SEO FOR HOTELS - OVERVIEW

Today, between 50% - 70% of all hotel rooms are sold on-line through OTAs and directly on the hotel's own website. Google, Bing and other search engines provide travelers quick and easy ways to compare accommodation options. With just a click, you can access a list of hotels without having to sift through multiple pages of information. Typically, travelers choose one of the first options that appear, often prioritizing convenience and over anything else.

In this blog, we’ll focus on SEO techniques to make your website more visible to search engines.

WHY SEO ?

Because a good portion of hotel revenue comes from online sources, it's wise to consider whether we're maximizing the revenue potential of our website.

Search engines fulfill the role of connecting travelers to accommodation providers. They crawl through millions of pages of data to build a repository of information. The information is indexed and used to populated search results according to keyword search terms. If you're not listed on the front page of search results, you should be wondering why not.

START WITH AN SEO READY WEBSITE:

The rationale for using SEO on your website is:

• To build Website credibility.
• Identify with Traveler’s needs.
• To get Search Term Visibility.
• Enhance Direct Revenue.
• To stay ahead of the competition.

Hoteliers Guru website package includes an SEO component. All new websites are designed to be compliant with SEO best practices, enabling search engines to crawl and index information. Peppering keyword terms into the title and description of your website will make it easier for search engines to find, and that's part of the service we offer.

Being SEO ready is the first step in developing a more robust strategy. The goal you'd want for your website is to be ranked somewhere between the 1st and 2nd pages of keyword search.

SEO BOOT CAMP:

SEO today requires a comprehensive and targeted approach. What we want to achieve is website credibility and the visibility will come on its own. Relevance, reliability, and originality are key factors which determine the placement of search results.

To be truly effective, your SEO strategy should focus on the following core elements:

1. On-Page – SEO
2. Off-Page – SEO
3. Marketing Communication
4. Affiliate Partnerships

IN DETAIL:

• 1. ON-PAGE SEO: Refers to optimization performed directly on your website. This includes: keyword research, copywriting, visual presentation, site navigation, meta tagging etc…

  Start with:

  • Keyword Research: Understand your market and your hotel positioning. Knowing where you sit in the marketplace sets the foundation for your choosing the right Keywords. The keywords you shortlist need to be aligned with popular search words or keyword phrases used by travelers looking for your type of hotel. Select keywords you are confident that travelers use and incorporate those words (or keyword phrases) into different landing pages of your web page for the best results.
  • Great Visuals: Don’t overlook the impact of strong visuals. Enhancing the imagery on your website, not only supports image SEO but also improves your chances of being featured in Google’s snippets and Discover feed. Using high-quality images—properly formatted, appropriately named (alt tagged) and optimized for fast loading, will helps maintain page speed and offer a clean layout. Clear, attractive visuals of your logo, rooms, and amenities can bring your content to life and drive better conversion.
  • Copywriting: Original content and the use of good grammar will drive higher and faster conversion rates. Organizing text with headers, punctuation and bullet points can enhance readability, allowing visitors to quickly skim the information for key details. Most importantly, your content should be relevant, timely and resourceful - answering the questions travelers are likely to ask before making their booking decision.
  • Site Navigation: Creating easy and intuitive navigation for your hotel website isn’t difficult. Just follow two key principles. First, ensure visitors can reach any page within three clicks. Second, make it easy for users to backtrack by providing a visible audit trail “breadcrumbs” at the top of each page.

    Structure your site thoughtfully, using headings, drill down tabs, links to social media and off-site content, geo location, call to action prompts and an index page to all links around your website.

  • Meta Tagging: Make sure your web master has properly configured the Meta tagging of main components on your website including landing pages. Mega tagging of web pages should include the Title, Description, Keywords, Headings and Alt name(s) for photos.

    For example: the Meta Title will be the title shown in the search results and is the first thing people see. For example, if you have a pet-friendly hotel, your Meta title could be something like: "Best Hotel in the Centre of Bangkok, We Accept Pets." The Meta title should never exceed 60 characters (including spaces), or it will not be fully displayed in the search results.

    Secondly is the Meta Description which is the small text that appears below the title in your search results. Although it does not directly affect your ranking, it plays a key role in getting users to click on your page.

• 2. OFF-PAGE SEO: These are activities done in coordination with On-page SEO to improve your website credibility including:
  • Make sure it loads quickly: Search engines use loading time as an indicator of your website’s quality. Slow sites are frustrating for visitors and will inevitably hurt your rankings. If you’re unsure how search engines view your site speed, Google’s Page speed Insights Tool can help determine if speed is one of the issues your team needs to correct.
  • Back-Links: High-quality inbound links or backlinks inform the search engine that your site is not only relevant and trust worth, but that other websites use it as a reference point. Links given back to you from authority websites, provide visibility to you in search results. Look for opportunities to generate links, such as from hotel directories, travel blogs, or booking portals. You could also collaborate with influencers or generate valuable content that other sites may want to link to.

