Hotel Digital Marketing Tips: Improve your SEO and Social Media Game

The hotel industry is booming. The hotel market in the US has grown by 9% over the last five years, and it’s expected to grow another 5% by 2026. However, hoteliers are facing a new challenge: digital marketing. They need to create great content that will attract customers without being too costly or time-consuming. This is where search engine marketing comes into play! Let’s take a closer look at how hotels can use SEO, PPC and social media to increase hotel reservations and hotel occupancy rates.

What is hotel SEO, and how does it impact hotel digital marketing?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing hotel websites to rank higher in hotel search results. It enhances hotel SEO so that hotel finder sites will list your hotel over competitors. This makes it vital for hoteliers to take advantage of all the steps to be successful at hotel SEO including: free or paid digital marketing tools like Google Analytics and Google My Business; website design; content creation; local directory listings; social media profiles; online reviews; and conversion rates.

Why is having a digital marketing strategy for your hotel so crucial?

Digital marketing has become the most important form of hotel marketing. According to hotel industry professionals, hotel SEO ranks among the top 3 hotel marketing strategies in terms of hotel conversion rates. This means hoteliers who take advantage of digital marketing see an increase in hotel reservations and hotel occupancy rates, lower owning costs, and increased sales opportunities.

The top 6 hotel digital marketing ideas.

Below you will find 6 digital marketing ideas to help your hotel reach more customers and become a leading choice in the hospitality industry.

1. Increase hotel search engine rankings

You can improve hotel search engine rankings by analyzing Google Analytics and using Google My Business, and other free or paid digital marketing tools. Next step is to start creating SEO-friendly hotel content on your hotel website, hotel blog, and hotel directory profiles. Make sure to optimize hotel pages with local keywords for hotel SEO rankings.

2. Optimize hotel social media profiles

Hotel social media profiles such as hotel Facebook, hotel Twitter, and hotel LinkedIn are important for SEO. They allow hoteliers to share hotel updates with customers and prospects in one place. It is also a great way to attract potential hotel guests and build customer loyalty. More about social media below.

3. Regular hotel content creation

Blogging is a hotel SEO best practice that allows hoteliers to upload hotel photos, hotel videos, hotel deals, hotel events ,and hotel news to their website blog. It also helps attract customers by proving helpful hotel information with unique and original website content. Blogs are indexed quickly in search engine results so they help hoteliers improve hotel search engine rankings.

4. Promote hotel with social media influencers

Social media influencers can help hoteliers promote hotel deals and hotel packages. These hotel influencers have large networks of followers who trust hotel reviews and recommendations by people they know, like, and follow on social media. Hotel influencer marketing is a great way to promote hotel guests’ experience with hotel photos, videos, and hotel reviews.

5. Use hotel SEO and hotel PPC to improve hotel conversions

Hotel search engine optimization and hotel pay per click marketing are helpful ways to drive hotel conversions. It helps hoteliers increase traffic to hotel pages and boosts conversion rates when hotel guests find hotel deals, hotel packages, and other promotional offers that matter most.

It’s also important for hoteliers to track hotel conversions in hotel marketing tools. Digital marketing hotel software helps hoteliers improve hotel SEO with site optimization reports, discover which hotel pages are most effective for attracting hotel guests with keyword optimization reports, and how many visitors converted into hotel reservations.

6. Use email marketing

Email marketing is an effective hotel marketing strategy because email campaigns are easy to set up, they’re inexpensive, and hoteliers can do it all themselves.

It’s also a great form of hotel advertising for hoteliers who don’t have the budget to hire a digital marketing agency or hotel SEO company. Yet even with these benefits, many hoteliers still shy away from email marketing because they think they need lots of technical skills or professional equipment like graphic design software and high-quality images. This couldn’t be further from the truth!

All you really need is some time, creativity, and basic HTML knowledge to get started with email marketing today.

How do you monitor hotel SEO?

It is essential to make sure your hotel digital marketing efforts are generating hotel conversions. Monitor your hotel SEO with hotel benchmarking reports to make sure you’re on track to improve hotel rankings and increase hotel conversions.

It’s the only way to know which hotel SEO tactics work best for your hotel, so that you can focus on what works and scale back or stop what doesn’t.

What digital hotel marketing strategies should hoteliers be using?

