Your German guests are already planning their next trip. Germans simply love to travel, and as a German travel writer I want them to venture to your destination or hotel! Many of your future clients are German, many more are not. By using a friendly, multilingual approach to travel marketing as well as travel SEO, we can make sure they find your business – before the competition…
Did you know: Germans love to travel
Germans love to travel, and as a German travel writer I want them to venture in your direction! Many of your future clients are German, many more are not. By using a friendly, multilingual approach to travel marketing, we can make sure they find your business – before the competition…
According to EU data, German tourists are responsible for over 35% of EU tourism. One in every three European tourists is German, and most Germans spend their holidays outside of Germany. The global German tourist market is worth over €80 billion globally and, as a nation, Germany is the block’s biggest spender on outbound tourism (source).
Although tourism dropped during the Coronavirus pandemic, the German travel sector is now bouncing back. Here are some reliable statistics to put that into perspective:
- Over 57% of Germans travel for 4 nights or more.
- Only 7% of trips are between 1 and 3 nights.
- Germans spend 60% of their holiday budget outside of Germany.
- Germans spend an average of €1,000 per trip and €115 per night.
- They average over 70 million tourism trips per year.
All of this makes Germans an essential target group for any kind of travel marketing, whatever the nature of your business. The question is, how can you turn cold data into repeat bookings?
Well, I’m glad you asked: That is where I come in.
The benefits of travel writing
Travel writing is about bringing the right guests to your location in the numbers you want. These are the people who love your travel destination, leave good reviews, and cannot wait to come back.
Why do I need an experienced native German travel writer?
German travellers have very specific habits. I have a native understanding of Germanic culture, and I know all the different archetypes of German travellers.
I understand how, where, and why they plan their holidays the way they do.
Also, I have a deep insight into what German travellers expect from their holiday destination, what motivates them emotionally, and what kinds of experiences they are searching for.
What’s more, I take a personal but strategic approach to every destination and hotel. Each location is unique and it requires an understanding of your individual character, style, and setting to make it resonate with your potential customers.
I will make your travel destination known on the German speaking market.
Personality works
When I connect with a client for the first time, I see that many of them have generic copy that is not working very hard or effectively – or even no relevant content at all. We want your guests to make an informed choice about who you really are and the wonderful benefits you offer. This is only possible through personal, objective experience.
When we decide to work together, I will come to your location to see, taste, and feel what makes your destination or hotel different from all the rest. I then feed all of that sensory experience into my writing.
Experience has shown me (and probably you too), that it is better to communicate the benefits of your business very clearly, right from the start. Your client’s expectations are met when they arrive, you are in a good position to over-deliver, resulting in excellent review.
It all comes down to whether or not I can write what your guests want to read. The answer to that question is: Yes.
When might you need a bilingual travel writer?
With a bilingual marketing strategy you will be targeting anybody who speaks German (DACH countries) – as well as any English speaker.
Defining and communicating your value proposition is not easy in your native language, it can be even harder in German. And you need German if you want to expand your reach into the German speaking world.
I also speak and write fluent English and French, which means I can communicate easily with a wide range of clients. Through my existing network of native English and German travel writers, I can ensure that my output speaks to your target audience with a style and tone that they understand.
Do you know travel SEO? Don’t worry, I do!
You probably know a bit about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Maybe you are already working with some form of travel SEO strategy. It can be complicated and stressful, especially in smaller marketing departments that have to manage multiple channels of engagement.
I offer a comprehensive, multilingual approach to any travel SEO content strategy. Let me take care of everything from creating English or German SEO content to German website translation to optimising how you appear on booking platforms like booking.com, AirBnB and beyond, and help you to measure the results.
I am also able to audit your existing content strategy to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Because I want you to succeed, I am always objective in my analysis.
You may already have a content strategy, but if its not driven by data it will not drive results. In my audit, I will tell you what your target audience is searching for and how to reach them more effectively through SEO.
I will also compare your content strategy to your closest competitors so that we can find their weaknesses and amplify your strengths.
What is a travel writer and what do travel writers do?
Travel writers create the words that lead to experience. As a regular travel blogger myself, I am able to see every destination from three angles; the guest, the destination, and the marketing.
When I started blogging back in 2009, I focused on my own experience. However, I quickly realised that effective travel writing requires you to hold multiple objectives together at the same time.
Put simply, the destination is about the what, the guest is about the why, and the marketing comes down to the how; the digital steps required to physically connect people and place.
Take a trip to my German travel blog and you can read what I mean!
My process: I come to you.
To bring customers through your door, I use a variety of digital tools and strategies. As a digital travel writer and blogger, my approach needs to be strategic and my toolkit needs to be versatile.
I want to know your business goals and challenges. This helps me to understand the practical and emotional needs of your customers, and how your offer meets those needs.
We want to make you visible and relevant to the people who are planning their next holiday.
Yes, I use words, but it is always about translating the benefits of your business into a language that Google loves and your customers can understand.
