Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Thanks Miriam

You have a been a great help. You have understood our circumstances perfectly and your suggestions fall in with our general gut feelings. So there is a lot more networking ahead of us to build the awareness.

Hi Nigel

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions the page structure you describe is something we are currently working on.

It is a pity there is not a way to recreate the traditional brochure stand that you find in a Visitors Information Centre where sometimes you discover an experience you would not have thought of asking for before walking in the door.

You mention that maps help the pages rank. Are you talking about Google Places or the general use of a Google map on a page? Currently we use Google maps to display a .KMZ file that shows the route we will be taking. Is this the same?

Thanks again

Mark

Hi Joe and Nigel

I think I must be missing something.

Currently our tour to Carnarvon Gorge is near or at the top of the SERP if someone searches for “cycling tour Carnarvon Gorge”.

The problem we are trying to solve is that we are finding that no matter where a searcher is in the purchasing funnel for a “cycling tour” they seem to be adding a geo-modifier ie “cycling tour New Zealand” or “cycling tour South Australia”.

It would appear that people only search for cycling tours in locations that they have heard others have been to. As a result no one is looking for a cycling tour in Carnarvon Gorge or Australia as this location is nowhere near the usual cycling destinations.

If I understand you both correctly you are suggesting that if I am trying to get our “cycling tour” to “Carnarvon Gorge” into the SERP I should create a page about Queensland which has a link to another page about Carnarvon Gorge which then includes a link to our detailed tour page. Is this correct?

So what I do not understand is how creating the suggested page structure will help us get our “cycling tour Carnarvon Gorge” which is in Australia into the SERP when someone searches for “cycling tour Italy” which is in a completely different country. I do not think this is possible or am I missing something?

How will Google maps help with this?

As I mentioned previously currently the only solution we have found is to use word of mouth to let people know about our new tours.  Am I wrong and is there an SEO solution?

Thanks

Mark

Thanks Nigel

Our issue is that we do not offer tours in the countries where people are looking.

Rather we are trying to open up new touring routes where both Australians and international travellers do not traditionally look. So our problem is that when people anchor their search with a geo-modifier such as "cycling tours England" we do not get a look in.

We run local tours in our home town and in this instance a local page  as you describe including the geo-modifier works perfectly.

The down side of geo-modified searching stops people from finding options they had never thought of and serendipitously finding our new offerings.

Regards

Mark

I should start by saying we are new to SEO.

We are introducing new “cycling tours” in new destinations and we are looking for a strategy to combat geo-modified keyword searches.

When people search for “cycling tours” they will anchor their search with a geo-modifier such as “cycling tours France” or “cycling tours Italy”.

Based in Australia we are keen to communicate to Australians searching for international cycling tours there are new Australian options that they may wish to consider.

The geo-modifiers required to find our tours (“eyre peninsula” and “carnarvon gorge”) are currently not on the cycling communities radar.

For example to find one of our new tours you need to use “cycling tours eyre peninsula” or “cycling tours carnarvon gorge”.

Currently the only solution we have found to let people know about our new tours is by word of mouth.

Is there an SEO solution?