Hundreds of millions of people use Google to search for businesses, products, and services online. When they need to book accommodation, chances are they’ll conduct a Google search as a first step. The important thing is to ensure that your hotel is coming up high on the search results pages – or at least higher than your biggest competitors. That’s where hotel search engine marketing comes in.
Through hotel SEM, website ranking experts ensure that your hotel website is ticking all of Google’s boxes. This will give it the best chance of climbing high on the SERPs (search engine results pages). Let’s look at why your hotel should be online, three ways to get your hotel on Google, and how to find a hotel marketing partner to assist you with your hotel SEO activities.
Why should your hotel be online?
Here’s an experiment to prove how important hotel SEO is for online booking success: open Google on your phone or computer and type in these search queries:
- Hotels in [YOUR CITY]
- Hotels near me
- Hotel accommodation in [YOUR CITY]
Which hotels do you see on Google’s first page? Can you find your hotel there? Are you finding all your competitors? Is your hotel’s website coming up on Google’s page two, three or – shudder – page four?
Research has shown that most internet users searching Google for hotels will click on one of the top three results on the first page. You can see why getting your hotel website onto Google’s first page is so important – and then you should aim for one of those top three spots.
3 ways to get your hotel on Google
Getting your hotel on Google with search engine marketing isn’t as difficult as you might think. Google offers owners of hotel websites three ways to get found online:
Google Business Profile Manager
Any business that wants to be found on Google Search and Google Maps should consider registering a Google Business Profile Manager account. It’s free and easy to set up, and within days your hotel will be found on Google alongside your competitors. You can even set up a temporary business website through Google Business Profile Manager.
Google Hotels
Another vital hotel SEO tool is Google Hotels, designed specifically for hotels and other accommodation providers. Google wants to help your next guest find you on Google, and with free booking links in your profile, you can show real-time rates and availability and send customers to your booking site. This is all at no cost to you unless you want to up the stakes with paid hotel ads.
Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is a great way to get your hotel website found not only on Google but on all the internet search engines that people use. Search engine optimization involves making website improvements so that search engines consider it an online authority in your industry. SEO activities can include increasing the loading speed of your website, adding engaging media to important pages, and attracting links from other websites to yours (known as backlinks).
