SEO Case Study: How I Increased SEO Traffic & Ranking by 50-60% in 6 Months
Presentation egencia online & internet in belgiulm - bto 2010 06 03
1. Internet and social media
The outlook in Belgium
3 June 2010
Frankfurt, Germany
2. Agenda 3 June
1. Expedia
2. Egencia
3. Internet in Belgium & Europe
4. New developments in social networking related to
travel
5. Q&A
2 | Egencia Confidential
4. Who is Expedia?
Expedia is the world‘s number one online travel company and the largest
provider of hotel bookings worldwide.
Established in 1996, as a division within Microsoft Inc., spin-off in 1999 and
trading on NASDAQ under EXPE
In 2008, over 56 million gross room nights were booked on the Expedia, Inc.
portfolio of sites.
In 2009, $21.8B in bookings (+3% vs. 2008), $2.9B in revenue (+1%), $299.5M
in net profit (2008 includes +/- $3B impairment charge related to goodwill,
intangible & other long-lived assets)
(for details: http://investors.expediainc.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=190013&p=irol-reportsAnnual)
69 million global travelers visit our sites each month.
Over 15,000 global affiliate sites, with millions of additional customer visits
each month.
Find more information on
www.expediainc.com
4 | Egencia Confidential
5. Expedia companies operate
global points of sale in more than
70 countries
Expedia branded websites +
Venere + eLong in China
Hotels.com branded websites
(over 15.000 sites)
5 | Egencia Confidential
6. Expedia Worldwide Distribution
• Reaches customers in more than 70 countries with 80M shoppers globally
North America: 50M shoppers, EMEA/APAC: 30M shoppers
6 | Egencia Confidential
8. Egencia’s Quick Backgrounder
Established in 2002, as Expedia Corporate Travel in USA, with entry in
Europe in 2004 (France). Belgian entity purchased in 2004. Name changed to
Egencia in 2008
In 2009, $1.4B in bookings (-9% vs. 2008), $108M in revenue (-1%)
Large majority of bookings
captured online, with offline
support
Currently established
in over 25 countries WW,
Belgian office location:
Brussels
8 | Egencia Confidential
9. Egencia’s Model
The only tool built to answer
the need of flexibility required
by corporate travelers.
Customer
Online Service Online bookings modified by Travel
Consultants
Offline bookings appear on website
Constant help from Travel Consultants on
website usability and take control over an
online booking on your profile
Travel policy systematically applied, with
approval
Advise and book the most complex trips
Services Ticketing
User profile
Travel policy
Negotiated rates London to New York
Analytical imputations
Approval Start online… Call your travel
Invoicing Management agent for advice… finish online…
call back to modify…hang up &
Reporting your booking is online again….
9 | Egencia Confidential
12. Internet penetration in Belgium
Some numbers:
7,292,300 Internet users as of September 2009, being 70.0% of the
population (I.T.U.)
+95% of the connections are broadband (DSL / Cable), but per
capita penetration is only 62% (2009 – Strategy Analytics)
Studies show that +50% of consumers check the internet prior to
making their purchase (Blog Research & Insight)
In Europe, 90% goes online weekly in search of information, 60%
does this daily
Issue: overflow of information, only Top-10 hits count
1/3 of internet users is buying online
Issue: no specific data available on online bookings
12 | Egencia Confidential
13. Internet penetration in Europe
Users % Pop.
Belgium Netherlands France Germany UK Belgium Netherlands France Germany UK
2000 2,000,000 3,900,000 8,500,000 24,000,000 15,400,000 19.50% 24.10% 14.40% 29.20% 26.20%
2003 8,500,000 52.50%
2004 3,769,123 24,848,009 46,455,813 36.40% 41.20% 56.30%
2005 47,127,725 35,807,929 57.00% 59.80%
2006 5,100,000 10,806,328 30,837,595 48.50% 65.90% 50.30%
2007 14,544,400 32,925,953 50,426,117 38,512,837 88.40% 53.70% 61.10% 63.80%
2008 36,153,327 58.10%
2009 7,292,300 61,973,100 48,755,000 70.00% 75.30% 79.80%
Sources: ITU, Nielsen Netratings, C.I. Almanac,
A few comments:
The Netherlands is experiencing a very high internet penetration,
boosted by home working (20% of labor force vs. 7% for EU)
In Germany, users benefit from unmetered access
UK market characterized by fierce competition & decreasing prices
Mid 2009, Belgium was ranked #19 in the list of countries of
broadband used in the home (62%). South-Korea led the list with
95%, with Netherlands 3rd (85%)
13 | Egencia Confidential
14. Communities & Social Networks in Belgium
« Facebook leading the dance »
Late 2009 Facebook claimed over 2.8M users in Belgium
or +25% of the population
It shows an equal split male vs. Female
Netlog is the 2nd most popular site, but clearly
drops behind #1 (1M users)
Adoption of sites aimed at professionals increasing
(cfr. LinkedIn claims 250K users)
14 | Egencia Confidential
15. Online Communitues in Belgium
Google Ad Planner - Belgium - Online Communities - Nov 8, 2009
15 | Egencia Confidential
17. Social networks & travel - Current
What is available today?
Travel sites with general or specific information (Gusto,
Real Travel, Virtual Tourist, Wikitravel, World66, …)
Self-Booking / Online Booking Tools (Expedia, hotel.com,
Online discussion forums for frequent flyers (FlyerTalk),
live flight tracking (FlightAware, FlightStats), travel
reviews (TripAdvisor), targeted travel audiences (from
Thorn Tree from the Lonely Planet, over AirlineMeals.net
for the hungry airline passenger to Triporama to arrange
for your group getaways), …
Specific services targeted to travelers (TripIt for travel
organization, Travel Calculator for ecological compact,
…)
17 | Egencia Confidential
18. Social networks & travel - Future
What are the future, potential options?
Further development from « E-Commerce » to « WE-
Commerce » (Discovery-Comparison-Conversation)
Further development on informational & community sites
towards interaction & centralization of services (trip booking
& organization, sharing of data/images/opinions, …)
“Plan your trip based on other’s experiences”
Mobile applications (iPad / iPhone / Smart phones),
requiring additional need for:
Security
Reduced memory utilization & power consumption
Improved UI’s
18 | Egencia Confidential
19. Social networks & travel - Future
What are the future, potential options?
Smarter OBTs/SBTs (trip optimization, alternative
routing, larger product portfolio, …)
Requires more robust algorithms & processing power
More specialization in specific domains:
Specialization towards specific niches (beyond trains,
planes & automobiles)
Elderly travel (going more online, involving (grand)children,
with need for luxury & comfort)
Ecology (travel + waste reduction)
Adjusted controlling mechanisms (governments / EU)
19 | Egencia Confidential