Hotel website higher in Google

Search engine optimization for hotels

SEO (search engine optimization) is a powerful yet challenging and time-consuming tool. Nonetheless, it is effective and advisable to invest time in: a well-scoring article can yield results over a long term continuously. Once you secure a good position, it can generally be retained for an extended period. That means it continuously attracts visitors and can even lead to conversions in the long run.

The importance of the searcher

Search engines want only one thing, which is to give the correct answer to the question asked. If a search engine fails to do that, it risks being overtaken by another search engine. Although Google is by far the largest and most well-known search engine and won't be easily bypassed, this remains the main focus of every search engine. Even as the leader, Google must continuously innovate to stay ahead of its competition. They do this by providing the best answer based on the search term of the seeker. The significance of the searcher comes first.

This thought forms the basis of SEO. Starting to make your hotel website more discoverable begins with writing articles. Ultimately, you want these articles to translate into a sale (or booking/reservation for your hotel), but without rolling out the red carpet, you'll struggle to attract visitors to your website. So produce content through articles and share information and knowledge with your seeker. Keep in mind that you need to provide the answer to the question someone is searching for. Give the best answer because search engines want to provide the best answers.

What NOT to do

The time of simple tricks is over. Search engine optimization can go wrong. A few 'commandments' to be aware of before we truly get started. Search engines can penalize web pages or even entire websites by ranking them lower or removing them completely from search results. This is known as a Google Penalty. The most critical mistakes that can go wrong are outlined below:

• Cloaking is a term where texts are published invisibly in the hope that Google uses them for indexing. This can be done by placing texts and keywords (visible in your website’s source code), but hiding them from your visitors. This was effective in the past, but you understand with the belief that 'the seeker comes first' that this is no longer appreciated.
• Keyword spamming. When writing an article, always focus it on a specific keyword. But this does not mean that the keyword must be repeated excessively in your article. Also, a list of place names is often frowned at by SEO standards. Keywords should be used sparingly at certain positions, which will be covered later. However, using synonyms of your keywords is permitted and even recommended but do so moderately!

Technique of your hotel website

A hotel website can be developed using systems like WordPress. A pleasant system for the end-user but often (due to templates and plugins) slow, heavy, and technically not clean code. If you use WordPress, invest in a template designed for optimal SEO. However, even better is a system where you don’t need to touch any techniques yourself. A ready-to-use CMS where you input texts, and the system guarantees the cleanest code every time.

Structured data for hotels is also recommended, allowing you to give Google structured information about basic details concerning your hotel. Think of opening hours of your hotel and/or reception, price range, and of course location details. Availability can also be synchronized with Google, enabling visitors to check the price and availability of your hotel directly through Google.

It is important to note that a web designer is often not an SEO or conversion optimization expert. The web designer's expertise is in creating a visually appealing layout and presentation that fits your business. The technical side, however, requires a perspective from marketing, user experience, and, of course, a developer who knows how to optimize the website for SEO. Keep this in mind when contracting for your website.

Once and for all, no more concerns about the techniques? The technical aspects of your website form the foundation and are an important part of your SEO strategy. Without a sound foundation, any content writing will yield little return. With that belief, we assist hoteliers with our website module, included in our all-in-one hotel software. Within a fixed template, you have room to implement your own branding while we ensure that the technical side is taken care of in detail so that you can excel with Google.

In short, choose a foundation for your website (preferably that focuses on the hospitality sector) and ensure that the technical aspects are rock solid. This will give you faster and better results in the next step.

Structure of an article

Time to get started! Write articles, answer questions from potential guests, and try to excite them and guide them toward a goal (conversion). A few tips:

• Remember the importance of the reader. Write about attractions and activities in the vicinity of your hotel, for example. Why do guests stay with you? If many guests book because your area is a beautiful hiking destination, then write about that.
• Make your subjects specific and focus on so-called “Long-tail keywords.” For instance, you love mountain biking and are looking for accommodation where you can engage in that activity during the May holiday. Be as concrete as possible and immerse yourself in what the reader is searching for at that moment. An article specifically targeting mountain biking in the Ardennes, including lodging, will yield far better results than generic mountain biking tips from which the sporting guest won't gain new insights. You're not selling mountain bikes, but you do have a beautiful accommodation in a nature-rich environment that lends itself perfectly to biking trails. You can also offer those trails for download via the article (preferably 'in exchange' for a newsletter sign-up).
• Found a powerful title? Don’t veer too far off and stick to the title; that’s what the visitor is looking for. Try to provide the best answer but remain on topic.
• Link articles to each other and ensure external links (backlinks). Social media also contributes to this. Again, do this moderately. Also, link to external pages that relate to the topic you are writing about. Links are powerful to inform Google that there’s more to find on a certain term.
• Enrich your content with images, illustrations, tables, bullet points, links, and videos. Keep paragraphs short and utilize many titles and subtitles. Incorporate keywords and synonyms within your titles. This makes for a more pleasant read (people primarily screen your titles and images), and Google appreciates media that supplements the text.

Tips for advanced users?

Once you have written texts and garnered more visitors to your website, you will want to focus on converting those visitors into bookings. You want that visitor to become a guest at your hotel and place a booking/reservation. Sign up for our series where we explain step by step how you can extract more visitors from your hotel website and reduce dependence on external platforms.