    We recommend creating naturally linkable content on your website, such as PDFs, infographics or downloadable guides. Not only do these resources bring value to your visitors, they are also likely to be shared by other sites giving back more relevance to you.

  • Internal Links: Backlinks provide credibility to your website from external sources, so it's also important to consider your internal links that make up the structure and navigation of your website. Internal links to content on your website are a pathway for search engines, so make it easy to crawl and index and check for redundancies.

    Auditing your internal links from time to time can help identify pages that no longer have relevance. It often happens when there's a broken link to pages that no longer exist. Best to remove these for better credibility to the main website.

• 3. MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS: Marketing Communications is often overlooked as a tool for SEO. But it can be an effective tool in broadcasting newsworthy information about the hotel such as press releases, blogs or sponsorship events. Another platform is Social media which can also backup and support overall strategy.

  In practice for example: you might do a press release through local media about the popularity of a local marathon event because of its scenic route. The press release also mentions that marathon runners can book a special promotional price at your hotel using the promotions code on the hotels booking engine. Different forms of marketing communications can back up and support SEO activities.

  Different forms of marketing communications can back up and support SEO activities.

  Other examples include:

  • Actively Posting through Social Media: Social media plays a crucial role in promoting and generating natural links. Create social media profiles for your hotel and share relevant and engaging content on a regular basis. Interact with your followers, respond to comments and questions, and promote offers and events. Social media sites are more alive with traffic so make the most of it by posting regularly and give mention back to your hotel website with backlinks to different landing pages.
  • Create Blog Content: Blog content can be used as a vehicle to provide information about your hotel or its location to improve search engine rankings. Create Blogs or Vlogs about topical or useful information, such as a to do list, location guide or culinary tour. Blogs are resourceful and get referrals from travelers wanting free and valuable information. The rationale for Blogging is to use the information to give credibility back to the main website with the intention of providing more credibility.
  • Proactive Reputation Management: Travelers visiting your hotel will feedback their experiences and suggestions to other travelers about their stay and interactions. Feedback forums like this are offered through OTA websites and 3rd party media where you can engage with reviewers. By actively managing and providing timely feedback and engagement on public forums you can also give credibility back to your hotel, whilst laying the groundwork for future bookings through your direct marketing channels.
• 4. LEVERAGE AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS: Choosing the right Booking Engine for your hotel can boost your hotel's SEO visibility. When Booking Engine providers sign up as an Affiliate Partner with Google - under the Free Booking Links program, hotel customers using their solution have the opportunity to synchronize their rates and inventory directly to Google Hotel Ads. Synchronizing rates and inventory through the booking engine to the world’s most powerful hotel metasearch platform, can dramatically improve your hotel’s search credibility and visibility.

MAXIMIZING VISIBILITY WITH FREE BOOKING LINKS: Advertising your direct booking rates, where travelers are actively searching, under Google Hotel Ads, can offer you more chances to connect directly with potential guests. By leveraging this free service, you can enhance your exposure and drive more direct bookings through Google’s powerful search algorithm.

Hoteliers Guru is an affiliate partner with Google under Free Booking Link.

The benefits include:

• Enhance Online Visibility.
• Wider Global Audience.
• Instant Bookings Through Real Time Availability.
• Direct Traffic and Bookings.
• Lower Commission Payments.
• Build Direct Relationships with Customers.

CONCLUSION:

A robust SEO strategy begins with careful consideration about how you position your hotel, and the keywords travelers use in your competitive niche. Knowing your market position helps you choose what keywords you want to build into your website. Next you'll need to pay attention to the setup of your website, and the content you offer, making sure it's original and includes great visuals. Next, review the internal link structure for broken or redundant links whilst ensuring the pages load quickly.

Beyond the website, you'll want to build collaborative partnerships with content providers that can write or feature your hotel through their Marketing Communication activities whilst providing credit (or backlink) to you. In this context, you'll also want to be proactive and use Marketing Communication channels to regularly broadcast news and information about your hotel and any events or festivities relevant to you. Publish the information to your website, Social Media or get it published through other sources like direct mail - making sure everything points back to your hotel website.

The final piece of the puzzle is your booking engine. Because the Booking Engine is a powerful tool used to convert sales on your website - make sure to choose one that's certified under Google’s Free Booking Links. This will allow you to synchronize rates and inventory to Google hotel ads in real time and enjoy better search visibility with travelers looking for your hotel.

Taken together, each component will contribute to your SEO success, allowing you to :

• Reduce dependence on OTAs
• Boost direct bookings
• Improve guest interaction
• Increase RevPAR and occupancy rates

Keep in mind that SEO is a continuous process. Regularly monitoring your performance metrics and adapting to updates in search engine algorithms and user behavior is essential for long-term success.