At home

According to an eMarketer report from April 2015, the world will spend $170.85 billion on digital advertising in 2015 – and nearly half that will be spent on search, so a good place to start is to make small changes to your current site. The most successful customer-centric travel businesses know improvements are an ongoing process, so stay up-to-date with search and keep an eye on how changes could affect you.

Help the search engine index your page properly by making sure your page titles, text and images accurately describe your content. Try to use the same terminology your customers would use rather than industry jargon because this will ensure they find your pages when they search. Optimising your site to work on smartphones and tablets is also crucial since in more than 10 key markets worldwide, over 50% of web traffic is now coming from these devices.

Once you’re up and running, a free Google service called Search Console can give you feedback about how your website, monitoring your performance and showing you how the search engine “sees” it online.

Don’t shy away from search advertising too, one of the most effective ways to grow your business. Pay Per Click ads placed on webpages near search engine results can show your business at the moment someone is searching for something relating to your offering, regardless of what device they’re using. For example, Captain Mike Jennings of Cotswold Balloon Safaris has used Google AdWords to great effect.

From nothing, AdWords helped create brand awareness, launched him (and the balloons!) into the marketplace and continues to drive national and international traffic to his site. As with SEO, choose keywords that relate closely to your offering – Cotswolds, group tours – so you’re targeting your most relevant prospects.

Expanding abroad

One of the main reasons that some of the bigger players have been so successful is their ability to market themselves overseas, part of which is simply based on clever digital marketing. For Secret Escapes, success is attracting and acquiring new members, and since 2011, setting up a search marketing campaign is the first thing the company does when it has identified a new market – now in seven countries and having acquired five million new members, it can both accurately forecast targets and meet them comfortably.

First things first: you need to speak your customer’s language - literally. Consider finding a native speaker to review your site and ensure that cultural references make your business seem more “local”.

If you think you’re ready to look for overseas customers, it’s very simple to explore new markets.

Free online tools such as Global Market Finder use worldwide internet search data, which can help you prioritise where you may have most success, using information such as keyword searches by market and language.