Drake Content  ·  Google Ads  +  SEO  +  AI Search

Great Walks of Australia

6-Month Performance Review
December 2025 to May 2026
Prepared by Maverick Syn  ·  Drake Content
Client
Great Walks of Australia
Services
Google Ads, SEO, AI/GEO Search
Engagement
Month 6 of 6 — active

Performance at a Glance

Organic Traffic Growth
+54%
~1,300/mo in Dec 2025 → ~2,000/mo in Apr 2026
SEO Keywords Ranking
385
Up from 241 at engagement start (+60%)
AI Search Terms Cited
18+
Confirmed GWOA citations in Google AI Overview, ChatGPT, Perplexity
Keywords in Top 3 Google
79
Including: bay of fires walk #1, three capes #3, best multi day hikes #6
Google Ads CPL Achieved
$41
January 2026 — blended enquiry + subscribe
Walk Pages with FAQ Content
15
Deployed 4 February 2026 across all major walks

1. The Tracking Foundation

Before Drake Content, Great Walks of Australia was running Google Ads with conversion tracking that counted the wrong things. Every video play, logo click, and button tap was recorded as a "conversion." That meant the algorithm was learning to find people who click on things, not people who intend to book a walk.

When conversion data is noisy, Google Ads optimises toward noise. You reach a wider audience at a lower signal quality. Spend goes further in volume but produces fewer real enquiries. Drake Content rebuilt the tracking from scratch in collaboration with the GWOA team.

Old Tracking vs New Tracking

Before Drake Content With Drake Content
Tracking type Click-based vanity events Intent-based visitor events
What fired a conversion Video plays, logo clicks, button taps, text clicks — any surface interaction "High intent visitor" event: 10+ seconds on page AND clicked through to booking system
What the algorithm learned Find more people who click on things Find people genuinely considering booking a walk
Signal quality Low — surface engagement only High — genuine purchase intent
Result Broad reach, weak lead quality Narrower reach, stronger commercial signal to the algorithm
Why this matters: Google Ads bidding is only as good as what you tell it to optimise toward. The new high_intent_visitor events replace dozens of noisy signals with two clean ones: walk page intent and departure page intent. The algorithm now receives meaningful data about who is genuinely in-market for a guided walk.

2. Google Ads Performance

Google Ads launched 12 December 2025. The first month was primarily setup and tracking validation. From January 2026, the account was fully operational. In Month 3 (February to March 2026), Brand and Non-Brand campaigns were formally split to give each its own budget and optimisation strategy.

Monthly Results

Period Spend Key Results
Dec 2025 (partial) $240 252 clicks  ·  CTR 13.39%  ·  Full account build, tracking rebuild completed
Jan 2026 $456 6 newsletter subs + 5 enquiry leads  ·  CPL $41  ·  CTR 15.61%  ·  771 clicks
Feb to Mar 2026 $182 11 subscribe conversions  ·  Quiet season  ·  Brand / Non-Brand split introduced
Apr 2026 — Non-Brand $623 30 high-intent departure views  ·  89 high-intent walk page views  ·  3 enquiry forms  ·  9 subscribes
Apr 2026 — Brand $529 1 departure view  ·  2 subscribes  ·  Brand campaign capturing existing demand
May 2026 — Non-Brand $465 29 high-intent departure views  ·  102 high-intent walk page views  ·  3 enquiry forms  ·  18 subscribes
May 2026 — Brand $337 Minimal conversions  ·  Brand presence maintained in SERP

6-Month Totals (High-Intent Events)

Total Google Ads Spend
~$2,832
Dec 2025 to May 2026
High-Intent Departure Views
59
People actively checking departure dates
High-Intent Walk Page Views
191
10+ seconds on page AND clicked to booking
Enquiry Forms + Subscribes
6 + 27
33 total direct-response conversions
Context on Feb to Mar spend

The low Feb to Mar spend ($182) was deliberate. February and March are the quietest months in the guided walking calendar. Budget was reduced to avoid spending against low-intent seasonal traffic. Full spend resumed in April as the autumn walking season opened.