Since hotel SEO has become one of the most important hotel marketing strategies, hoteliers need to make sure they’re following Google’s hotel search algorithm updates and other hotel search engine rules. Other digital hotel marketing ideas for your hotel include: social media management; online hotel deals and advertising; mobile optimization and hotel apps; hotel email marketing and hotel blogging.

The Basics of Hotel Search Engine Marketing

If you own a hotel, you know the importance of local SEO and how it can help your hotel rank higher on Google Maps and Google search results. So what is hotel search engine marketing (SEM) and how can it help increase hotel bookings? SEM refers to all digital marketing techniques that are designed to increase visibility of the hotel’s website in organic searches via paid advertising. It’s commonly divided into three branches: hotel pay per click (PPC), hotel SEO & hotel social media marketing.

Should you choose organic SEO or paid PPC?

Some hotels might wonder if organic SEO or paid PPC is the better option. In general, it’s best to choose both. However, this isn’t always possible due to budget constraints. In this case, it’s best to prioritize organic SEO over paid PPC.

If you’re on a tight budget, it’s better to invest your money in SEO instead of PPC. That said, it’s also critical to use hotel social media marketing and communicate with customers on popular review sites like TripAdvisor and Booking.com.

SEO vs Paid: Pros and Cons

Whether you’re just starting out with hotel digital marketing or looking to improve your digital strategy, it’s important to know which of the two strategies will benefit your hotel the most: organic SEO or paid advertising. SEO tends to take much more time to implement, but once it’s up and running you don’t have to pay a dime. It’s a great option for hotels on a limited budget or those who want to focus on organic branding. Paid PPC adverts are an excellent way to boost traffic quickly and can be highly profitable if managed well. The downside is that paid advertising requires constant maintenance and monitoring to get the best results.

How do hotels use social media?

Social media is a powerful digital marketing tool for hoteliers who want to engage with their guests, build relationships with potential visitors and drive more bookings.

Below are a few of the most popular social media channels for hotels and tips on how to use them:

• Facebook – Hoteliers can create a “Page” or “Group” to communicate with guests, share photos from events, provide discounts and keep people up to date on property news. Post status updates at least once a day. Try posting different types of content, such as hotel deals and photos.

• Twitter – Use short snappy posts to share unique promotions or special offers. Tweet at least once a day. Try tweeting different types of content, such as hotel deals and fun facts about your city or property.

• LinkedIn – This is mostly for B2B communication, but can be a great way to share hotel case studies and industry news.

• Instagram – Use this platform to post engaging visuals of your property, events, people and anything else that will appeal to social media users. Make sure you use relevant hashtags in posts so they’re searchable. Post at least once a day.

• YouTube – You can create a channel to share videos of your hotel, property and even promotional content. Post at least once a week.

• Pinterest – This platform is ideal for sharing beautiful photos of your hotel, rooms and events. Users often “pin” pictures to their own boards so it’s good for branding. Post at least once a week.

• TripAdvisor – Use this platform to share posts with recent visitors about their experience at the property. Remember to keep posts positive! Post at least once a week.

• Foursquare – If your hotel is located in a popular building or landmark, you can use this platform to share interesting visitor tips about the property.

• Yelp – Hoteliers are encouraged to respond to reviews on Yelp and share their insight with followers. Post at least once a week.

There’s no denying the power of social media to connect with potential hotel guests and increase bookings. Start by focusing on a few platforms that will work best for your property and then getting started with content creation. Be sure to respond to all online mentions and stay engaged with customers throughout their entire journey before, during and after booking.

Final thoughts

If you want to be successful in the hotel industry, it’s important to chose wisely where you will invest your money. Looking to boost traffic quickly? Paid advertising is the way to go. However, if you want to start with organic SEO and focus on building your brand online it will take more time, but in the long run will be far more useful for gaining loyal customers and effectively reach a wider audience.

That said, it is also critical that you use social media marketing and communicate with customers on popular review sites like TripAdvisor and Booking.com. Social Media can drive more bookings by connecting with potential guests while SEO will only help build your brand over time for minimal cost!

SEO services provided by the experts at Search Pirates.

We specialize in Organic SEO, Paid Search PPC Management and Social Media Management. We provide marketing strategies that will help you attract visitors to your hotel website, convert them into paying customers and encourage guests to share their experience on popular review sites like TripAdvisor, Booking.com and Expedia with the highest ratings possible!

Contact us today to learn more about our successful hotel digital marketing campaigns!