Marketing Insights

Staycations 🤝 SEO: How to Navigate Variations in Tourism Traffic

The rising popularity of staycations, which saw a steep increase during the pandemic, has travel-savvy families looking to save money by staying in and exploring parts of their city, state, and the surrounding region that they’ve never seen before. For brands, hospitality companies and tourism branches, staycations mark a crucial moment in their marketing strategies. 

But you already knew that, right? 

Staycation, (All I Ever Wanted)? 

Okay, let’s back up for a moment. In years past, the term staycation has referred to families staying and vacationing inside the United States, and over 60% of U.S. adults report having taken a staycation before. (Statista

Today, a staycation could be as simple as taking a week off and staying in town to lounge around your local pool, go to dinner every night, shop-’til-you-drop, visit a traveling museum exhibit or catch the latest movies. They’re more sustainable than a traditional vacation and stimulating for local economic and social industries, which is a win-win for local companies trying to maximize their outreach and consumer engagement. 

Most staycations start with an itinerary, and what better way to build one than our trusty friend, Google? Whether people are searching “fun staycation ideas near me” or “staycation family activities,” you might be actively missing out on a rapidly-growing audience if your marketing strategies aren’t aligned. 

Search Engine Optimization Szn

Curating itineraries unique to a city’s history, culinary experiences, museums, murals, outdoor activities or shopping options can be a Golden Goose for SEO keyword placement. But keywords aren’t everything, as we’re learning with Google’s Helpful Content update, prioritizing landing pages that act as the clear authority on a subject and provide readers with the most informative results. 

With Google’s latest updates to its Search Generative Experience, the search giant’s algorithm is becoming more adept at predicting what users are searching for, delivering even more personalized results on search engine results pages (SERPs). 

By writing guides from a staycationer’s perspective you can achieve both. Create extensive SEO roadmaps for your content, starting with blogs and web copy, and drive their impact by synergizing digital media and social advertising strategies. The effect, when pulled off correctly, is a fluid, content machine, giving staycationers instant access to restaurants, recreational activities, performing arts and more, especially when on-the-go. 

Your Personal Vacation Staycation Planner

We know, we know… it’s easier said than done. Crafting cohesive SEO strategies AND monitoring their performance takes time. Tourism branches and brands don’t always have a dedicated SEO specialist or content creator working on amplifying their “searchability.” But we do. 

Whether you want to start a staycation SEO campaign for your brand or begin generating content creation and influencer relations, you need an agile agency – one that gets the industry. 

Let’s talk. 

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