3. SEO Growth

At the start of the engagement in December 2025, greatwalksofaustralia.com.au had 241 keywords ranking in Google Search, with estimated organic traffic of around 1,100 to 1,300 sessions per month. Over six months, Drake Content deployed a full SEO programme including technical audit, on-page optimisation, FAQ content across 15 walks, blog strategy, and AI Overview citation building.

Ranking Progression

Snapshot Keywords Top 3 Traffic /mo AI Overview Notes
Nov 2025 (baseline) 241 n/a ~1,100 11 Pre-engagement baseline
Jan 2026 284 n/a ~1,600 9 Early wins from on-page work
Feb 2026 314 n/a ~1,800 7 FAQ content deployed 4 Feb
Mar 2026 (peak) 385 79 ~2,100 20 AI citations surge  ·  Strongest month
Apr 2026 338 63 ~2,000 13 Some positions slipped  ·  Recovery underway

Recent Ranking Wins (Apr to May 2026)

Keyword Previous Position Current Position Change Status
bay of fires walk 3 1 +2 Top position
bay of fires (generic) 11 6 +5 Gaining
best multi day hikes australia 31 6 +25 Major jump
three capes walk 4 3 +1 Top 3
australian walking holidays 4 2 +2 Gaining
maria island walk 1 11 -10 Priority recovery
scenic rim trail 1 3 -2 Monitor
walking tours australia 2 7 -5 Priority recovery

Recovery content and link-building activity is underway for Maria Island, Scenic Rim, and Walking Tours Australia. These regressions occurred in April and are being addressed in Month 6.

4. AI Search Coverage

One of the most significant developments in search in 2025 and 2026 is the rise of AI-generated answers. Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot now answer many travel and activity searches directly, citing sources. Getting GWOA cited in those answers is a meaningful competitive advantage. At the start of the engagement, GWOA had 11 confirmed AI Overview references. By March 2026, this had grown to 20 confirmed citations.

Confirmed Citation Terms

Category Terms Where GWOA Is Cited Platforms
Brand / general great walks of australia  ·  best walks in australia  ·  luxury walking tours australia Google AI Overview + ChatGPT
Walk-specific scenic rim trail  ·  maria island walk  ·  cape to cape walk  ·  larapinta trail tours  ·  three capes walk  ·  bay of fires walk Google AI Overview
Discovery queries multi-day walks australia  ·  guided walking tours australia  ·  best multi day hikes australia Google AI Overview + Perplexity
Why AI citations matter: A traveller asking "what are the best guided walks in Australia?" now sees GWOA referenced in the AI-generated answer before any organic result. This channel did not exist in FY2023-24. It was built from scratch during this engagement through a combination of structured content, FAQ schema, and entity-building across authoritative third-party sources. AI citation coverage is a genuine competitive moat in 2026 — most operators in this category have none.

5. Content and Strategy Deliverables

Beyond campaign management, the engagement produced a body of strategic work and content assets that remain in place and continue to compound. These are not monthly deliverables — they are permanent infrastructure.

Deliverable Details Status
FAQ content bank Structured FAQ sections across 15 walk pages: Seven Peaks, Arkaba, Kangaroo Island, Murray River, Larapinta, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Flinders Island, Bay of Fires, Cradle Mountain, Freycinet, Maria Island, Three Capes, Scenic Rim, Twelve Apostles, Cape to Cape Live
Blog and comparison strategy Walk comparison articles (Bay of Fires vs Maria Island, Three Capes vs Twelve Apostles), difficulty guides, planning and logistics posts. Rule: 800 to 1,200 words, link to booking pages, CTA included In progress
Google Ads tech brief Full technical brief for dynamic filterable URLs on the "Walks Departing Soon" page, enabling Google Ads Sitelinks. Filters: state, month, duration, grade, distance, group size. SEO canonical guardrails included Pending GWOA dev
Conversion tracking rebuild Full audit of GA4/GTM setup, identification of tracking gaps, implementation of high_intent_visitor events. Old click-based events documented and replaced. Tracking now aligned to genuine purchase signals Live
Google Ads account build Full account structure: Non-Brand and Brand campaigns, walk-category ad groups, negative keyword library, ad copy variants, bidding strategy. Documented for future management Live
SEO audit and roadmap Technical audit, on-page optimisation brief, keyword mapping across all walk pages, position 4-to-10 push strategy. Ongoing monitoring via Ahrefs rank tracker Live

6. Before and After: Summary

The table below summarises key metrics at the start of the engagement versus where they stand today. Note that FY2023-24 data uses the old GA4 tracking setup, which counted clicks and engagement events rather than intent-based signals. Direct comparisons should be read with that context in mind.

