Rail Europe scientific search strategy

Illustrates the ever increasing importance of search engine optimisation ans search engine marketing in the online travel sector:

All Aboard the SEM Train: "Roman Godzich, a man with an incredible sense of wit that is only outweighed by his search engine marketing knowledge. As the vice president of e-business for Rail Europe, Godzich has his search strategy down to a science.
One of the biggest brands you might not have heard of, Rail Europe offers the most comprehensive selection of European rail products to the North American market . Let�s just say that the online business touches about 1 million customers every year. Oh, and his search budget is north of 50 percent of online spending."

He reiterates the holy grail of search ..track, analyse and tweak again again and again

"His golden rule for advertisers: tracking, tracking and more tracking. He adds that there is no point to search if you aren’t measuring. He is also a fan of running tests.

“During the low season I was constantly perturbed by the question of people researching at work and buying at home,” Mr. Godzich said. “So I ran a test. I shut down a set of keywords during the day to see the effect on sales at night.”

He did this three times with the same results. He then ran the same test in reverse, shutting down a set of keywords in the evening. Sure enough, the pattern was clear.

“This leads me to think that engines have a wider reach than we realize,” Mr. Godzich said. “If you want to be present at time of purchase, you have to be there at the time of consideration.” "

Your websites appearance in search results can be crucial to your brand:
"On the subject of branding and engine reach, he points out that natural search results are critical. In addition to ranking high, he urges marketers to make sure the title and description support the brand. He has found that if consumers recognize your brand in that URL, they are much more likely to click on a sponsored link when ready to buy."