How to Improve SEO for Hotels and Get More Bookings
Enhance your hotel's ranking and learn SEO optimization strategies to gain more visibility and customer bookings at your hotel.
Toñi Rodriguez
2 years ago
In most businesses, SEO positioning is a factor to consider for achieving success, not only to increase online visibility but also sales.
The hotel sector is no exception, and that's why in this article we will see the optimization strategies for SEO for hotels and the necessary tools with which you will increase organic traffic and thus increase customer bookings.
We have the expert opinion of Fernando Ferreiro, a top professional with extensive experience in the sector.
He explains to us that:
“The key lies in the hotel's own brand and the importance of brand searches. Optimize and get the most out of Google Profile and super local SEO positioning.”
Let’s take a detailed look!
Table of contents
The importance of SEO for hotels
According to a study, 75% of users never go beyond the first page of search results. Source Hubspot.
If you have a hotel business, you must create attractive content for Google to position it in the top results, in addition to linking to authoritative sites with the same theme.
Hence the importance of working on SEO for hotels. For your hotel’s website to gain traffic and generate direct bookings, you need to work on and optimize SEO.
Another important aspect is that when users are going to travel, they look to book a hotel and trust the information that appears online. Being well-positioned also impacts the brand.
SEO for hotels
One of the first steps to optimize the SEO of your hotel website is to conduct a market research, competition analysis, and keyword research that they have positioned.
Would you like your hotel to appear in the top search results when travelers look for accommodation in your city? Let’s see how to do it.
Analyze the competition and the audience we are targeting
The strategy starts with analyzing the business. We must analyze the market we are targeting, the competition and the websites that are positioned for the searches that interest us; the traffic they have, their age, website size…
For example, if your hotel is in the center of Granada and has spa services, you should analyze which websites appear in the top results for “hotel in the center of Granada with spa”.
We should also look at how the website is structured, the font type, visual content, prices they have, and the services they offer. All this to have a reference to base our work on.
Without forgetting, of course, to know exactly the audience we are targeting, not only knowing their age, income, and profession, but seeking all the necessary information to offer the best service that meets their expectations.
There can be several different profiles with different needs: singles, couples, families, business trips, etc.
Long-tail Keyword Research
You should conduct initial keyword research, which will be the basis for attracting more guests to your hotel, whether it is a small rural accommodation or a central five-star hotel.
It is essential to understand the search terms that potential guests use when looking for accommodation. Once you know them, you can create relevant content and attract specific traffic to your site.
Targeting specific long-tail keywords related to the hotel’s location will allow you to appear in relevant searches.
For example: add a blog to your hotel’s website and start writing articles related to the area, gastronomy, climate, the activities you can do in the area, public transport, …it would be a good start to gain qualified traffic.
To find these high-volume, low-competition keywords, you can use AI tools for SEO.
Avoid generic searches like “hotel Barcelona,” as you would be competing with large OTAs - Online Travel Agencies and would not have the budget or resources to start there.
Focus on the long-tail strategy: “hotel for a romantic getaway with spa in Barcelona.”
Brand Searches or Branded SEO
Something we cannot overlook when working on the SEO strategy for hotels is brand searches. These are those that include the brand keyword or hotel name.
For example, if we analyze the traffic that the Abades hotel domain has, most of it comes from brand searches: “hotel abades benacazón” “hotel abades recogidas” “hotel abades” “hotel abades nevada palace” “hotel el mirador loja”
Contrary to what one might think, these searches have great conversion potential, as the user performing a brand search is at a very advanced point in the buying process, making them more likely to book a hotel.
Therefore, positioning the brand keywords in the top 1 will not be so difficult (since it is the hotel’s brand), it will have a greater impact and will be achieved in less time than non-branded SEO.
Website Architecture
Once we have the initial Keyword Research, it’s time to define a good website architecture. This will be the basis for good information organization.
An ideal structure would be the home or main page, and from there the more generic categories followed by the more specific ones, to help search engines understand the content of the website.
For example: on this website, you can see that the home page has a main tab for “Destinations” and within it each sub-destination.
Home: Hotel Meliá/Destinations: America/Colombia, Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru….
This structure will favor indexing by search engines and regarding the user, it will benefit usability and navigation (we will see this in the following points).
User Experience and SEO
The user experience on your hotel’s website must be outstanding so that the user does not abandon the booking process.
You should include the booking module on the Home and ensure that the font is legible so that the user can intuitively navigate and interact with the hotel website services, payment methods, customer service… and other website functions.
Another vital element in the user experience is technical SEO aspects such as loading speed. When a user enters your website, the last thing they want is to wait, for example, for images to load.
SEO and UX are closely related, as both focus on improving the user experience, one from the perspective of search engines and the other from the perspective of the customer.
Something we must not overlook is the language. For a good user experience, a hotel website cannot have a simple language plugin. The ideal is to create a page with content manually translated by native writers of the language it is aimed at.
Search Intent
Search intent is what the user expects to find when searching for something online. The more specific the query, the better results Google will return.
Depending on where the user is in the process, they will find one result or another.
For example, if they want to go away for the weekend with children, the search intent is informational, so Google will show timeless informational websites about accommodations with children.
The next type of intent is navigational and in this case, the user is looking for hotels known by their brand to stay with children.