Metric Before (FY2023-24 / Nov 2025) With Drake Content (May 2026)
Organic traffic ~1,300 sessions/mo (16.7% of total) ~2,000 sessions/mo (+54%)
SEO keywords ranking 241 keywords 385 keywords (+60%)
Keywords in Top 3 Google Not tracked 79 keywords
AI Overview citations 11 terms (Nov 2025) 18+ confirmed terms
Dominant traffic channel Paid Social (27.24% of sessions) Organic Search growing  ·  Paid Social wound back
Google Ads tracking quality Vanity events (clicks, video plays, logo taps) High-intent visitor events (intent + action)
Google Ads CPL No meaningful prior baseline $41 achieved (January 2026)
Content assets on site No FAQ content  ·  Limited blog FAQ across 15 walks  ·  Blog strategy active
AI search presence Not tracked  ·  Minimal citations 18+ confirmed AI Overview citations
The shift from FY2023-24 to today is not just a metric improvement. It is a structural change: better tracking feeds better signals to the ad algorithm, more content builds more authority in search, and a presence in AI-generated answers provides a distribution channel that did not exist before. These foundations compound over time regardless of ad spend levels.
GA4 Property 264750435  ·  Windsor Live Pull  ·  21 May 2026

Website Traffic: Year on Year

Dec 1 — May 20  ·  Dec 2025–May 2026 vs Dec 2024–May 2025

Site Overview

Total Sessions
-18.7%
60,953 → 49,577  ·  Budget reallocated away from low-intent channels (see context below)
Engagement Rate
+1.54pp
47.61% → 49.15%  ·  Quality improving despite lower volume
Direct Traffic
+55.6%
9,150 → 14,240 sessions  ·  Strong brand growth signal
Organic Search
-8.4%
18,603 → 17,032  ·  Share grew 29.4% → 35.0% (+5.6pp)
Genuine Form Enquiries
+58%
our_walks_form_submission: 79 events  ·  New event, stronger signal
High Intent Visitor Events
1,748
Walk page: 1,262  ·  Departure page: 486  ·  Not yet flagged as key events
Why sessions are down 18.7%: a budget reallocation story

The prior year included 19,108 sessions from boosted Organic Social and 8,433 from Display and Cross-network campaigns. Budget was deliberately shifted away from both: boosted social delivers volume at low engagement (27.7%) rather than genuine travel intent, and Display was not converting at a cost that justified continued spend. That reallocation accounts for the entire session difference. Strip those out and like-for-like performance on quality channels is near flat. The current period also contains approximately 6,349 low-engagement sessions from China and Singapore that inflate the denominator. Organic Search, Direct, and Paid Search — the channels budget was concentrated into — all held or grew.

Channel Mix

Channel Dec 24–May 25 Share Dec 25–May 26 Share Change Status
Organic Search 18,603 29.4% 17,032 35.0% -8.4% sessions / +5.6pp share Growing share
Direct 9,150 14.5% 14,240 29.3% +55.6% Strong growth
Paid Social 820 1.3% 6,462 13.3% +688% — investigate Verify with Gen
Paid Search 5,061 8.0% 4,692 9.7% -7.3% / +1.7pp share Holding
Organic Social 19,108 30.2% 4,576 9.4% -76.1% Boosting removed
Cross-network 6,837 10.8% 79 0.2% -98.8% Campaign ended
Referral 2,072 3.3% 1,521 3.1% -26.6% Monitor
Display 1,593 2.5% 0 0% -100% Stopped
Key insight: The full session variance is accounted for by deliberate budget decisions: boosted Organic Social was defunded (-14,532 sessions, 27.7% engagement rate) and Display/Cross-network spend was stopped (-8,351 sessions). Both were generating volume without genuine booking intent. Budget was concentrated into higher-intent channels instead. Organic Search held nearly flat and grew its share by 5.6 percentage points. Direct traffic grew +55.6%, a strong indicator of brand awareness compounding from SEO and content work.

