Most tour operators treat PPC and SEO as entirely separate strategies, managed by different teams with different goals. What we’ve found is that the clients who break down that silo consistently get more value from both channels – particularly when it comes to link building. But some of the most effective travel marketers have discovered that Google Ads data is one of the best tools available for building a high-performing SEO and link-building strategy. Here’s how to use your PPC insights to win better backlinks and more organic traffic.
Why PPC data is a goldmine for link building
Your Google Ads Search Term Reports show you exactly what real travellers type into Google when they’re looking for tours. This is primary research that most SEO and PR teams never have access to. The queries people use to find your tours are also the topics that travel journalists, bloggers, and content publishers are writing about – which means they’re potential link opportunities hiding in plain sight.
Step 1: Mine your search term report for content angles
We tend to see search term reports go largely unused for anything beyond negative keyword management – which is a missed opportunity. Pull your last 6–12 months of search term data from Google Ads and look for high-volume, high-converting queries that you don’t currently rank for organically. These represent genuine demand from travellers that your SEO strategy should be targeting. Common examples for tour operators include:
- “Best time to visit [destination]” – evergreen informational content that attracts natural links from travel sites
- “[Destination] itinerary [X] days” – highly linkable, shareable content
- “Is [destination] safe for solo travellers?” – high-intent, emotional content that generates editorial coverage
- “Small group vs private tours [destination]” – comparison content loved by travel journalists
Step 2: Identify your highest-value landing pages and build links to them
Your PPC data shows which destination and tour landing pages drive the highest conversion rates. These are exactly the pages you should be building backlinks to – because the combination of organic traffic and a page Google already knows converts well is extremely powerful. Use HARO (Help a Reporter Out), journalist outreach, and travel blogger partnerships to build links directly to these commercial pages.
Step 3: Use conversion data to prioritise your PR outreach
In our experience, tour operators who approach link building with conversion data behind them get far more traction with travel publications. Not all travel press is equal – a link from a high-authority travel publication that attracts the same demographic as your existing bookers is infinitely more valuable than one from a low-authority lifestyle blog. Use your Google Ads audience insights to understand who your customers are – their age, interests, other sites they visit – then target your PR and link-building outreach at the publications those people actually read. This makes your link-building ROI measurable and strategic rather than scattershot.
Step 4: Test content ideas with PPC before investing in SEO
Creating a 3,000-word destination guide is a significant investment. Before committing, run a short PPC campaign targeting the keywords that guide would rank for. If the traffic converts at a reasonable rate, you’ve validated the content investment. If it doesn’t, you’ve saved yourself weeks of content creation. This PPC-first validation approach is one of the smartest ways for tour operators to allocate content marketing budget.
Turn your PPC insights into an SEO advantage
The most successful travel businesses use every data source available to make smarter marketing decisions. If you’d like help connecting your PPC and SEO strategies, speak with our team – we help tour operators build integrated digital strategies that compound over time.