THATBlog

Hotel SEO is a bit like a puzzle; no, it’s not that it’s difficult (though it is complex). It’s that there is a variety of pieces. When they come together correctly, they form a complete picture. And when they don’t… well, you have a pile of disparate pieces. When you follow best practices, though, a picture begins to emerge.

Here are 5 tips to help you boost your hotel’s search rankings:

1. Let a picture speak 1000 words

Hotel guests often begin their customer journey by dreaming. It is aspirational at this stage: capture their interest with high-quality professional photographs of your property, grounds, special amenities (come on: show off that restaurant, bar, spa, and pool!), and rooms. Include photos of your locale as well to show prospective guests what they can look forward to when they arrive. Top performing travel sites have an average of 2.1 photos per page. Make them count.

2. And you can say 1000 words (or more!) too

Yes, web readers tend to respond to short content that they can easily digest in one (very short) sitting. However, a study conducted by Searchmetrics discovered that top ranking travel sites feature 2500 words per page. This is about 57% more than top ranking sites in other spaces. Don’t fluff up a 500 word piece into a 2500 word behemoth; but when you have something to say, long-form content can help you say it with maximum impact.

3. Reader-friendly content 

Bulleted content is much more digestible than long blocks of text. Readers can easily grasp the main points of a piece even without reading word-for-word. And if they do want to read each captivating word, they can do so easily. Chunked information, or that which is broken up into bite-sizes, is more easily retained. Top ranking sites have more bulleted content. 

4. Don’t forget internal links

First and foremost, internal linking adds value to your website visitors. They can easily navigate around your site, finding the information they need without leaving to go to a search engine or secondary website. And what’s good for visitors is good for your rankings. There is a strong positive correlation between solid internal linking and rankings.

5. Stay relevant

The deadliest of hotel SEO marketing deadly sins? Being irrelevant. Creating content for the sake of content. Don’t. Do. It. Instead, answer travelers’ FAQs, explain your service offerings, create guides to give guests the low-down on your area, promote other businesses and build reciprocal relationships, incorporate local keywords organically, and stay on top of key hotel marketing trends.

Put these pieces together, and you can start powering towards your goals.