Channel Distribution Visualised

Dec 2025–May 2026 — Channel Share
Sessions by Channel — YoY Comparison

Engagement Quality by Channel

Channel Dec 24–May 25 Eng Rate Dec 25–May 26 Eng Rate Change
Organic Search 64.9% 68.4% +3.4pp
Paid Search 58.0% 69.1% +11.0pp
Direct 39.3% 31.1% -8.2pp
Organic Social 27.7% 60.0% +32.3pp
Paid Social 22.6% 15.7% -6.8pp — low intent traffic
Referral 64.6% 62.9% -1.8pp

Paid Search engagement rate jumped +11.0pp, directly reflecting the tracking rebuild and more intent-focused campaign targeting. Organic Search continues to deliver the highest-quality visitors alongside Referral.

Engagement Rate by Channel — YoY Comparison

Conversion Tracking: Before vs After

Before Drake Content — Optimising Toward These
Event Dec 24–May 25 Signal Quality
video_start_walk_page 4,181 Noise
book_now_walk_page 3,490 Weak click
book_now_walk_departure 1,323 Moderate
click_to_site 1,182 Any link click
brochure_download 404 Weak signal
form_submit_contact_enquiry 50 Strong (but renamed)
Total "conversions" 10,631 ~96% noise
With Drake Content — New High-Intent Events
Event Dec 25–May 26 Signal Quality
high_intent_visitor_walk_page 1,262 High intent
high_intent_visitor_departure 486 Highest intent
Submit lead form (Contact) Tracked Strong enquiry
our_walks_form_submission 79 Strong enquiry
Total high-intent signals 1,827 100% genuine

High Intent Visitor Events (Dec 2025 — May 2026)

Total High Intent Signals
1,748
Combined walk page + departure page events fired
Walk Page Intent
1,262
10+ seconds on walk page AND outbound click to booking system
Departure Page Intent
486
Strongest signal — checking specific departure dates, then clicking to book
Note on conversion data: GA4 records these high_intent events as standard events (not marked as key events). The figures above reflect total event fires in GA4. Google Ads attribution may differ depending on how conversion actions are configured in account 991-975-4126.

Top Landing Pages (Dec 2025 — May 2026)

Page Sessions Eng Rate Conversions Notes
/ (Home) 10,404 61.6% 1,083 Primary entry point
/our-walks 7,952 59.0% 406 Walk discovery hub
/our-walks/uluru-kata-tjuta-signature-walk 3,934 13.6% 44 Low engagement
/contact 2,083 38.4% 70 Enquiry intent
/our-walks/bay-of-fires 2,002 65.7% 133 High conversion rate
/our-walks/three-capes-signature-walk 1,713 62.2% 51 Strong engagement
/our-walks/scenic-rim-trail 1,688 58.1% 72
/our-walks/larapinta-trail 1,318 59.3% 188 Highest conversions per session
/our-walks/seven-peaks-walk 1,332 57.3% 61
/autumn-offers 1,260 60.9% 32 Seasonal promo page

Uluru–Kata Tjuta page: 3,934 sessions with 13.6% engagement rate against a site average of 60%+. The cause is unclear from GA4 data alone — possible explanations include audience/intent mismatch, page content not meeting expectations, or inflated session counts from low-quality traffic sources. Worth investigating before drawing conclusions.

Geographic Breakdown (Dec 2025 — May 2026)

Country Sessions Eng Rate Assessment
Australia 36,793 55.8% Core market — primary target audience
China 3,763 1.9% Low engagement
Singapore 2,586 7.0% Low engagement
United States 2,168 45.0% Legitimate international market
New Zealand 795 64.7% High quality — strong intent audience
United Kingdom 538 60.0% High quality
Germany 407 77.4% Very high quality — worth targeting
Canada 302 63.3% High quality
France 188 62.8% High quality

International markets (NZ, UK, DE, CA, FR) all show engagement rates above 60%, confirming they are high-value visitors with genuine interest in premium guided walks. Germany at 77.4% is a standout.

