Home How to Find the BEST Travel Keywords for Direct Bookings

How to Find the BEST Travel Keywords for Direct Bookings

By Travel Advisor - November 01, 2025

SEO Keyword Research Guide for Travel Businesses

Introduction

How to rank #1 for competitive travel keywords like ski holidays or honeymoon packages and generate daily bookings through strategic SEO.

Step 1: Avoid Common Keyword Mistakes

Mistake #1: Overly Broad or Competitive Keywords

  • Avoid: Single-word terms like "travel" or "vacation"
  • Why: Too competitive and generic to rank for

Mistake #2: Ignoring Long-Tail Keywords

  • Better approach: Target specific, detailed phrases
  • Example: "Affordable ski holiday Switzerland" vs. "ski holiday"
  • Benefit: Easier to rank for and captures buyer intent

Step 2: Master Google Search Console (GSC)

Why GSC is Essential

  • Provides real-time, first-party data from your actual website
  • More reliable than third-party tools (Ahrefs, Semrush, Ubersuggest)
  • Shows exactly what users search to find your site

Finding Optimization Opportunities

Look for keywords with:

  • High impressions (lots of searches)
  • Low clicks (not getting traffic despite visibility)
  • Position 5-15 (sweet spot for optimization)

Red flags:

  • Position 20+ = Need new page or major improvements

GSC Walkthrough Example

Case Study: Maldives Honeymoon Packages

  1. Navigate: Honeymoon overview → Full report → Sort by impressions

  2. Identify opportunity:

    • "Maldives honeymoon packages" = 3,900 impressions, 63 clicks (1.6% CTR)
    • Current position: #17

  3. Analyze the page:

    • Click on keyword → View page → Remove query filter
    • See all keywords ranking for that page

  4. Discovered keywords:

    • Maldives honeymoon package
    • Maldives packages
    • Maldives package for couple
    • Maldives package for 7 days (#51 position - opportunity!)
    • Maldives package for 12 days, 10 days, 2 weeks

  5. Optimization insights:

    • Title doesn't include "honeymoon" properly
    • Page lacks "2025" freshness signals
    • Missing "couple" terminology
    • No specific day-based packages (7-day, 10-day content)

Step 3: Use Answer The Public for Content Ideas

How It Works

  • Input your main keyword
  • Change location to US (larger English-speaking data set)
  • Generates question-based and long-tail variations

Example Results for "Maldives Honeymoon Packages"

  • How to book a Maldives honeymoon package
  • Maldives honeymoon package from Mumbai with flights
  • Maldives honeymoon packages for 5 days
  • Maldives honeymoon packages for 7 days

Best Use Cases

  • Great for: Getting content ideas, especially when starting fresh
  • Limitation: Provides ideas but no traffic data
  • Recommendation: Use alongside GSC for validation

Step 4: Competitor Keyword Analysis

Tools to Use

  • Ubersuggest: More affordable option
  • Ahrefs: Premium tool with deeper insights

Process

  1. Find competitors:

    • Google your target keyword
    • Identify top-ranking competitors
    • Example: "100 Million Packages" website

  2. Analyze in Ubersuggest:

    • Enter competitor domain
    • Review their ranking keywords
    • Examples found: "Best honeymoon destinations," "Asia honeymoon," "Italy honeymoon"

  3. Limitations:

    • Better at domain-level than page-level analysis
    • May not show detailed page optimization opportunities

  4. Alternative: Use keyword research section for additional ideas

Verdict

Google Search Console remains superior for actionable, site-specific insights.

Step 5: Organize and Analyze Keyword Data

Create a Google Sheet

Setup process:

  1. Export GSC data for target page
  2. Freeze top row for headers
  3. Apply conditional formatting:

Color Coding System:

  • Clicks: Green = high, Red = low
  • Impressions: Green = high, Red = low
  • CTR: Green = high, Red = low
  • Position: Green = 5-20 (sweet spot), Red = 20+ (needs work)

Keyword Analysis Checklist

For each keyword, verify:

✓ Is the keyword used on the page?

  • Check title tags
  • Check page content (Ctrl+F)

✓ Example findings:

  • "Package for couple" - NOT on page → Add content about couples
  • "Maldives packages for 7 days" - Ranking poorly (#51) → Create dedicated blog post
  • "All inclusive" - NOT on page → Add to optimize

✓ Check for existing content:

  • Use site search: site:yourwebsite.com "keyword phrase"
  • Confirms if you need new content or to optimize existing

✓ Compare impression volumes:

  • Choose higher-impression keywords when prioritizing
  • Example: 340 impressions vs. 50 impressions = prioritize the 340

Step 6: Develop Content Strategy

Match Intent to Content Type

Review competitors:

  • What type of content ranks for target keywords?
  • Match your content format to search intent

Content Types Based on Keywords:

Informational: Blog posts, guides

  • "How to book Maldives honeymoon"
  • "Best time to visit Maldives"

Transactional: Product/package pages

  • "Maldives honeymoon packages"
  • "7-day Maldives package price"

Navigational: Brand-specific pages

Action Plan:

  1. Optimize existing pages: Add missing keywords to title, content
  2. Create new blog posts: Fill content gaps (7-day packages, couple-specific content)
  3. Add supporting content: Build topical authority around main pages

Critical Success Factors Beyond Keywords

1. User Experience

  • Good visual design
  • Fast page load times
  • Mobile optimization
  • Clear navigation

2. Time on Page

  • Engaging content that keeps visitors reading
  • Poor UX = high bounce rate = poor rankings

3. Call-to-Actions (CTAs)

Essential CTAs:

  • Book now buttons
  • Sign up forms
  • Newsletter subscriptions
  • Contact forms

4. Internal Linking

  • Link supporting content to main pages
  • Build topical authority
  • Help search engines understand site structure
  • Guide users through conversion funnel

Key Takeaways

The Process:

  1. ✓ Avoid broad, competitive keywords
  2. ✓ Focus on long-tail buyer keywords
  3. ✓ Use Google Search Console as primary tool
  4. ✓ Find high impression, low click opportunities
  5. ✓ Target position 5-15 keywords
  6. ✓ Supplement with Answer The Public for ideas
  7. ✓ Analyze competitor keywords
  8. ✓ Organize data in spreadsheets with color coding
  9. ✓ Verify keyword usage on pages
  10. ✓ Create content strategy matching search intent
  11. ✓ Optimize UX and add strong CTAs
  12. ✓ Build internal linking structure

Remember:

Keywords alone aren't enough. You need:

  • Good user experience
  • Quality visuals
  • Clear CTAs
  • Internal linking strategy
  • Content that matches search intent

Resources Mentioned

Tools:

  • Google Search Console (FREE - primary tool)
  • Answer The Public (idea generation)
  • Ubersuggest (affordable competitor analysis)
  • Ahrefs (premium competitor analysis)

Offered Services:

  • 10 years of travel keyword data spreadsheet
  • Topic mining service for travel businesses
  • Hundreds of researched topics available

Presenter: Matt from Travel Attractions

Read more...

Related Videos

Most Popular