Here is how we might work together:
- Write me an e-mail right now or use my booking calendar to set up a free video call.
- We meet via video and get to know each other.
- If we decide to work together, I come to your destination.
- We create an SEO content strategy including audit, consulting, strategy & content creation.
- I experience your destination, and we create unique, strategic travel content that speaks to your German target group.
- We begin our journey to page one of Google.de, google.at and google.ch.
Experience has shown me (and probably you too), that it is better to communicate the benefits of your business very clearly, right from the start…
When we meet in person I can see your entire business in context with an objective eye. I learn exactly which of my services you need (and which you do not) and it helps me to help you better.
Because your business is unique, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. You can tell me all about you, your travel business, your customers and your competitors. You are not the same as your closest competitor; far from it.
It is all about bringing qualified German guests to your location. These are not just any guests. These are people who will love your destination, share their stay on social media, and leave 5-star Google reviews.
Ask a German travel writer …
Destination marketing is about raising the profile of a specific geographical area or region. The goal is to celebrate all the wonderful and unique experiences a travel destination has to offer, and to make sure people know about it.
By bringing visitors to a certain travel destination, villages, towns, and provincial governments can diversify their economies and raise their cultural profile.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a foundational step in all digital marketing. It provides an array of tools and methodologies to increase search engine visibility, drive traffic and engagement.
If you are promoting a travel destination, you will need travel SEO and a dedicated content strategy.
Luxury hotels need to be visible. In the old days, your hotel might have relied on word-of-mouth reputation and location. The solution was simple: keep being wonderful, do some print advertising, and make sure you had good signage on the main road.
Today we still want people to find your hotel, but the problem is increasing competition and online visibility. With solid travel SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) you can beat the competition, and make sure that your guests see your exclusive hotel when they type (or speak) a question into Google.
If you are a hotel and you are not doing SEO, you are invisible online. Let me help you to put your hotel on the (Google) map.
If you have a travel website and you are finding it difficult to generate traffic, you probably need a solid SEO strategy as a starting point. Without travel SEO, it is hard for guests and customers to find even the most beautiful website.
Travel websites solve problems: They make it easier for customers to find the original, exciting experiences they want from their holidays. Travel sites can be full of inspiring stories, remarkable venues and engaging images, but without SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) they are invisible online.
I can fix that with my travel SEO services.
Well, I am German (which has to count for something!) but, I write in English and German. I can describe the wonder of international travel destinations and luxury hotels for German speaking and international tourists. This dual perspective gives me a bit of an edge over other German SEO copywriters.
I could talk about how much I love to travel but that is not really the point. It all comes down to whether or not I can write what your guests want to read. The answer to that question is “I can!”.
Travel writing is actually not about travel. It is about two things.
Firstly, travel writing is about emotions. Emotions are the foundation of experience. And experience is what drives people to travel. Travel writing is about appealing to the emotional world of your ideal guests.
When travel writing is evocative it becomes effective. It needs to paint an exciting picture of time and place, of sensory experience and future treasured memory.
Secondly, travel writing is about using the right kind of words to drive the right kinds of visitors to your business. Google (and other search engines, e.g. Booking.com or Expedia) use text based algorithms to rank your business in search results. This is called SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and I do it for the German travel sector.
The idea behind travel SEO is quite simple: people go online to search for a travel experience. I make sure that your words are the most relevant, they visit your site, and a certain percentage of them will book a room or an activity with your business.
Read more about the workings of travel SEO in my blog post “SEO Services for the Travel Industry: How to Get Found on Google” to see what it can do for your hotel or travel destination.
I mainly write travel content for luxury hotels and travel destinations.
Luxury hotels require constantly updated content to promote their offers, stay ahead of their competition, and keep visitors interested.
Likewise, travel destinations are constantly adapting to market trends and refining their offers in light of competitor activity. So, search engine optimized content is a must.
All travel businesses want to attract guests online. I create travel content that will inspire German speaking travellers to take a trip somewhere wonderful. Somewhere very near you!
One of my great loves is destination marketing. There is a richness to destination travel marketing: A single destination is made up of several different venues that can offer value to a range of target groups.
Interested in detail, how your destination or hotel can rank on Google’s page 1? I describe my services and approach on my travel blog about content marketing for Tourism & Hotels.
Travel content and SEO are not just a good match. They are an essential partnership in successful content marketing.
Perhaps you are already writing wonderful content with beautiful images of your hotel or destination? The guests are having a glorious time reading it and the words are well written.
But is it working? Are people reacting to your calls to action? Are there any bookings coming from that particular landing page or blog post? In short: Is your content working hard enough for you?
The truth is that you need good content which your visitors will read and be inspired by. However, you also need to please Google. That is where travel SEO comes in.
If you have a blog or website with no comprehensive SEO strategy, then you are close to invisible in organic search results. Your only traffic will be coming directly from paid advertising (PPC), email or social media.
As a German SEO specialist I know: Over 70% of web business comes through organic search. If you want to benefit from all of those travel searches, you need to invest in Search Engine Optimization.