A White Paper from Search Star

The Package Holiday SectorSeptember 2012

About UsSearch Star was set up in 2005 as one of the first specialist PPC agencies in the UK. • We do 100% Pay Per Click (PPC) and we do it extremely well. We do not do SEO. We

do not do affiliate. • We combine expert knowledge with a passion for sales & leads to deliver unbeatable

PPC to happy clients.• Results are reported as frequently as required coherently & transparently. • We’re based in the centre of Bath and work for results driven clients across the UK

Package Holiday Search Trends

Package holidays are rising in

popularity once again. Searches are up +2% YoY

from August 2011 to August 2012*.

This trend is largely generated by price. 39% of

searches include the keyword ‘cheap’, with a

large proportion of searchers using other

price-related terminology such as ‘deal’ & ‘bargain’.

‘All inclusive’ package holidays are also popular. Again, this is thanks to the all-inclusive price allowing

searchers to effectively budget, particularly in the

Euro zone.

*Google Insights for Search, Sept 12

Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Data, August 2012

Top Terms

Group similar keywords together in a granular

campaign and ad group structure. Most package holiday accounts have at least 50 ad groups. Some

have thousands, each one containing just a few closely related keywords and highly targeted ads.

The statistics above are all based on position 1

and broad match. Broad match is brilliant

for targeting the ‘16% of daily queries on Google

that have never been seen before’*. Include

the broad match modifying +sign before

crucial keywords for lower average CPC with

quality scores equivalent to exact match.

Go for the mid and long-tail. Longer search strings

containing more specifics generate a higher CTR (1.9% vs. 1.6% in this example) for a much lower CPC (£12.39

vs. £14.71). Searchers using mid and long-tail terms are generally further into the buying cycle so are more likely to convert. Google

also love relevancy, and will reward you with lower CPCs

and higher ad positions.

Build up a tailored, keyword specific list of

negatives. Use Google’s keyword tool and search query reports (AdWords

>> Campaigns >> Keywords >> Keyword

Details) to find irrelevant terms. Use -exact,

-”phrase” and –[broad] matching on your negatives to filter

effectively.

* Think with Google

Top 10 Locations

Spain remains the number 1 destination for British holiday makers. This is thanks to the

number of beds, good weather, a strong tourist infrastructure and of

course,low cost.

Dalaman in Turkey and New York are both destinations on the rise.

Both provide year-round attraction with plenty of cheap, last-minute

deals in the market.

Notably, Greek holiday resorts are missing from the top 10 list this year. A slash in VAT on holiday

accommodation & ferries may help Greece’s tourism industry to bounce

back from the debt crisis.

Structuring your AccountThe top 5 package holiday campaign must-haves:

1. Set up accounts on all search engines - Google, plus the Yahoo! Bing Network.• The current average CPC for package holiday keywords on the Bing/Yahoo! network is £0.50 compared to

£16.05 on Google! • The current average CTR for these terms is also much higher on the Bing/Yahoo! Network - 9.16%

compared to just 1.6% on Google.

2. Use geographical targeting to reach the areas that are going to yield the best ROI for your package holiday company (AdWords >> Campaigns >> Settings).

3. If you’re going to capitalise on the reach of Google’s display network, set up a completely separate campaign. There are many benefits to be had from remarketing, contextual and keyword marketing, but they need to be run, managed and optimised in a completely different way from search network advertising. With the display network, always use site exclusion. This removes high-click, low yield partner sites from the display network. Go to networks >> show details and check & remove all underperforming sites.

4. Do the same for mobile campaigns. Mobile search has grown 400% in the past 12 months* and 15% of UK Smartphone owners have ‘awareness of advertising on smartphones’*. Copy your mobile campaign, run it separately and keep on top of this emerging market.

5. Link to the right landing pages - test whether deep or category links work best for your site. This will reduce bounce rates, increase dwell time and lead to improved sales.

* Think with Google

Writing effective PPC ads

Get the basics right:

Include the keyword

Use correct spelling,

punctuation, grammar &

capitalisationInclude as

much detail as possible

Use calls to action

Include special offers

Filter out non-converters by

being as specific as

possible, e.g. ‘5 star hotels

only’. Qualifiers also work well for

this.

Use trust-related

language, such as ‘experts’,

‘specialists’ & ‘ATOL/ABTA protected’.

This is important in

today’s economic

climate with travel

companies susceptible to

collapse.

Cost is king so include it

where you can. Check prices

are competitive first.

Have at least 3 ads per ad group. Test

different messages. More than 5 ads per ad group can

dilute your data.

Ad scheduling on Google AdWords

allows PPC advertisers to set different

bids for different days of the week and different hours of the day. If your business is closed on

weekends, you can pause your

ads.

If you’re bidding on shorter tail

terms, consider using persuasive

language to encourage

searchers away from what they

thought they were looking for

(e.g. ‘cheap package

holidays’) to you (‘3* package

holidays’)

* Think with Google

Tracking

Implement Google AdWords Conversion Tracking (AdWords >> Tools & Analysis

>>Conversions). This piece of code on your conversion page will allow analysis of

campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads and search queries that resulted in specific

customer actions. The only con is the 30 day cookie length, which means that if a

searcher returns to your site after 30 days, the conversion won’t be attributed to the

PPC keyword.

Google Analytics has a longer default cookie length of 6 months. Google Analytics

is also the best place to analyse engagement – you can see page views, time

on site and bounce rate for every single keyword. You may find terms that aren’t

performing well in terms of conversions, but are still generating strong engagement. This software also allows you to track non-PPC

traffic sources, including social media.

Demographics

• The best PPC accounts target the right audience. Package holiday searches are dominated by women (65.6%).

• The key demographic are also aged between 35 and 64. These are likely to be searchers with families and with a loyalty to traditional package holidays.

• If your business is targeted to these demographics, consider uplifting bids for this audience.Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Data, August 2012

Next StepsA decent PPC campaign takes patience, commitment and time. It’s no longer profitable to adopt a ‘set it and forget it’ attitude. Return to your account regularly and optimise, optimise, optimise:

• Run search query reports (AdWords >> Campaigns >> Keywords >> Keyword Details) to find the phrase and broad matched search queries for your keywords. Add any relevant ones with decent click levels to your account. Use the irrelevant search queries as negatives.

• Use Google Insights for Search to find breakout searches – those which have increased in popularity by at least 40%. These should have low competition and therefore low CPCs.

• Run an ad group report. Ad groups with large click volumes might need splitting out. Also analyse ad groups with high CPCs and low CTRs. You may need to rework ads to boost relevancy.

• Analyse your tracking data regularly. Update everything from landing pages to your social media to improve conversions and engagement.

• Keep up-to-date with the latest algorithmic and product updates. Search engines are constantly striving to provide their audience with better results, and you’ll need to do the same.

• Be aware of seasonality. January is the key month for travel. Ensure you have enough budget, seasonal ads and the right keywords to capitalise.

• ‘Two line sitelinks increase click-through rates by more than 30% compared to standard AdWords ads’*. Sitelinks are brilliant for helping users to quickly navigate your site. This is an automated process, but Webmaster Tools allows you some control.

• And lastly, please get in touch with us if you need any further assistance.

*Google Insights for Search, August 12

Contact Us

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info@search-star.co.uk