Air travel is entering a new era, whereby private jet charter flights are no longer just for businessmen or wealthy travellers. Just as Airbnb and Uber have boldly burst into their respective markets to disrupt the ways things have always been done, there is now a similar opportunity in private air travel.
Travellers expect to be able to access and book private air travel just as easily and cost-effectively as they can with other elements of their journey – a trend that private jet owners can capitalise on using digital marketing. A quick Google search returns results for brands like LunaJets, Prestige Jets and Air Charter Service, so how can you compete against these competitors and increase your search engine results page (SERP) visibility?
Discovering and ranking for the best keywords
Keywords – the link between potential customers’ search intent and your website. You want to make sure that your website ranks as high as possible naturally within the SERPs for the keywords that matter to your business, with landing pages that match your target keywords as closely as possible. Research shows that click-through rate drops significantly with lower page rankings, so targeting private jet charter flight keywords with low competition from other websites is key, giving you a better chance of ranking well.
Keyword tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner can help you understand keyword competition as well as volume, giving you the insight you need to target keywords that are popular but that you also have a shot at ranking for. Don’t limit your keyword research to obvious core conversion keywords like ‘book a private jet charter flight’; map out what potential customers might be searching for right from the inspiration and research phases through to being ready to book. Look at websites already ranking on the first results page and see what you can learn from the content they’re sharing, and how you can improve on it.
Taking ‘how much does a UK private charter jet flight cost’ as a search-term example, PrivateFlycurrently ranks in the number 1 organic spot and also has a coveted featured snippet, intended to enhance and draw user attention. Look at the site for areas of improvement that can be used to make your content stand out.
Use a free tool like Ubersuggest to analyse the page’s backlink profile, and reach out to the linking websites to let them know you have fresh content that is more helpful – this will help you secure key backlinks that will help improve your domain authority and rankings.
Optimising your website for a great user experience
A well-optimised website shows Google and other search engines that you’re a good destination to send searchers to, helping you rank well in the SERPs. But what does ‘well-optimised’ mean? In 2019, Google is looking for mobile-friendly websites that provide a simple, clear user experience.
45% of UK smartphone users are comfortable researching, booking and planning trips to new destinations using just their mobile device, and the probability of visitors leaving your website after just one page increases 32% as page load time goes from 1 to 3 seconds. These two statistics show how important it is for private jet charter companies to provide a fantastic experience to drive bookings.
Make sure that your website is created using responsive design, so it looks great and works well on any device. You can use a free tool like Google Lighthouse to audit your web pages and flag up any issues or areas of concern. Keep in mind the great user experiences provided by your rival flight and industry-leading hotel brands – your website must offer an equal if not better experience in order to stand out and appeal to customers – Exact Aviation provides a really slick mobile experience, for example.
Using content to build brand awareness and generate bookings
Private jet charter flights are an emerging trend in the travel industry. Capitalise on this new territory by using content to inspire interest and educate potential customers on this new era of travel. Reach out to travellers and use a variety of content to explore the USPs of this type of transport, while building trust and credibility as a private jet charter flight provider.
Great content also helps you increase your brand footprint, generating awareness and placing you front of mind for would-be customers – make sure the quality of your copywriting is as good as it can be.
Spend time mapping out your business goals and objectives, whether they relate to revenue, awareness, engagement or lead generation. By doing so, you’ll have clear areas of focus on which to anchor your content, helping you to make sure that what you produce is always contributing to the metrics that matter to your business.
PrivateFly is an example of a brand that’s trying to use visual content to its advantage but without a clear strategy. Its Instagram page mixes beautiful travel imagery with shots of planes, business events they’ve attended, and randomly placed albeit cute dogs. Its approach doesn’t feel connected to a clear plan – something you should avoid in order to achieve competitive advantage.
Laying a strong digital marketing foundation now, as private jet charter flights are on the rise, will stand you in excellent stead as the trend takes off and more travellers turn to private jet travel to get from A to B. Make sure your website owns the SERPs for the keywords that matter most to your business by undertaking thorough keyword research and identifying target keywords that combine growing search volume with low competition.
Get your website ready to compete with the like of big flight and hotel brands, especially in terms of mobile user experience. Use content to educate and inspire potential customers, building brand credibility and trust early on that will help drive bookings later on. By getting these digital marketing basics right, you’re setting yourself up well to capitalise on the rise of private jet charter flights as the travel transport of choice.