I noticed something when I started doing a better job of tracking our Google Analytics data at Tourism Currents.
Our most popular blog posts in the last year were all very focused, rather niche topics.
There weren’t a huge number of people looking for these particular bits of information, but for those who were, our posts showed up on Page One of Google search engine results pages (SERPs) because we nailed the answer to the long tail search question they were Googling.
This is not by accident.
At some point over the last few years, a particular social media or digital marketing question would come to us, and when I searched for a good answer, the results I turned up were less than spectacular. I’d be disgusted, and would say to myself,
“These results are not very helpful. We can write something better than this.”
And then we’d go off and write a blog post that WAS more helpful, and we’d begin winning the battle for Page One.
For example . . .
** How to use social media for economic development? Tourism Currents is on Page One of search results for this search string.
Because way too many economic development and Main Street folks don’t make enough use of the social media tools in their toolbox, we tried to write THE blog post that would wake them up to the possibilities.
** How to use LinkedIn for tourism marketing? We’re Page One.
Because LinkedIn is the most (bizarrely!) ignored social media platform, until destination marketers wake up and realize its potential.
** Social media content ideas when you’re trying to attract heritage tourism or cultural tourism visitors? Yes, Page One.
Because heritage tourism and cultural tourism visitors spend money and eat at your local restaurants and stay in your historic boutique hotel and they go see your museums, historic sites, art galleries, etc., but for some reason, tourism folks aren’t always great at connecting with them online. So, we wrote up some content and blog post ideas based on a presentation I did for Missouri Main Street.
My advice to you is to use your blog to fill the gaps.
Be the best answer to the questions – even the obscure ones – that your audience is asking.
Focus on those long-tail search terms that you can answer better than anyone else.
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