RESTAURANT
Case Study: Pulo Expedition Charters
How a local tour operator in Coron, Palawan is starting to recover from the operational shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overview
Pulo Expedition Charters is a premier speedboat tour operator in Coron, Palawan, Philippines. They offer a range of exciting water activities, from island hopping to snorkeling, catering to both adventure-seekers and nature enthusiasts. With their expertise and local knowledge, they ensure unforgettable experiences through speedboat.
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted global tourism, including in the Philippines where a significant portion of the economy is reliant upon this industry. Lack of tourism has forced the company to temporarily shut down operations. However, they are now geared for a comeback, ready to showcase once again the stunning beauty of Coron, Palawan to both local and international tourists. To support their relaunch, a new website is needed.
Challenges
The website needed a redesign to relaunch the brand.
Migrate the website because of expired domain hosting and domain name.
Add online tour booking and payment systems and making it secure.
Improve website traffic and brand awareness.
Improve the contents particularly the tours or service pages to rank on search engines.
Improve slow performance because of old templates and bloated plugins installed.
Objectives
- The primary objective of the project was to redesign the website to give it a fresh look.
- To add online booking calendar and payment gateway to accept Paypal payments.
- To elevate brand awareness and searchability.
- To rewrite the contents to improve rankings.
Solution
I gave website a mobile-friendly makeover that’s fast and built to attract global travelers. Now visitors can easily book speedboat tours and pay securely through a seamless online system.
- Site migration to a faster server
- Website redesign
- Performance improvements
- On-page optimization
- Keyword research
- Improve website architecture
- WooCommerce integration
- Booking calendar integration
- Paypal integration
1. Migrated the domain and the website to a better webhosting that supports WordPress.
The website is currently hosted on a server located in the US, but our main customer base is in the Philippines. Unfortunately, this often leads to performance issues with the server being located far from the target audience.
I chose a better hosting provider that offers fast servers located in Singapore, a CDN, and built-in WordPress optimization and security tools. This necessary step allowed the owner to save money by not having to purchase security and optimization plugins separately.
To simplify the monitoring and maintenance of the website, I also transferred the domain name to this server.
2. Website overhaul to improve the overall user experience and user interface.
To enhance the overall user experience, I remodeled the website using WordPress and Elementor Website Builder.
I began my website design process by sketching the major pages such as the homepage, about us, and tour pages. This helps me visualize the layout.
After all the content was ready, I began to design directly on Elementor Website Builder, allowing me to create a working prototype for client approval immediately.
I began by defining the global fonts and colors, then worked my way up to creating website layouts based on my sketches. Using these layouts, I proceeded to create other main pages that look identical.
3. Improve the performance and security.
Moving the website to a faster and more secure server was the first step in improving its performance and security. A slow server won’t make your site faster no matter how much optimization you do. It always begins with the server.
I also used the built-in optimization, CDN, and security plugins. Thanks to them, the owner saved money by not having to purchase these plugins. I also ensured that the website’s security was strengthened before deployment. This is a crucial step, especially for websites that accept online payments.
4. Improve the website architecture.
A well-structured website architecture helps you reach both your target audience and search engines more effectively.
A clearly structured website helps search engine spiders to index the pages. It also improves user experience with easy navigation and clear hierarchy, which creates a sense of order and user-friendliness.
5. Keyword research, content creation and on-page optimization
Looking at the website’s analytics and Google Search Console, I noticed that there were very few keywords for which the website is ranking. Surprisingly, the website was developed a few years before the pandemic.
This was an indication that the website was not properly optimized, and no other content was produced. To resolve this issue, I re-created every page’s content, particularly the homepage, about us page, and the tour pages.
Keyword research and on-page optimization played key roles in achieving better search engine rankings.
5. Online booking calendar, WooCommerce, and PayPal payment gateway integration.
I integrated an easy-to-use online booking calendar along with WooCommerce and a local payment gateway to transform the website into a fully functional online booking platform.
An online booking calendar was necessary to monitor and manage manual and online bookings. This helped to avoid booking errors by automatically blocking dates that were already booked.
WooCommerce was necessary so that I could integrate the Paypal Payment Gateway and accept payments from anywhere in the world.
7. Google My Business Optimization
For local businesses, it is important to ensure that your Google My Business page is properly optimized because it can help drive traffic to your website and potentially generate revenue.
To optimize it, I ensured that all information is up-to-date. This includes phone numbers, operating hours, and days. Additionally, there is valuable information available regarding conducting business with the company.
Results
I transformed the website into a mobile-friendly tour booking website. With streamlined navigation and a user-friendly design, the website now gained 600% increase in organic traffic and top 10 ranking for over 40 keywords.
Responsive web design with streamlined navigation.
Customers are now able to book and pay online easily and securely.
Improved overall user experience and user interface.
40+ Top 10 Keyword positions.
1,270+ new keywords gained.
600% Increase in Monthly Organic Traffic.
1. Designed the website to be responsive on different screen sizes.
It’s important that a website nowadays is responsive to different screen sizes, especially mobile. I looked at their Google Analytics and found that 65% of their traffic is from mobile devices.
I also streamlined the navigation to only show the important links that the user needs to find information about the tour and potential booking.
It is now easy to book and pay securely.
I integrated an online booking and calendar system, as well as a PayPal payment gateway, that make it easy for users to book and pay securely.
Also, it is now easier for owners and tour managers to monitor bookings, avoiding potential scheduling mistakes.
3. The user experience and user interface have been improved and are now easier to follow.
I reorganized the presentation of information so that it is easier for users to digest while reading. Additionally, I restructured the website’s architecture and navigation to guide users in making a booking.
To present information clearly, I designed user interfaces using cards. Animations were kept minimal to avoid distractions while reading.
4. Improved search engine ranking, searchability and brand awareness.
Using SEO best practices like on-page optimization, fixing technical issues, and keyword research I was able to improve the website’s page ranking.
The website now has 40+ high-volume keywords in top 10 positions, competing against big tour companies like Viator, Klook, and Guide to the Philippines.
Content marketing also helped the website gain 1,270+ new keywords.
5. Boosted monthly organic traffic through content marketing.
The current page content was not sufficient to generate traffic to the website. Therefore, I am consistently creating content that addresses travelers’ inquiries about traveling to Coron and the Philippines.