04 Mar The Benefits of Blogging for your Travel Business
Why Blog for Business: A Quick Prelude
Anyone who has been around the block a bit will admit to the radical metamorphosis this world has witnessed in the last decade or two. Not that it was stagnant before that, but the turn of the millennium heralded a different kind of change. Not the Industrial Revolution kind (or the Agrarian that preceded it). Rather, a shift to that world oh-so-beautifully depicted in the popular TV show, The Jetsons.
The future.
It is here. We are finally living it.
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If we were to name the single-biggest driver of this change, it has be – you guessed it – the Internet. Disruptor is the buzzword they use these days to describe such a ‘phenomenon’. So yes, we could say the Internet has been the biggest disruptor of the 21st century, touching on virtually every aspect of human endeavour and leaving, in its wake, a trail of digital footprints all over.
From smart homes with IoT-connected appliances that keep track and help replenish milk supplies in the fridge on our behalf, to how modern warfare is conducted (wars are being fought and won without troops on the ground), no aspect of life or industry has been left untouched.
It may sound trite, but it is greatly sobering just thinking about it, and what life would be without the Internet today. In fact, most of the generation coming up today cannot even wrap that idea around their minds.
Effect on Business
Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be an essay about the impact of the Internet on human life. You see, one of the questions we often hear in travel industry circles is why blog for business. In this digital-dominated world we speak about, one of the areas that has felt the most impact is business, travel or otherwise. The web has completely revolutionised this landscape.
This means the old ways are no longer feasible. Attention has and continues to shift to online marketing with every business – big or small – leveraging websites with the overall objective of boosting their bottom line, directly or indirectly.
As the web itself has grown over the years, websites too have witnessed a change, with the blog tab one of the most notable and potent additions. Everyone is getting in on the act (well, almost everyone) and for good enough reason.
For travel-related businesses – hotels, resorts, travel agencies, tour companies etc – the benefits to be reaped by having a constantly-updated blog on their website are immense.
#1 – Carve out a Niche
The thing about blogging is it gives businesses the chance to strike out in a certain direction, narrowing down their offering to a specific segment the business wishes to cater to (niche is the name).
For instance, you find that high-end clients often opt to shop for services from niche-luxury providers as opposed to jack of all trades who cater to all levels of travellers.
As such, having a blog that concentrates on things luxury travel – news, offerings, trends, services etc. – can help you in defining your type of client, and consequently, attracting and retaining those clients.
#2 – Boost your Credibility
The web has reached a level where simply having a business website is not enough.
No matter how big of a brand you are, it just looks amiss if you do not have a blog on your website. Blogs have grown from an option to a must-have service on websites, and travel businesses are not exempt from this rule. If anything, the dynamics of this industry make it an even more powerful tool to have on your website.
#3 – Stay Relevant
You probably have heard that frequent blog posting is key to keeping your audience engaged and up to speed on the goings-on in your industry (and the search engines interested in you). This has never been truer.
However, you may want to avoid the lure of posting just for the sake of posting.
Ideally, you want to update the blog with information travellers can use as actual reference. This should be founded on the back of the theme you decide to establish – whether it’s offering destination guides, publishing budget (or luxury) travel tips, food recommendations and so on and so forth.
#4 – Drive Traffic to your Website
Blogs are no longer the simple online journals of yore. These days, not only do they offer the opportunity to create relevant content for your customers, but also a glorious chance to woo search engines, and subsequently swarms of traffic, to your website.
This is indeed one of the biggest draws of establishing a blog for business today: TRAFFIC.
Traffic ultimately means more business for you, and double so in this era when travel seems to be on the agenda of most people than at any other point in time.
#5 – Ready Content for your Social Media
If your business is on social media, you would agree that some days can get a bit slow; those days when you are short of ideas on what to share to keep your audience engaged.
Not when you have an active blog, however.
You have ready content to share which can be double beneficial in the sense that not only do you keep your social networks active with relevant content, but also drive more traffic from the social channels, an increasingly important source of website traffic.
Suffice to say blogging and social media complement each other, and more so for travel businesses which rely on images to put the message across than, say, industries such as finance.
#6 – Gain an Edge over the Competition
Look, the web is inundated with tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of travel businesses in the same line as you. Most employ almost similar marketing strategies and practices.
It is understandable to a point because sometimes you can only differentiate yourself so much. And if you do, well, there is always someone who will be looking to, er, ‘borrow’ your ideas and make these ideas their own.
With a blog though, here is a window of opportunity to make your business stand out from the crowd. Plus, if you put in the effort, you always have at your disposal alternative methods such as guest blogging to promote your blog-website-business on the more popular websites out there.
In turn, you increase your website’s buoyancy in the ever increasing waters of information.
Last Word
Blogging doesn’t have to be a big money drain for you, nor a time-consuming endeavour. It’s a source you can easily outsource for a reasonable enough charge.
Before you do, just make sure you are clear on what message you want your travel brand to reflect through your content. Having a good content strategy should help matters.
Over time, blogging can only be to your company’s benefit; not detriment.
This is why it is crucial for entities in the competitive travel sector to blog for business.
If you need blog content for your travel business or any other business, we can help. Our team of expert travel content creators can provide your company blog with excellent and unique written content to share with the digital world. Get in touch – and we’ll get right back to you.
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