Many hotels are still under the perception that by just having a website, they can achieve an "online presence"... However, online marketing is not an option any more! It is a must for all businesses whether big or small.
Search engine optimization is now a fundamental aspect of a hotel's digital marketing program. A careful and thoughtful strategy will help ensure the best ROI for your marketing efforts. This is the reason why resorts and hotels marketers are now focusing on building solid digital marketing strategies. They have understood the fact that although top notch amenities, infrastructure and quality food are essential; making your hotel visible online to the potential guests is as vital.
Why SEO for hotels? Does it really matter?
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43% of travellers planning their trips online... Where are you ranking?
Traditional marketing still has benefits. However, almost half of population is on the internet. With the blooming digital world, a solid SEO strategy will help to maintain your brand’s visibility across the common search engines.
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Here are some things you need to consider if you are serious about improving your hotel website’s organic rankings and online revenue.
- There was a time when hotels could get top placement on the screen. Further, they used to get hundreds of thousands of visits and millions of dollars in revenue for hyper-competitive terms like “hotels in NYC” or “hotels in London”.
- Later the OTAs like Expedia.com and Hotels.com capitalized on SEO. Still today they rule Google and rank for some heavy-hitting terms. However, today if you search for any “hotel + city name” term and you will no longer see an independent hotel, or a brand site unless it has a very strong digital footprint.
- Move beyond city name + hotel keywords and pay attention to Latent Semantic Indexing. This means that people are going to search for the same thing in different ways. Target terms that travellers use to describe your hotel. Look into the website analytics to find out what search terms are bringing visitors to website and its blog.
- Having a G+ account has become important. It provides maps, local and reviews that helps customers find a product/ service. Due to this reason millions of smart hotel managers have made it a point to not only have an active G+ account, but also invest in content, local citations, videos, etc.
Benefits of SEO for Resorts and Hotels
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- SEO offers excellent return on investment (ROI)
- Customers are looking for you. SEO scientifically targets the people who are already looking for what your hotel has to offer.
- The most revenue will occur if traffic directly comes from the search engines to the hotel's website. You will enjoy decrease third party related commissions like Expedia.
- SEO has longevity. It works best when it is worked on continually. Once in place, a properly designed and optimized site stays for a long term in the rankings compared to the pay per click (PPC) option. One of the most basic elements for good search performance is ensuring the site must be search engine-friendly. So, hire an agency that offers both SEO and web design expertise under one roof.
As an added benefit, an SEO friendly site offers the web visitors a more pleasant user experience.
Conclusion
Search engine optimization has been drastically transformed. Gone are the days when hotels made tons of revenue through higher rankings. Its time to re-evaluate your SEO strategy by hiring “safe” and familiar search engine marketing professionals and plan a strategy to make the most of current and future search trends.
