Here are some best practices I'd recommend to help a travel website try to rank #1 in Google search results:
- Ensure your website is fully optimized for search. This includes things like:
- Using targeted keywords in headings, content, URLs, alt text, etc. Research what terms people search for and focus your content around those.
- Create locally-optimized landing pages targeting searches for specific destinations. Have robust content, imagery, and local details.
- Focus on building high-quality backlinks from relevant sites like tourism boards, travel blogs, directories, etc. This helps with domain authority.
- Produce regular blog content posts around trending destinations, travel tips, things to do, current events impacting travelers, etc. to demonstrate fresh information.
- Make the website as fast and mobile-friendly as possible. Site speed and responsiveness matter in rankings.
- Include rich media like images, maps, itineraries, videos and user-generated content. Engagement and time on site impact search rankings.
- Develop a user-friendly UI/UX and site architecture. Internal site search and navigation should be intuitive.
- Leverage Google tools like Google Travel, Google Flights, Google Hotels where applicable. Integration can help.
- Build up ratings/reviews and social media presence to demonstrate reputation and authority around travel advice.
- Track keyword rankings and tweak efforts to continually improve targeting top terms travelers search for.
Focusing on all aspects of technical SEO, quality content production, optimizing for local search queries, and building brand authority as a travel resource should help a website compete for those coveted #1 positions over time. Let me know if you have any other questions!
