Search drives users to travel websites

With summer in full swing, more users are logging to the Internet to research destinations. Research from Compete indicates that search engines are pushing more users toward travel aggregators. Which terms are leading users to these sites?

by Kristina Knight

In many cases it is the brand name. Travelocity, Orbitz and Priceline have become nearly household names and Compete's new search tool indicates that these names are three of the leading search keywords for travel information. Of the top five search terms, all five were actual website names. Travelocity (3% share), Expedia (2.6% share), Orbitz (2.1% share), Cheap Tickets (1.4% share) and Expedia (1.3% share) all ranked at the top of the list for search terms.

Other top search terms include airline tickets (1.1% share), cheap flights (.75% share) and cheap airline tickets (.69% share).

What is more interesting that these terms, however, is that users to input these terms are actually less likely to convert to sales once they are on the website. User who end at a travel aggregator because of a branded term like a brand name are about 40% less likely to buy a ticket or book a hotel stay.

This indicates that travel hubs need to be more careful about which search terms are used in paid search campaigns. Rather than using "cheap tickets" or a branded name, using more generic terms like cheap airline tickets, cheap hotels or related terms will help the ROI of the campaign.