October 29, 2024
Boosting Horowhenua District tourism through trend-driven content strategiesHow Horowhenua District used trendspotting and timely content to boost engagement and conversions for seasonal tourism.
Destination Queenstown (DQ) is the Regional Tourism Organisation responsible for both destination marketing and destination management.
Working closely with local businesses and industry partners, DQ is responsible for marketing Queenstown as a visitor destination, both domestically and internationally.
DQ’s role involves creating destination preference, shaping demand, and helping holiday planners explore the best that Queenstown as to offer.
Destination Queenstown had good rankings across its key audience segments.
But there was an opportunity to further optimise its content and strategies to capture untapped markets and enhance member engagement.
For Destination Queenstown (DQ), the challenge is multi-faceted.
DQ needs to appeal to a diverse range of visitor types— outdoor enthusiasts, adrenaline seekers, foodies, luxury travellers, and family vacationers.
DQ must maintain seasonally relevant content that attracts the right audience at the right time.
We covered a number of areas with our SEO strategy. For this case study, we’ve zeroed in on the Winter/Ski segment.
Our approach delivered significant results over the course of two years, with notable milestones along the way.
Our goal was to enhance organic visibility and drive conversions across all ski segments.
We started with extensive keyword research and competitor analysis.
We dug into keywords related to winter and skiing, pulling from competitor sites and Destination Queenstown’s own data.
We categorised these keywords by audience and search intent—informational, navigational, and commercial investigation.
While Queenstown already ranked well for high-volume keywords, we spotted opportunities to optimise specific terms and close content gaps.
We identified ski-related keywords as key drivers of high-intent traffic, particularly for their winter audiences.
To capture these audiences at different stages of their booking journey, we worked with DQ to craft content that answered their questions—from choosing Queenstown over other ski spots to booking accommodation and rentals.
For the winter interest audience, we honed in on broader, top-level search terms through story-driven content. We prioritised navigational searches like “things to do in Queenstown during winter” and “winter weekend getaways from Auckland” to spark inspiration and engagement.
This segment featured keywords where the site already ranked well but had room for improvement. We focused on optimising terms where the site ranked 10th or lower, targeting high-volume, low-difficulty keywords to boost rankings and capture more organic traffic.
We recognised an opportunity to leverage Queenstown's high demand compared to other NZ ski destinations. By creating helpful comparative content—like articles contrasting skiing experiences across regions—we aimed to capture broader search interest and attract potential visitors weighing their options.
We fine-tuned navigational pages across the site by updating H1s and H2s to align with the highest-volume queries. This strategy was designed to improve search visibility and click-through rates, especially for pages that were already performing well but could benefit from further optimisation.
We helped DQ to craft specific content tailored to key audience segments, including beginners, families, and backcountry enthusiasts. This content is SEO-optimised with targeted keywords to meet the unique needs and interests of each segment.
As our strategy took hold, the results became clear and compelling.
Our keyword rankings across all segments saw substantial gains. The ski segment that we mentioned showed significant improvement, with visibility soaring by 20% from 2022 to 2023. The average position for ski-related keywords improved dramatically, improving by 3.8 places, and has maintained a strong position in 2024.
General overall visibility also surged by 48.5%, and remained strong in 2024, reflecting sustained improvement.
We also saw a significant boost in average monthly organic traffic, with an 11% increase in June 2022 to June 2024, highlighting the lasting impact of our SEO efforts.
These results underscore the power of a targeted, data-driven SEO strategy, driving sustainable growth and enhancing Queenstown’s overall digital presence.
If you want to discover how an SEO strategy could impact your business, get in touch.
How Horowhenua District used trendspotting and timely content to boost engagement and conversions for seasonal tourism.
