Kayak and TripAdvisor Form Successful Content Integration Strategy

Sometimes the best way to enhance the user experience of a website's service is to integrate it with another site's content. At least, this seems to be the case with the new collaboration between Kayak, a hotel search website, and TripAdvisor, a site that allows users to submit their own reviews of hotels and other accommodations they have stayed in while travelling.

As reported today on TechCrunch, Kayak has partnered with TripAdvisor to include the over 60 million user-generated reviews on the latter's website in its hotel search engine. Users of the Kayak Hotel Search can select (or de-select) the option of including TripAdvisor reviews in their results. This allows them to determine what available hotels are in their price range, and which present the right amount of value for their money.

Kayak's decision to carry out this integration is a solid one. The site had already started to include expert recommendations from Frommer's and Budget Travel in its hotel search engine as of October 2011. However, it found that the majority of its users typically headed over to TripAdvisor immediately after using Kayak's engine to read reviews before coming back to book. Thus, it only made sense to start integrating the two, to save customers a great deal of time and effort in planning out their trips.

And, really, what a wise decision it was. Kayak's partnership with TripAdvisor is an example to other businesses on how they can leverage each other's services to boost their own. It is in fact a great way to boost their search engine optimization initiatives. There is a fine line to walk when it comes to borrowing content from another site. Done properly, however, it can produce a win-win situation for all parties. Putting together two popular products or services can allow both to gain greater visibility, increased website traffic, and more customer conversions.

Who would've thought that borrowing or sharing content would possess this kind of SEO value? Done the right way, it can produce real dividends to businesses. Although only time can tell, the partnership between Kayak and TripAdvisor is likely to be a successful one. Keep an eye on them and other businesses that are doing the same, to get a better idea on the benefits of content integration.