SEO for Hospitality

While the digital age has made it harder for some businesses, the hospitality industry can flourish by using the right strategies. In this day and age, your website will be one of your best marketing tools. However, no matter how beautifully constructed your website is, it will not matter without gaining traffic. You can get thousands of new eyes on your website by learning hospitality SEO, resulting in increased bookings.

What Is Hospitality SEO?

Simply put, search engine optimization (SEO) allows more visibility on your hospitality website. Hospitality SEO will ensure that potential clients will find your site with a quick google search. Millions of users utilize search engines daily, so you will want your website to appear when people are searching for products and services you offer.

Why Is It Important to Utilize Hospitality SEO?

When users hop onto a search engine, they unknowingly use keywords to match them with the most relevant websites. By improving your hospitality SEO, you will be directing these users to your website. The right SEO strategy will direct those searching specifically for something your business offers, rather than random users.

If you have ever done a Google search, you can probably count on one hand the number of times you have ventured past the second page. You aren’t alone, as research has found that only a combined 6% of users will go past page one. With so much competition, you must utilize hospitality SEO to land on the first page for your best chance of getting seen online.

Strategies for Hospitality SEO

When most people think SEO, they likely think about keywords. However, keywords are just a piece of the puzzle. Having an optimized website is a huge part of search engine optimization that is often overlooked.

The algorithm measures the time it takes for your website’s response time when loading and slow pages rank lower. Not only that, but Google searchers want their information fast, and if the page takes a long time to load, they may look elsewhere.

One way to create a faster website is to compress large media files that can slow your site down. By doing so, you decrease the file size without sacrificing the image quality. You can ask your photographer to compress these files for you or use a service such as TinyJPG.

To see your hospitality website’s speed, use a tool such as Pingdom Website Speed Test.

As mentioned before, every Google search contains keywords. These keywords tell the search engine’s algorithm which websites will best match the user’s search.

Aim to find words and phrases someone may use to find your hospitality website. To do this, get crystal clear on the audience you are looking to market to. Your ideal client will likely change with each page on your site.

For example, one ideal client may be someone who is looking for a romantic getaway. This user will be using keywords differently than a family traveling and looking for a budget hotel.

There are multiple tools you can use to research keywords, such as Google Trends.

Make lists of each ideal client you would like to target. From there, you can easily use these keywords in your web pages, social media content, and articles.

Rather than having each page existing with the sole purpose of bookings, get creative. What does your hospitality business offer?

Going off of a previous example, a couple looking for a romantic getaway may be interested in tourist attractions near your business. This would be a great opportunity to create a blog post with different activities couples can enjoy that are in proximity of your business.

By providing easily searchable resources, visiting your establishment will be a no-brainer. This allows the reader to see other benefits aside from how great your hospitality business is.

Both your blog and social media channels can be essential tools to bring traffic to your website. Consistent content creation allows more to be seen by potential viewers. Use your list from before to create content specific for each of your ideal customers.

Conclusion

Search engines have provided a way for consumers to match with the perfect business. By utilizing hospitality SEO, you can gain more traffic to your website and more visits to your establishment. Having an optimized website, high-quality content, and specific keywords all help your search engine optimization.