Common mistakes Tour Companies make while blogging

Don’t make these common mistakes when blogging for your Tour Company

As a Tour or Activity Company, you’re in a great position to always have content to put out. There are so many stories which you can be telling. As a matter of fact, we encourage all of our clients to have a blog or some other means of putting out content on a regular basis.

While working with new clients, one of the tasks we accomplish is analyzing their current content. We want to know exactly what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. With so many companies vying for the top position we focus on perfecting every aspect of their blogging strategy. You have a lot of competitors who are trying to get their hands in your bank account. A lot of times it can be the little things that help you stand out from your competitors and ensure they’re not cutting into your revenue.

When blogging you want to make sure you’re not making mistakes. Below you’ll find a list of some of the more common mistakes we see when looking at companies and their blogs. Keep these pointers in mind when creating your blog posts and you’ll already be a step ahead of your competitors, and you’ll produce content that won’t turn off potential guests.

“Our customers don’t read blogs”

Maybe not, but all of them use Google or other Search Engines to find answers to questions they have. If you have content in your blog which answers their questions the chances are good that Google will show your blog post to them. This also makes those potential customers aware of your company.

This is especially important for Tour and Activity companies that receive a large volume of their revenue from tourists. The average tourist spends right around 30 hours researching things to do while they’re traveling. Of course, one of the things that most of these people are looking for is things to do once they arrive at their destination.

According to Hubspot, 78% of people planning their trips and activities conduct this kind of research. The more you blog, the main pages your company will have indexed in Google. This increases the likelihood that those potential customers will find your company instead of one of your competitors. The bottom line is that those people are going to find somebody’s company? Wouldn’t you rather it be yours?

I don’t have the time

Everyone has time. Here at GoDo, we understand the challenges of running a tour or activity company better than most (we’ve done it). So we know your schedule is packed – but you can still find an hour, even if it is only once a month, to sit down and write some content that will help drive your revenue.

How often should you blog?

There is no hard and fast rule about how often tour companies should be blogging. I always recommend ‘As often as you can’. The reality is that once a month is better than nothing. Once a week is better than once per month, and once per day is better than once a week. You just need to start.

While I would like to see all of you blogging more often – don’t take short cuts by putting out subpar content (crap). You want every piece of content you produce to be as good as you can make it. If it isn’t going to provide value to a potential customer, looking for a tour or activity, don’t make it.

Your Blog doesn’t have a Purpose

One big mistake I often see in the tour and activity industry is the lack of Call-To-Actions (CTAs). Each piece of content you put out should have a goal. When you write your content what are you trying to accomplish? Do you want them to buy tickets? Sign up for your newsletter?

Your content and the page design must be aligned with your goals.

Stop with the Sales Pitches

Another common mistake we often see is companies using their blogs to pitch their tours and activities. Nobody wants to read your sales pitches.

You absolutely should include a call to action in your content. Whether this is a button for people to buy tickets or sign up for your newsletter, you should have this in your content. However, the main point of your blog post should not be ‘Buy tickets!’. Not only will people not be interested in that article, but they’ll also be less likely to come back and read further content.

Creating a new website for your Blog

People seem to think it is a good idea to create a blog on a new URL, not on their main website. When I ask them why they’re doing this I’ll often be told that they think that having two websites linking to each other will help them more. Nope. Maybe in 2001, but not today.

Creating a new blog on a different URL from your main website will leave you with a brand-new website that has no site authority, no domain history – so linking to your main website from your blog will do absolutely nothing for SEO.

In addition, you just doubled the amount of work you need to perform, to keep your website updated. Instead of needing to only keep your company’s website up to date, now you need to do that for your blog too.

Your goal should be to drive all the traffic to your website. What website sells your tickets? That is where your blog should be. Period.

In Closing

As a Tour or Activity Company, you should absolutely be dedicated time to creating content for your website. Blogging has many benefits and you’re losing out if you’re not doing it. However, it is important to follow some best-practices. By avoiding the common mistakes above you’ll already be a step ahead of your competitors.

As always, if you have any questions about any aspect of running a Tour or Activity company, don’t hesitate to reach out! We may be known for our Tour and Activity Operator Software, but we’re just as interested in helping you grow your company!