Alton Towers - seo

Background and client brief

fuse8 was appointed by Alton Towers Resort to provide search engine optimisation (SEO) services with the objective of maximising the commercial opportunities from its online presence. We carried out an in depth SEO review and competitor analysis before submitting a comprehensive report detailing their findings and recommendations. This information was used in conjunction with recommendations from a previously commissioned usability report to redesign the website content map and information architecture. A separate corporate web site was also commissioned with similar goals and objectives.

Objectives

The following objectives were set for the search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign:

• Increase organic traffic from search engines
• Improve the quality of organic traffic
• Enhance the search engine visibility of the website
• Raise the level of income through the website
• Improve the websites positions in Google for wider range of keywords
• Enhance usability of the website
• Improve goal conversions

Strategy implementation

• In-depth analysis of the website was carried out in order to assess its strength and weaknesses and gain genuine insight and understanding into the extent of Alton Tower’s existing online presence.
• Competitor analysis was carried out in order to fully understand the marketplace. As well as competing against other UK theme parks the Alton Towers site also competes against high profile information and holiday websites such as Wikipedia.org, Lastminute.com and Superbreak.com
• Keyword research was undertaken to identify the most relevant keywords with the highest volume of searches.
• Usability research was carried out by a third party which identified further issues with the website structure, its functionality and navigation.
• Following full analysis, the decision was made to re-develop the website using the SEO and usability findings and to create new information architecture reflecting the client’s requirements and SEO best practice.
• Content optimisation has started and is targeting every SEO factor one by one with the priority for individual pages being identified by the client each month. Only a few pages have been optimised so far, with the next sections identified for optimisation being Halloween and Christmas parties and breaks.
• On topic analysis is carried out to identify and add any missing topical elements of content to pages. Relevant targeted keyword phrases are added in the visible HTML text.
• Title, Meta description and keywords optimisation is on-going.
• URLs were rewritten to include relevant keywords and improve snippet visibility in search engine results pages.
• Permanent URL re-directing of old URLs took place to make the transition from the old to the new site smooth without losing any existing page history and traffic.
• The new optimised website was launched in April 2009 and content optimisation continues.

Results

• Like-for-like organic traffic from search engines to the Alton Towers website increased by 38.81% YOY in June 2009 – from 499,618 visits in June 2008 to 693,500 visits in June 2009. Google organic traffic has gone up by 31.31% - from 433,933 visits via 8,649 keywords to 569,777 visits via 21,092 keywords. These figures suggest that non-paid visits and the number of keywords which bring traffic to the site are both increasing with the latter having risen by 144% YOY.
• Organic visits have improved throughout the UK. Search engines sent 659,690 visits during June 2009 compared to only 477,022 visits in June last year – indicating an increase of 38.29%. Organic visits from Ireland have increased YOY by 68.88%.
• Particularly impressive increases in visitors have been generated from a number of major UK cities. The number of visitors from London has increased by 67.24%, Manchester increased by 109.78%, Glasgow increased by 266.00% and Leeds increased by 108.20%
• Like-for-like organic traffic for non-brand related keywords went up by 65% YOY in June 2009 – from 9,043 to 14,921. This means that the number of search engine users who are not sure which theme park or resort they want to visit find the Alton Towers websites via keywords such as theme park, water park, short family breaks, etc. The variety of keywords which exclude the brand name has increased by 168% from 1,606 to 4,301.
• The quality of organic traffic has also improved dramatically. For example, during June 2008, organic search sent only 9 visits via the “short breaks” keyword compared to 107 visits in June 2009, indicating a 1,089% increase.
• Ticket searches increased by 160.40% - from 11,830 in June 2009 to 4,543 in June 2008; water park searches increased by 219.51% and annual pass searches increased by 144.32%.
• Total visits increased from 668,617 last June to 990,198 in June 2009, indicating a 48.10% increase year on year.
• Number of new visitors is up by 57.25%, suggesting success at driving traffic to the new website.
• Number of returning visitors is up by 32.39%, proving that the new website is a lot more successful in retaining existing visitors.
• Number of referring websites is up by 176.11%, indicating increasing popularity of the new website.
• Search engines now bring 74.52% of the entire website traffic.
• Online ticket sales have so far increased by 23% year on year. Within this increase, twice as many family tickets have been sold compared to this time last year
• Due to the success of the SEO campaign, 15% of the marketing budget is being directed into natural search this year rather than pay-per-click

Client testimonial

Digital & Direct Brand Manager for the Alton Towers Resort said: “The agency has continually impressed us with its technical ability and its development of a complex commercial website. They also came with a strong reputation in relation to SEO and we have not been disappointed. We are extremely pleased with the SEO work that has been delivered and know that that it is allowing us to maximise the commercial opportunities from our online presence.”