Establishing a strong online presence is critical for hosting operators to stand out from the ever-increasing competition in today’s market. In 2021 alone, Booking.com spent more 3.8 billion dollars in marketing efforts, and other OTAs and big hotel brands have followed suit, dominating online hotel searches, driving on-page organic listings and making it harder for independent properties to compete for direct bookings.
Fortunately, there are some easy (and free) ways for properties to increase their visibility online to effectively compete with OTAs and other properties for direct bookings.
Update your Google Business Profile
In 2022, Google processed more 8,500 million daily searches, accounting 92% of all search engine traffic and nearly half of those searches had local intent. To take advantage of the massive volume of traffic funneled through Google, hosting operators must ensure they have an active Google Business Profile. This free profile appears in popular travel search results, including Google Search, Google Hotel Search and Google Maps, to help travelers discover properties and book directly. It also improves search engine optimization by ranking higher in organic searches.
Accommodation companies should use their business profile as an extension of the property website to increase visibility and encourage direct bookings. To maximize the benefits of a profile:
Select accurate and relevant categories Highlight hotel attributes and amenities. Update your profile regularly: Consider updating images and copying them seasonally to help guests better visualize their stay. Include important keywords and search phrases. Use accurate, high-quality images.
Ensure NAP consistency
NAP refers to name, address and telephone number. It is imperative that these three attributes are consistent across online listings Make sure travelers can easily find the listing using local SEO. While this may sound simple, even the slightest mistake can throw off your search results.
The best place to start is with a list of all the places where a property’s NAP information exists, including local listings, review sites, and other business profiles, and confirm that the contact information is consistent. Not only will this streamline the user experience and build trust in the traveler’s mind, but it will also help influence local ratings to beat competitors in the same area.
Include citations and backlinks
Citations and backlinks are hyperlinks from other websites that redirect to a property’s website. These can help boost a website’s search ranking, as search engines use them as a signal of high-quality content. One of the easiest ways to increase citations or backlinks is to contact local tourism or travel associations to inquire about partnership opportunities and benefits.
Affiliates typically have strong domain authority (a high search engine ranking score compared to competitors) and are more valuable than sites with lower domain authority. Owners and operators should check membership opportunities that include a citation and link to their website.
Remember, think quality, not quantity when it comes to backlinks. A link from a website with high domain authority or trust provides a powerful boost to the authority of the originating site and also means greater exposure and visibility for the linked content.
To get additional backlinks, hosting companies can contact publications that have written about their property and request a link to their website. For example, if a travel blogger has recently written about a specific property, the owner can reach out and ask if they will include a link on their website.
Citations and backlinks are about constantly identifying new opportunities to slowly build domain authority and drive more website traffic. For example, inclusion in local guides published by a media publication or website, or even by another local business, which is supported or promoted with social media channels, PR and collaboration, will usually give site to organic backlinks. And remember to share content instead of duplicating it – quality content and cross-promotion work best.
Develop a review strategy
Reviews are the most powerful tool for building trust with potential guests and encouraging them to book. 81% of travelers often or always read reviews before booking a hotel. They also play an important role in improving SEO rankings, as search engines consider the number, quality and age of comments in their rankings. The more consistently the reviews come together, the more successful this strategy will be.
As part of your hotel marketing strategy, it’s important collect feedback from customers throughout the guests’ journey. Consider adding a point of contact during a guest’s stay to ask how they’re doing. If there’s a problem, it’s easier to perform a service recall to increase the likelihood of a five-star review. Then follow up with a post-communication survey to gauge their satisfaction. For those who are very satisfied, please send them a link to Tripadvisor or Google to leave a review.
Drive more direct bookings
And remember that the performance of Google Free Booking Links and Google Hotel Ads is tied to Google Business Profiles, so be sure to continuously monitor and update your profile for optimal success.
With a little time and the right strategies, independent properties can increase their online visibility and generate more direct bookings without a big budget.
About Cloudbeds
Cloudbeds provides the platform that powers hospitality, drives streamlined operations, increases bookings and revenue, and enables memorable guest experiences for lodging businesses of all sizes and types worldwide. The award-winning Cloudbeds Hospitality Platform seamlessly combines solutions for reception, revenue, distribution, guest acquisition and guest engagement into a single unified system, enhanced by a marketplace of third-party integrations. Cloudbeds was named #1 PMS and #1 Hotel Management System by Hotel Tech Report in 2022 and recognized by Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 in 2021. For more information, visit www.cloudbeds.com.
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