5 SEO Tips for Hotels: Sure-fire Strategies to Get Fully Booked

Want to get the inside scoop on how to land on the first page of your potential client’s search engine as soon as they type in the word “hotel” or anything to do with that? Master the most crucial SEO best practices, and you will be sorted!

Most experiences today begin with a digital step, say visiting a park or salon or booking a hotel or vacation rental; it all begins with a search query. No wonder the most used search engine, Google, with 85% of the market share, can now process as much as a whopping 40,000 pages each second. This means if you are the mind behind a hotel or a professional from the hotel industry, your audience can get that much exposure! 

Cutting through in this highly competitive landscape calls for using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tips and tricks to make sure it’s your page they feel tempted to click. Next thing you know, your website traffic will be bustling organically; your online visibility will get a much-needed boost, thanks to how backlinking and other SEO tricks increase SERP performance, and ultimately, your hotel’s booking speed will skyrocket!

So, whether you are a real estate agent or marketing professional overseeing some aspect of a hotel’s booking and online presence, want to get the hang of the five sure-fire SEO strategies to keep your hotel booking rate soaring high? Put your reading glasses on and read along:

1. First Up, Supercharge Your Hotel's Homepage for SEO Success

Your homepage is the heart of your website. That’s where your potential clients are most likely to land when your hotel gets featured somewhere or advertised on the web, and the best situation, when it ranks on the search engine’s first page, which is what we want! Research shows 77% of landing pages are website homepages, so making sure yours sets the right tone, hooks the readers, and makes a convincing case is crucial.  Here’s how you can go about supercharging your hotel’s homepage in line with SEO tactics:  

Craft an SEO-Friendly Homepage

In order to rank top on the search engines, your website’s homepage needs to have what your target audience is most likely to search for, a.k.a; the right KEYWORDS. Keywords are the star of the show when it comes to just about anything SEO and when it comes to perfecting your hotel’s homepage, it means having targeted hotel-related keywords on it. For instance, you can include words like:

•  “Luxury hotel in [XY City]” 
• “Best beachfront accommodation”
• “Budget-friendly hotel in (X town)”

This ensures that when your audience searches for these terms, your website organically pops up in their search results.  

Adorn it with Engaging Visual Content.

Words can only go so far once you have a website visitor. The next best thing to keep them on it amidst pages and apps filled with tons of visual content is to have high-quality images and videos on your homepage. Showcase your hotel’s key features and amenities through pictures and videos to reduce bounce rates and improve engagement. Additionally, include alt text of images to convince search engines to amplify your page’s ranking in image results, too. 

Mention Clear Value Proposition

Think of yourself as a customer seeking desired features, turning them into selling points, and adding value because, at the end of the day, it’s humans searching on the other end. On your homepage, highlight the unique selling points like “luxury beachfront,” “pet-friendly,” or “central downtown location” in a prominent position so you can capture your web visitor’s attention and turn leads into sales seamlessly. 

Write Compelling Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions tell what all your page is about when people look at your website on a search engine results page. Write concise and keyword-containing meta descriptions to improve click-through rates from these pages.

Ensure User-Friendly Navigation

Leverage user-friendly and intuitive navigation right from your homepage. It can guide your website users to key sections like room bookings, amenities, and special offers without you having to intervene. Remember, a smooth user experience makes a world of difference in customer satisfaction, revenue generation, and more. Research shows every 1 dollar invested into UX designing gives back a return of 100 dollars; that’s a gob smacking ROI of 10 thousand percent.

Dominate Local SEO

Don’t just use keywords on your homepage, but keywords that are most relevant to your local area. Here’s all you can do:

• Incorporate local keywords throughout the homepage 
• Add and display your hotel’s address and contact information prominently 
• Make room for local events and attractions to boost relevance

Incorporate Raving Testimonials

Nothing beats the convincing power of good reviews. Make sure to feature authentic guest testimonials and ratings prominently on your website’s homepage to build trust and increase the conversion rate.

2. Craft Irresistible Rooms and Amenities Pages

Once your hotel’s homepage is all ready for SEO, move to your hotel’s site’s other web pages. Craft rooms and amenities pages that are worth clicking on and have all the right things to derive bookings and sales. 

