When the Google search engine was first introduced in the late 1990s, it stood out for its simple layout featuring only a white screen with a search box that then produced the most exact search results on the web.  Its user-friendly and superior service quickly made it the most popular search engine on the internet, and the rest is history. 

Today, one of the top activities on the web is searching for travel information and bookings.  The travel industry has adapted to this fact, with many of the travel guidebook companies now offering most of their books’ content on their websites.  Other guides have appeared in the last few years, with many of them specializing in specific activities or niches of the market. 

Because of that, looking for relevant travel information online can now often lead to hours of searching and browsing through several sources for the exact information we’re looking for.  Most of the sites also have a complicated layout forcing you to go through several cluttered pages before you find what you want.  If that’s not enough, with today’s modern and more demanding travelers having evolved past the typical touristy experiences, they don’t really care about the less relevant sights they don’t have time for, and just want to go straight to what matters or really stands out in their destination.   

We now travel on shorter city breaks, on business trips, or on longer tours of entire continents with the help of low-cost airlines.  We want to know what each destination does best and where to find it.  To help in that quest, a new city guides website has just been introduced to the world’s savvy travelers, featuring a very simple user-friendly layout and offering the most relevant travel information that really matters in the 21st century. 

Today’s travelers don’t want to just admire the walls of ancient landmarks, they also want to see what’s new and exciting in the city’s cultural and street life.  They want to sample the most interesting restaurants, spend a night at the most happening bars and clubs, and sleep in unique hotels.  UCITYGUIDES.com is now the first destination when planning a trip to any city, highlighting the best classic and modern attractions, restaurants, and shops, in addition to presenting the best design, boutique, or luxury hotels. (http://www.ucityguides.com/hotels) 

It features a clean, white layout enabling you to easily navigate through the pages with the information you’re looking for.  You will find the best of over three dozen urban destinations, including their most striking architecture and best spas, information rarely found on traditional city guides.  Everything is regularly updated, and there is also a blog with the latest news from around the urban world. (http://www.ucityguides.com/blog) 

From now on, the simplest, most efficient way to search for travel information is UCityGuides.com. (http://www.ucityguides.com)

A March 2008 study titled “NEXTgen Traveler” wanted to find the niche for travel internet marketing. What surprised some people is that the majority of the 2,559 adults surveyed were gamers, music fans, film buffs and high-tech geeks. Fifty-six percent of those who book travel online also liked reading newspapers and magazines (like People and Time) online.  These travels also watched Fox and the Discovery channel, listened to rock (45%), classic rock (42%) or top 40/pop (39%).

Eighty-nine percent of these tech-savvy travelers use the Internet for sending and receiving email and 7/10 people use the Internet to research information about travel experiences or services. In addition, the travelers download music (81%), upload photos (69%) and videos (59%), shop online auctions at eBay (67%) and browse web pages from their cell phones (33%). One in seven travelers checked out Travelocity and more than half of those surveyed frequented Myspace.com. An additional 30% had Facebook accounts and 34% had Youtube accounts. For the travel Internet marketing analyst, this says a few things.

First, creating a web rewards program and asking travelers to sign up for an e-newsletter (with special bonuses and discounts) is essential. Email has and possibly always will be an effective way to increase conversions and encourage repeat customers. For mere pennies, clients can reach thousands of members, which – if executed properly – leads to double-digit conversions.

Secondly, the data suggests that travel SEO through video will be an emerging trend. Already many hotels and destinations are offering multimedia presentations to help prospective guests get a feel for the ambiance of their properties. As a very cost-efficient medium, travel Internet marketing videos are the ideal way to showcase a location, as well as appeal to the dreams and emotions of viewers.

Thirdly, social networking appears to be big in the world of travel Internet marketing. While it’s a hard medium to navigate and keep current on, there are some budget-conscious ways to approach a site like Facebook and Myspace. Posting blogs, updating videos and pictures are all quick ways to connect with an audience. Travel SEO experts say that social networking is worth the money because web crawlers are searching Myspace blogs and profile pages, ranking them very generously. Starting a group and hiring a couple people to get the groups jumpstarted can also help. One thing that’s surprising to many researchers is the readiness of people to participate and offer their opinions freely, without much prompting or any compensation at all.

Many business owners gather the professional opinion of an experienced travel SEO expert. The big questions in travel Internet marketing are: What is my audience, what does my audience want and how do I attract a bigger audience? The answers have often come to travel Internet marketing professionals through studies or to travel SEO experts through analytics software. We number-crunch, we categorize, we test new web designs or ads, we analyze trends and we look for new ways to get consumer feedback. The answers business owners can find by contracting a travel SEO expert are personalized, targeting where their client’s web traffic stems from, how long they stay on the site, which pages scare people off, what the competition is doing that their client is not and where their traffic is going once they leave the homepage. The good thing about travel SEO is that it’s a quick fix to conversion problems. However, for a long-term strategy, a travel Internet marketing campaign that includes copywriting, advertising, online videos, web design, online promotions and social networking is ideal.