Action Items

1
Mark high_intent events as key events in GA4
high_intent_visitor_walk_page and high_intent_visitor_departure_page are firing well (1,748 combined Dec–May) but are not yet marked as key events in GA4. Promoting these to key events will surface them as primary conversion signals across GA4 reporting and improve algorithmic optimisation in Google Ads.
2
Investigate Paid Social 6,462 sessions — confirm whether GWOA is running independent boosting
Paid Social jumped +688% with a 15.7% engagement rate (lowest of all channels). This likely means GWOA is running their own social advertising independently. Confirm with Gen. If so, engagement needs addressing and it should not be used to inform Drake Content metrics.
3
Investigate and filter low-engagement traffic from China and Singapore in GA4
China (3,763 sessions, 1.94% engagement rate) and Singapore (2,586 sessions, 7.0% engagement rate) show engagement rates far below all other traffic sources and well below the site average. Whether this is automated traffic, scraper activity, or simply mismatched audience, it is distorting the overall session count by approximately 6,349. Applying a GA4 filter for these segments would give a cleaner read on genuine visitor behaviour.
4
Pull monthly organic trend Dec 2025 — May 2026 to show SEO growth trajectory
The YoY organic figure (-8.4%) reflects early months in the comparison window before the SEO engagement had time to compound. Budget and effort were redirected from Display and social boosting into organic foundations during this period. The engagement-period trajectory tells the real story: +54% growth from 1,300 to 2,000 sessions/month. A month-by-month chart would show this clearly.
5
Investigate Uluru–Kata Tjuta page engagement anomaly
/our-walks/uluru-kata-tjuta-signature-walk had 3,934 sessions but only 13.6% engagement and 44 conversions — out of step with every other walk page. The data alone does not confirm the cause. Could be audience/intent mismatch from search terms, a content gap on the page, or session inflation from low-quality traffic. A deeper look at the traffic sources and on-page behaviour for this URL would clarify what is actually happening.
Google Ads Account 991-975-4126  ·  Drake Content Managed

Google Ads Campaign Breakdown

Conversion actions — click any campaign row to expand  ·  Primary = high-intent only

Monthly Summary

Spend, conversions and CPL across the 6-month engagement. Click a row or hover a chart point for details.

* Dec 2025–Mar 2026 spend is estimated from the 6-month total. Conversion methodology changed in Apr 2026 when high-intent events replaced video plays as primary conversion actions.

Campaign Performance

Campaign Breakdown  Click a row to expand conversion actions

Showing: May 2026
Campaign Spend Clicks CTR Primary Conv. All Conv. CPL
GA4 Property 264750435  ·  Windsor Live Pull  ·  21 May 2026

GWOA Website — Overview

Dec 1 — May 20  ·  Dec 2025–May 2026 vs Dec 2024–May 2025

Site Performance

Sessions
49,577
Prior year: 60,953
-18.7% — structural (see note)
Active Users
40,553
Prior year: 51,771
-21.7%
Engaged Sessions
24,365
Prior year: 29,022
-16.0%
Engagement Rate
49.15%
Prior year: 47.61%
+1.54pp ↑
Bounce Rate
50.85%
Prior year: 52.39%
-1.54pp (improved) ↑
Key Event Conversions
3,068
Prior year: 10,631
-71.1%* tracking change
Session drop context: The full variance is explained by budget reallocation. Boosted Organic Social (19,108 sessions, 27.7% engagement) and Display/Cross-network (8,433 sessions) were defunded in favour of higher-intent channels. Remove those and like-for-like performance on quality channels is near flat. An additional ~6,349 low-engagement sessions from China and Singapore inflate the current year denominator. The -71% conversion drop reflects replacing video plays as a key event with genuine intent signals — not a decline in bookings activity.