Here are some effective strategies you can use to craft irresistible pages:

3. Showcase Local Attractions and Events to Draw in Guests

For seasonal bookings, knowing what all is going around you and putting it up on your hotel’s website can drive a good amount of organic traffic. For example, if there’s a sports event or a concert that’s going to take place around your hotel, you can list related keywords like “best hotel near (XY Arena)” or “relaxing hotels near ABC match venue,” etc. What’s more, you might also attract website visitors who were searching for these events alone or some popular nearby attractions. So, let’s explore some SEO strategies to draw in guests through your hotel’s website via posting about local attractions and events:

• Local Guides and Blog Posts

Make your website an informational digital space and site for visitors and tourists by writing guides and blog posts about nearby attractions, local restaurants, and events. You can choose the most searched and relevant SEO topics according to your local area and write on them like “best eateries in (XYZ City)” or “Things to do in (ABC town),” travel guides, etc. 

• Event Highlights

Write blogs that promote local events and festivals around your hotel’s area. Write in detail about these events and the benefits of attending them, and also explain how staying at your hotel can be convenient for attendees by supporting points like good value for money, short walking distance from the event venue, and others. 

You can also include offers by collaborating with event organizers and offering discounted rates for event attendees, making it a win-win situation for your hotel’s booking rate and your hotel’s website SEO strategy. 

• Seasonal Offers and Itineraries

To attract local guests and visitors traveling to your area in vacation seasons, create content around seasonal activities and suggest itineraries for different types of travelers like families, couples, and business travelers. Make sure you have content for all age groups and traveler types on your hotel’s website for good SERP performance and to not miss out on any potential guests.

4. Perfect Your Booking Engine and Conversion Paths

Making sure your booking engine and conversion paths are top-notch is another strategic way to streamline the booking process and in turn, increase conversions. That’s because click rate is one of the major ranking factors on search engines and besides, a smooth user experience ensures return website visitors, and in no time, your leads will turn into clients. 

User Experience (UX) Focus

A harder-to-navigate UX design, especially a booking engine, means an easier-to-leave hotel website. No one looking up hotels to book them online likes to make calls and deal with the hassles of alternate hotel booking techniques. As a hotel website owner, you need to ensure your booking engine is easy to use and also both desktop-friendly and mobile-friendly.

Clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

While you can endorse your hotel implicitly throughout blog content but when it comes to the call to action that is usually placed in the conclusion section, don’t sleep on the power of action words in deriving customer action. Use strong CTAs like:

• “Book Now”
• “Check Availability”
• “Reserve Your Room” 

Additionally, don’t forget to link these to your hotel’s website booking pages.

Special Offers and Packages

When advertising or offering discounts or exclusive offers, make sure you are loud and clear about it on your website. Highlight promotions, discounts, and special packages on your website’s homepage or landing pages to entice direct bookings by using: 

• big-sized fonts
• colorful elements
•  high-quality visuals

5. Build Authority with Backlinks from Travel Bloggers and Magazines

Organic traffic and having more website visitors from SERP alone are not the only contributing factor that derives website visitors and growth. What’s more important and effective in deriving such results is backlinking. That’s right. 

Various pieces of research show that web pages that have the greatest number of backlinks rank the highest in search engine results pages. Acing your hotel’s website backlinking game is thus critical. Here’s how you can go about it:

Engage with Influential Travel Bloggers

Reach out to popular travel bloggers and invite them to stay at your hotel to review it. Offer them a complimentary stay or exclusive experiences in exchange for a detailed blog post, vlog, and backlinks.

This way they can share your link to their followers and you can have new website visitors as well as backlink credibility for search engines. 

Feature in Prestigious Travel Magazines

Get in touch with travel magazines and online publications and get your hotel featured in their articles or shoots with your website link included. Give them high-quality images and detailed information about your hotel’s unique offerings and benefit from increased website traffic.

Collaborate on Compelling Content

Co-create content with influencers and travel writers that showcase your hotel’s amenities and local attractions. You can work on guest blog posts, interviews, collaborative social media campaigns, or reels, or TikToks.

Amplify Guest Reviews and Stories

Encourage guests to share their experiences and reviews regarding their stay at your hotel on travel blogs and websites and ensure they link back to your hotel’s website so more people can come from these reviews.