build the foundation of the website moving forward. Work included: keyword research, cleaning up title, description and other meta tags within the site, optimizing content and implementing other on-page SEO elements.
The second objective was to re-structure the Google AdWords account. We would take the applicable keyword research and apply it to the re-construction of the Google AdWords account. We also set up Goals to track conversions. The addition of Goals, and the new re-structure and re-marketing campaign would allow for more ads to be seen by a more targeted following, at a lower cost to Expeditions.
The final objective was to re-imagine Expeditions’ process of providing content to their followers and potential adventurers. This would include developing a Unique Selling Proposition, or in short, a way in which their company was different than any other white water rafting tour company within the market. We branded the company as the ‘Original White Water Rafting Company’. We also assisted in developing a new vocabulary for their social efforts, including, “Adventure with Us” or “Become a River Runner.” We ran contests to give away swag and promote the ‘sharing’ of their content. We would also teach Expeditions how to post more effectively to their Social outlets, utilizing creative/optimized content, optimizing posts for ease of conversion and building relationships and credibility with their following worth shares and referrals.
Within eight months of working together with the Expeditions crew, they had booked every available tour in full, (ranging from $1700 to $3600) for the following year, before January 1st. Expeditions had never in their history booked a season of tours in full, especially not prior to January 1st. The Expeditions crew celebrated by taking everyone on their team to Mexico for a one- week, all expenses paid vacation.
Backpacking Tour Company
After conducting a complete digital audit for Guides, including SEO, Content and Social footprint, the most prominent initial findings by SEO Essential Solutions included the following:
*The Google AdWords account was generalized for Hiking Tours and Backpacking Tours, not specific to area, season, price, etc.
*The Facebook account was being used, but the Facebook Pixel was not being utilized to segment audiences, re-target or sequence ads to lead potential guests down the buying funnel from awareness to booking.
*There were several website code errors including that of some pages being secure (https), while others were not (http). Many pages were not indexed by Google, missing a large segment of traffic and lowering organic rankings.
*Many site visitors were not getting a ‘feel’ for what the tour truly encompassed from start to finish. Content and information was not being provided for those just starting to research their potential adventures.
*Images were not being optimized for use within Google Images or Social platforms.
First, the SEO Essential Solutions team designed display re-marketing campaigns for potential guests who did not book a tour with Guides, but visited the website. We then recreated brand new AdWords campaigns focusing on pre-season bookings per location. Some ads were crafted to pre-qualify potential buyers, by adding a price range, while others targeted those just getting interested in a hiking or backpacking tour – and doing their due diligence via researching potential companies.
SEO Essential Solutions next worked on the foundation of the website, making sure all URLs within the site were the same, and broken or un-indexed pages were amended and/or indexed. We optimized each page of the website, including each image within the site itself. This, alone made a huge impact in increasing targeted traffic to the website.
The SEO Essential Solutions team then set up the Facebook Pixel to craft a number of audiences to target, given past buyer demographics and what we believed to be un-tapped market share. We re-targeted those who visited specific pages of the site, offering them specific ads related to those pages. We then built a sequence of Facebook ads that guided potential leads down the sales funnel, from brand awareness to a conversion.
Lastly, we began creating quality, optimized content regarding specific tours, destinations, packing lists, seasonal information, backpacking safety and more – to draw targeted audiences back to the site. We optimized each piece of content for a specific page within the website, dependent on the content topic or focus. This not only increased traffic and conversions, but also organic rankings in search.
Zipline Tour Company
A Zipline Tour Company (which we will refer to as, ‘Zips’) needed assistance in targeting individuals, both, pre-arrival, and upon their arrival to the company’s area. Zips also needed to increase their brand awareness for those families, couples and individuals searching online for ‘things to do’ in and around the area of the tour company – prior to leaving their home.
Zips was booking tours, but knew that their potential was greater, and wanted to increase their business via increased digital marketing efforts. They also had to better position their brand due to the substantial amount of competition.
After conducting a complete digital audit of Zips’: SEO, Content and Social footprint, the most prominent initial findings by SEO Essential Solutions included the following:
*The website did not include a blog and Zips was not offering their audience fun and/or useful information on their tours or the area.
*The Facebook Pixel was not being utilized to segment audiences, target and re-market to those who were in the area verses those who were researching their area prior to their trip.
*Zips did not have a Pinterest account with optimized boards and images, even as a majority of those booking the adventures were women and/or moms.
*Zips was not utilizing Facebook LIVE to keep their Social content fresh and to also give potential guests a peek into what a Zipline Tour would look like.
As Zips wanted to utilize their staff for as many of the digital efforts as possible, we taught their team to:
*Write quality blog articles, providing high quality images and unique information
*Use Facebook LIVE on the Zip-deck to allow potential guests to see what their Zipline Tour would look like and to build excitement toward the potential of having this experience
*Post to Facebook regularly, optimizing posts and images prior to posting
The SEO Essential Solutions team then set up the Facebook pixel for targeting audiences. Audiences were crafted to include individuals already in the defined area, interested in the area, visitors to the website and those who engaged in watching a Facebook video. Facebook ads for those specific audiences, helped to guide potential guests through the sales funnel. Audiences were also built for eco-friendly middle aged individuals, families seeking adventures or experiences to have together, honeymooners, and demographics of those who regularly visited the area. Additional audiences were built targeting employees of local news outlets, tour magazines and outdoor adventures publications to promote offers and awards for the company.
SEO Essential Solutions created a Pinterest account for Zips, crafting and optimizing several boards for key search terms. We pin and actively engage with the Pinterest community on behalf of Zips to build brand awareness and loyalty.
Lastly, we take the content, produced by Zips, and distribute it across the web. We focus on specific boards, forums and sites that feature the target demographics for Zips. Due to our high performing distribution accounts we have had for years, our client’s content is often placed in front of others’.
Zips has grown so substantially in the seven months we have been working with them, they are now building another zipline in the area, to keep up with the demand for their Zipline Tours.
Due to the use of Social platforms, the amount of millennials and honeymooners who have now become guests, has tripled in the past 10 months alone.