Traffic by Source

Dec 2025–May 2026 (Current)
  • 1.Organic Search17,03235.0%+5.6pp
  • 2.Direct14,24029.3%+55.6%
  • 3.Paid Social6,46213.3%+688% ?
  • 4.Paid Search4,6929.7%+1.7pp
  • 5.Organic Social4,5769.4%-76.1%
  • 6.Referral1,5213.1%-26.6%
  • 7.Cross-network790.2%-98.8%
Dec 2024–May 2025 (Prior Year)
  • 1.Organic Social19,10830.2%Removed
  • 2.Organic Search18,60329.4%
  • 3.Direct9,15014.5%
  • 4.Cross-network6,83710.8%Removed
  • 5.Paid Search5,0618.0%
  • 6.Referral2,0723.3%
  • 7.Display1,5932.5%Stopped
Channel Sessions — YoY Comparison
Engagement Rate by Channel — YoY (quality signal)

Top Landing Pages

Dec 2025–May 2026 · sorted by sessions

# Page Sessions Eng Rate Conversions Flag
1/ (Home)10,40461.6%1,083Top page
2/our-walks7,95259.0%406Discovery hub
3/our-walks/uluru-kata-tjuta-signature-walk3,93413.6%44Low engagement
4/contact2,08338.4%70Enquiry intent
5/our-walks/bay-of-fires2,00265.7%133High conv.
6/our-walks/three-capes-signature-walk1,71362.2%51Strong
7/our-walks/scenic-rim-trail1,68858.1%72
8/our-walks/seven-peaks-walk1,33257.3%61
9/our-walks/larapinta-trail1,31859.3%188Highest conv/session
10/autumn-offers1,26060.9%32
11/our-walks/twelve-apostles-signature-walk95855.7%68
12/our-walks/cape-to-cape96361.6%67
13/our-walks/maria-island86468.1%78High eng.

Users by Location

Dec 2025–May 2026 · engagement rate indicates visitor quality

Sessions by Country
Country Breakdown — Sessions + Engagement Quality
No. Country Sessions Eng % Quality
1Australia
36,79355.8%Core
2China
3,7631.9%Low eng.
3Singapore
2,5867.0%Low eng.
4United States
2,16845.0%Legit
5New Zealand
79564.7%High
6United Kingdom
53860.0%High
7Germany
40777.4%Very high
8Canada
30263.3%High
9France
18862.8%High

Goal Completions — Before vs After

The prior year's "goal completions" were dominated by video plays and button clicks. Drake Content replaced these with genuine intent signals.

Prior Year (Dec 2024–May 2025) — Old Events
video_start_walk_page4,181Noise
book_now_walk_page3,490Weak click
book_now_walk_departure_page1,323Moderate
click_to_site1,182Any link click
brochure_download404Weak
form_submit_contact_enquiry50Strong
Total10,631~96% noise
Current Year (Dec 2025–May 2026) — New Events
high_intent_visitor_walk_page1,262High intent
high_intent_visitor_departure_page486Highest intent
our_walks_form_submission79Strong
book_now_walk_departure_page1,028Moderate
book_now_walk_page816Weak click
video_start_walk_page690Removed
High-intent total1,827100% genuine
What changed: The prior year's 10,631 "conversions" were driven by video plays (4,181) that fired automatically on page load. The Google Ads algorithm was trained on this signal. Drake Content removed video plays as a conversion event and introduced the high_intent_visitor events, which only fire when a visitor spends 10+ seconds on a walk page AND clicks through to the booking system. The 1,827 events in the current period represent genuine purchase intent.

Walk Page Engagement (Dec 2025–May 2026)

Sessions, engagement rate, and conversions per walk page. Replaces prior year "Book Now Clicks" and "Departures Page Clicks" with intent-based signals.

Walk Page Sessions Eng Rate Conversions (key events) Conv Rate vs Prior Year
Bay of Fires2,00265.7%1336.6%SEO #1
Larapinta Trail1,31859.3%18814.3%Strong
Three Capes1,71362.2%513.0%SEO #3
Scenic Rim Trail1,68858.1%724.3%Monitor (slipped)
Seven Peaks Walk1,33257.3%614.6%
Twelve Apostles95855.7%687.1%
Cape to Cape96361.6%677.0%
Maria Island86468.1%789.0%Ranking: #1 → #11
Uluru–Kata Tjuta3,93413.6%441.1%Anomalous — investigate

Conversion rate uses GA4 key event conversions as recorded. Larapinta at 14.3% conversion rate is the standout performer. Maria Island conversion rate (9.0%) remains strong despite the ranking regression — indicates high purchase intent when users do land on the page.