Are you looking for an effective, engaging way to market your travel business? Imagine having travelers specifically seek you out as an authority in your field—without sifting through cold leads. With a targeted approach, you can become the go-to expert travelers turn to when they’re ready to book. This guide will walk you through a powerful strategy that helps you gain visibility and credibility on YouTube, the world’s second-largest search engine. Let’s dive in.
Dominating Your Space on YouTube
The travel niche on YouTube is highly competitive, but with the right strategy, you can carve out your unique space. Many creators on YouTube already own their lanes by focusing on specific queries people search for every day. What does it mean to “dominate YouTube”? It means becoming the top answer to questions potential travelers are asking. To show you how this works, let’s look at examples from various industries.
On YouTube, type in a common question like “10 things you should never say to your child,” and you’ll find top-ranking experts like Paul Jenkins and Nicholeen Peck, both placed there using targeted SEO strategies. The same approach can be used for travel. Imagine typing “how to start a retreat business” and finding your channel in the top results. The strategy we’ll discuss here is designed to help you achieve this kind of visibility.
Finding Key Questions Travelers Are Asking
One of the best ways to connect with potential clients is by answering the questions they’re already searching for. For this, we use a tool called the Keyword Magic Tool to explore specific search phrases people are typing in related to travel destinations. Let’s take Machu Picchu as an example. Typing “Machu Picchu” into the tool reveals a range of queries like “How to get to Machu Picchu?” or “How long does it take to get to Machu Picchu?” These are questions that real travelers ask while planning their trips.
It’s essential to filter these queries to focus on those that indicate travel intent. For instance, someone asking “When was Machu Picchu built?” may not be a traveler, but someone searching “how to get to Machu Picchu from Lima” likely is. This distinction helps you create content that resonates directly with people planning their trips.
For instance, another search, “See Paris,” shows questions like “What to see in Paris?” or “What is there to see and do in Paris?” Using filters for more specific phrases like “What to see in Paris in 3 days?” gives you even better insight into what travelers want. Another search around “Mediterranean cruise” reveals common questions such as “What to wear on a Mediterranean cruise in October?” and “When is the best time to cruise the Mediterranean?”
Positioning Your Travel Business as the Go-To Source
The next step is to create videos that directly answer these specific questions. Right now, travelers searching these queries are finding other people, not you. But by producing targeted video content, you can change that. Answering these specific travel-related questions on YouTube allows you to reach viewers already interested in your destination or services.
The strategy I recommend to consistently rank your videos on YouTube is known as the leaf strategy. This approach focuses on creating niche, highly-specific content (like individual leaves on a tree) that branches out to cover various subtopics within your expertise. This way, your videos dominate search results by answering the exact questions travelers are asking.
If you’re ready to dive deeper into the leaf strategy and see real results, check out my next episode on YouTube SEO where I explain how to implement this technique step-by-step.