And in this last part, the user has already informed themselves and navigated through different hotel websites and decides to book accommodation for their weekend with children. The results that now appear are transactional; typical booking websites and the hotel’s own offers.
Another example to make it clear would be a very specific search intent: “pet-friendly hotel.” In this case, the hotel should have a specific URL and landing page for this pet-friendly service.
Unique and Quality Content
Creating unique and high-quality content that provides valuable information to the user increases the chances of attracting customers to the hotel.
To do this, adding a blog to the hotel’s website is highly recommended. In it, you can write articles with valuable information, which will help you position yourself as a reference in the sector.
You can rely on storytelling techniques to enrich the text.
One of the advantages of creating good content is that it improves the user experience. Additionally, Google emphasizes the importance of providing quality content in its guidelines.
Another advantage is attracting quality links, as if the content is valuable, it will be more likely to be shared on social media.
SEO Title and Meta Descriptions
Create attractive titles and descriptions with keywords that encourage the user to click, and that offer a summary of what they will find on the website.
You can include call-to-action (CTA) elements that encourage the user to click. Such as: “super price flight+hotel….” “book online”, “secure payment”, “flights from Malaga to Paris from €70”.
Header Tags in Your SEO Strategy for Hotels
Use header tags (H1, H2, H3) to structure your content and make it more readable and coherent for both users and search engines.
Including specific keywords in your headers also helps you gain visibility in organic searches and improve SEO for your hotel.
Optimized URLs
URLs should be simple and short and include a keyword to inform Google about the content.
For example, this first URL would not be optimized compared to the second one that is.
www.hotel.com/destination/reservations/spa-hotel-granada/
www.hotel.com/spa-hotel-granada/
Multimedia Content
Include high-resolution images and videos that complement the content and help the user book accommodation.
Don’t forget to add “alt” tags to your images, as this helps search engines understand the context of your visual elements.
Link Building or External Linking
In an SEO strategy for hotels, building links is essential to enhance the authority of the website, generate trust in potential customers, and improve organic search traffic.
To do this, you can use our Match tool and create articles on external blogs or media that link to your website, thus improving your positioning.
At Unancor, we have the ideal quality media and blogs for your website, related to the hotel and tourism sector. You can link to your website from local press articles, vacation sector portals, specialized blogs, etc.
If you prefer, you can request a personalized proposal, where a SEO professional will guide you through the entire process: from project analysis to anchor text selection.
If you work on link building with Unancor, you will improve your visibility, authority, and online reputation.
Another way to do link building for hotels is collaborating with influencers. By staying at your hotel, they can make a review through a video or story, advertising for example that fantastic infinity pool.
In the past, users would go to the hotel’s own website to see images. Now potential customers look for photos uploaded by previous guests to get an idea of the facilities, services, cleanliness,… So much so that these comments directly influence the hotel’s revenue.
Local SEO for Hotels
In SEO for hotels, it is key to focus on local search queries, as users often search in specific locations. To boost the local SEO for your hotel, consider working on the following points:
Google Business Profile
Although all hotels are on vertical websites like Booking, Tripadvisor, etc., local SEO should not be neglected because many users search for hotels directly on Google.
Google Business Profile is a very powerful tool that now offers more functionalities and more information that you should not miss for your hotel business.
Optimize your hotel’s Google Business Profile to improve visibility in local searches. Provide updated information, such as the NAP (name, address, phone) of your hotel.
Complete the information with a link to the website, photos and videos, opening hours, and customer reviews. Regularly monitor reviews and respond to customer feedback to maintain a good online reputation.
Additionally, the Google Business Profile allows you to include services your hotel offers, with their characteristics, price, and availability. Thus, if you ask Google “hotel in Granada with spa,” the Google Business Profile appears as the first result of organic search; which benefits local SEO for hotels.
Local Keywords
Use relevant local keywords, related to your hotel’s location, such as nearby landmarks. Create a landing page for each location that your hotel covers, optimized with valuable content and specific information.
Online Directories
Register your hotel in specific hotel and tourism directories like Booking, Tripadvisor, Yelp, etc… This will improve your business’s online reputation, especially if you encourage customers to leave positive reviews of their experience at your hotel.
Results Analysis
As with any SEO strategy, you must measure and analyze the results of the actions to assess whether it has been effective.
Generally, an SEO strategy can take 3 to 6 months to see a significant impact in terms of web traffic and conversions, depending on the investment made.
You can use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to measure this impact.
And keep in mind customer loyalty, as it will indicate that you are providing a good user experience; the goal is for them to return.
Need help with your Link Building strategy?
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We hope we have helped you understand how to work on SEO strategies for hotels. Conduct a keyword study and a competition analysis, do quality link building with Unancor, and don’t forget local SEO. By working on all these factors, you will improve the visibility of your hotel business.
Remember that working on SEO for hotels is a continuous process that requires constant analysis. Stay updated with the latest trends in the sector and updates to search algorithms to maintain a competitive edge over the competition.
As a note:
98% of travelers research online before purchasing, and platforms like Instagram (44%), Facebook (33%), and TikTok (22%) have become sources of inspiration.
Source: OBS Business School Report
Do you think we left something out? Let us know in the comments.
