One of my searches – for an interactive dolphin experience in Western Australia – took me to 2 specialist operators: Naturaliste Charters and Rockingham Dolphins.

So why did these operators get my attention?

1. Relevant content, optimised for search

Well, for one thing, they appeared high in Google’s ‘organic’ search list.

These are the links that appear through a process of natural selection on the left-hand side, as opposed to the sponsored links listed on the right and sometimes at the top.

Their position in the organic links tells us that Naturaliste Charters and Rockingham Dolphins carry authority in the eyes of Google. To achieve this, the sites are search-optimised and contain relevant content (i.e. the content matches my search intentions).

2. Inbound links

It’s also likely that both sites are getting some quality inbound links, as this is another way the search engines decide on a site’s overall authority.

The best way to achieve this is to link to other high-ranking sites and encourage them to link to yours. Google checks where the links are coming from and only gives you brownie points for authentic links from relevant sites.

Naturaliste Charters has some excellent links at the foot of its home page, which are a useful resource for site visitors and will serve to encourage back links from those sites.

But while a high ranking will bring you traffic, it won’t necessarily hold the attention of your visitors or convert them to bookings.

There are certain features of a site that help to keep your prospects’ interested enough to have a good rummage around. Both Naturaliste Charters and Rockingham Dolphins held my interest for different reasons, but I’m going to focus on Rockingham Dolphins because they kept me onsite for longer.

3. The travel experience

First, I could immediately read not just about the tours available but about what it’s like to swim with wild dolphins. And the good quality images help to tell the story visually. This all confirms for me that I want to share this amazing experience – I want to “be there, doing that”.

Tourism Australia research tells us that inbound visitors to Australia are “experience-seekers” first and foremost. So the experience needs to be paramount in your online content.

4. Personality and passion

It’s easy to get to know the crew through their profiles, which communicate their personality and humour in just the right measures. There’s also some interesting information on the history of the company that conveys the passion that led Terry to set up the business.

A conversational style with lots of personality is something that Tourism Australia also encourages in marketing material, since research shows that this is what visitors find most engaging.

5. Awards and affiliations

There’s also plenty of credibility in evidence on the Rockingham site, with awards and environmental affiliations. They now have my trust.

So don’t be afraid to blow your own trumpet – this is a vital part of the conversion process.

6. The booking process

In practical terms, if I want more detail I can download a brochure (quickly) and the information on booking and getting there is easy to find and clear.

If site visitors have to work hard to find out what their options are and how to make a booking, you could well lose them.

7. The all-important blog

There’s only one thing missing for me from these sites: a stream of news and stories that I can read and maybe even subscribe to. Naturaliste Charters does have a newsletter that visitors can subscribe to, but having news on the site is more immediately engaging and likely to lead to more subscriptions.

Blogging is vital for tourism operators in today’s online travel environment, and is an easy way to post regular updates and news. Site visitors can subscribe to a blog by email, or via an RSS feed which means they can receive your news stream without giving their email address – some visitors will prefer this.

Blogging also helps your search ranking, attracts online browsers through blog search engines (such as Technorati), engages visitors who are used to a more informal, newsy style of content, gives you more opportunities to link to other sites, builds a more comprehensive portfolio of content on your site, adds personality, and encourages interaction through comments.

7 ways to hook your audience