Jamie Biesiada
Does your website offer destination content clients and potential clients can browse? If not, you might want to think about adding it, because it can be a valuable lead-generation tool.
According to Marilyn Macallair, vice president of business development for Passport Online, destination content ranks among the most important things an agent's website can have.
Passport Online offers agents website and social media solutions, and powers over 6,000 consumer-facing websites for agents. After agent demand, Passport Online recently added destination content to more than 3,000 websites, featuring destination overviews, more detailed sections and rich content from destinations and suppliers.
"We track everything," Macallair said. "We know how many consumers are going to our agency websites, we know what they're looking at, we know what they're digging down into."
Destination content is a good way to capture consumers and keep them on an agent's website, Macallair said - and, potentially, keep them away from Google and other travel sites.
Consumers are "clearly going into an agent's website and they're shopping," she said. "They're going in and they're looking for destination information or cruise information. They're searching for... 'Europe in the summer,' and then they're going deeper into where do I want to go, what do I want to do. They're clearly shopping, because they shop on the Internet. That's what they do."
Of the nearly 7.5 million unique visitors to Passport Online's agent websites in July, around 400,000 shoppers went deeper into the websites, evidence that they are interested in searching for more information and shopping.
"We know they're doing more than just looking on the front page," Macallair said. "We know that they are actually searching for information."
Macallair ranked destination content as one of the top four things an agent can have on his or her website. It should always include a call to action, or a way to contact the agent, on every page. In addition to a phone number and email, Macallair also encouraged agents to include a number potential clients can text, so they have options and can access their agent in the channel they are most comfortable in.
In addition to destination content, she said every website should include a profile on the agent and their agency information. Their agent profile is unique, which is key for search engine optimization, according to Macallair.
"The No. 1 thing that every agent and every agency has to have on their website is information about them that's unique," she said, which will help them stand out among a crowded Internet full of websites. Updating content with new photos and testimonials also helps.
Agents should also feature supplier content consumers can browse, and a search box to facilitate that browsing, Macallair said.
Finally, a call to action and links to the agent's social media presence on every page - not just destination pages - is necessary. Similarly, social media pages should link to the agent's website.
"Social media has got to be part of your program now," Macallair said. "You've got to link it... Everything is connected now."