Hanseat Reisen
Complete relaunch of cruise portal

A Bremen-based company through and through: as one of the very first travel providers in Germany, the founder of Hanseat Reisen recognized that there were hardly any real cruise specialists in the country. So he focused on the topic of cruises, which was still a niche in the travel industry at the time.

In saturated markets and the resulting competitive pressure, it is essential for companies today to find and expand new and stable sales markets. One reason for this is the use of many innovative tactics, technologies and channels with which tour operators such as Hanseat Reisen as well as the operators of meta search engines for cruises, travel and flights are competing for the attention of customers:

• In the coming decades, however, growth in Germany can probably only be expected among the 50-plus generation, which has now developed considerable market potential.
• This is an important and interesting growth market, not least for tourism service providers, which offers many opportunities to raise their profile.

Even if the ever-growing and very travel-loving target group of best agers is increasingly using the internet for their travel planning, there is still some need for action in terms of optimal communication and customer loyalty. After all, half of them travel two to three times a year. And frequent travelers, in contrast to others who travel less frequently, unmistakably prefer the Internet to stationary sales in travel agencies.

Alongside young families, senior citizens in particular like to combine the offline world with upstream research on the Internet. In this environment, search engines are still the most important place where supply and demand meet. It is therefore essential for Hanseat Reisen to continuously develop its online presence both technically and in terms of content in order to be found successfully on Google & Co.

The previous website no longer met the growing requirements for contemporary communication. In a benchmark comparison, it was determined that the site was behind its competitors on the market in terms of presentation, usability, bookability and requirements for a contemporary online presence. The travel provider needed a more intelligent and modern design and, above all, the ability to be operated on cell phones. This situation was to be remedied by a relaunch project.

The relaunch of the Hanseat Reisen travel portal aimed to increase reach, boost the conversion rate and build lasting customer relationships. In addition, there was a desire to increase transaction capacity by creating a responsive design with improved user-friendliness. sitegeist took on the task for the cruise consultant and carried out the implementation.

Find and be found - score points with visibility and good content. Above all, the aim was to create an attractive site that appeals to the target group and is also state of the art. Switching to responsive design and preparing for the mobile first index on Google was also of great importance. The website also needed to provide information on the routes, ships and tour operators on offer so that potential customers could find out more online.

Target group-specific requirements also had to be taken into account. Senior citizens are often not able to differentiate between the information provider and the output medium and often still use older browsers. As these browsers may not be able to correctly interpretate more modern pages and technologies, display errors often occur. One consequence is that this target group blames the information provider instead of the browser in the event of problems, which can lead to a loss of trust.

Furthermore, many of the main customers would like to see more user-friendliness and more sophisticated filter options for travel offers. They also want more information about trips and destinations, such as larger images and more videos.

The simpler the design of the new site, the more pleasant it is to use. And the lower the threshold for potential users to engage with the product. Tourist products and services are also only accepted if they are of value and not obviously designed for a much younger target group. Older users attach great importance to a serious appearance, simple operation and a clear, detailed description. Comprehensible, clear information with a direct link to the product is preferred.

At the beginning of our collaboration with Hanseat Reisen, a positioning workshop was held to jointly develop your current market situation, strengths and weaknesses, target groups, the benefits of your products and services and your own. We also examined the corporate values and culture.

sitegeist we supported the modernization and further development of the brand core, the vision and mission and the definition of the target groups and unique selling points. We then developed a suitable strategy and Hanseat Reisen received a concept with an action plan and a roadmap for the relaunch.

This created the basis for a new brand identity with clear communication of added value.

On the basis of previous surveys and the evaluated points of criticism, a new approach concept was developed and improvements to the user guidance were worked out. The new website is intended to take greater account of the special features and requirements of the target group.

In addition to technical and structural improvements, such as the optimization of internal links, great importance was attached to the implementation of a data-driven content strategy, which, in collaboration with the editorial team, aims to create relevant content that meets the specific interests of a holidaymaker.

Among other things, the team contributed keyword research and the resulting strategy with SearchMetrix, ensuring that the individual websites could be found on Google and optimized for SEO. One of the main tasks of the SEO team was therefore to differentiate the company's own offers from those of the competition and to ensure that Hanseat Reisen could be found on Google under the most important, traffic-generating keywords.

This differentiation is a particular challenge, as much of the relevant content is also available to competitors. Many providers access the same or similar data pool, so it is important at this point to provide content with genuine, unique added value that can only be found here.

Hanseat Reisen also impressed the jury of the Neos community - with extensive functions for users and editors. Many (partly open source) packages were developed to enable a complete customer journey in an environment with several clients (partners).