Dear WuBookers, you know how important it is to have a website, which is a real calling card for any accommodation property. Customers arrive via the website, of course, but before winning their hearts (and their wallets!), we have to win over Google. How? By optimizing your content and improving your ranking with some tips on SEO for hotels and accommodation facilities. Let’s see what it’s all about.

What is SEO for Hotels and Why is it so important?

Partly through intuition and partly through experience, we know that when we type “hotels in [city name]” into the search bar, we get relevant links (or at least a good number of links that match our search). But why does Google show us those sites? And why doesn’t yours appear? How can you make yourself visible to potential customers?

You need to know about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which is also strategically important for the hospitality industry. This branch of digital marketing specializes in a series of activities that improve the scanning, indexing, and positioning of websites on search engines. This increases the chances that Google will see the website and display it as a search result, possibly among the top results.

But how does Google work, and what do we need to do to get noticeable results?

How search engines work

Search engines such as Google work thanks to complex algorithms: they analyze data and sort it according to criteria of relevance and pertinence to what the user is looking for. The result of this process is what we call SERP (acronym for Search Engine Results Page), i.e., the page where the results that the search engine gives in response to the user’s request appear.

SERPs contain various types of results. Until recently, we could summarize them into two broad categories (which still exist, but are no longer exclusive): paid results, based on the Google Ads service, which usually appear first, labeled as “ad.” And organic results, which are found further down the page and are the result of site optimization strategies and attention to other aspects that we will see in this article.

However, in recent years, results pages have also been enriched with new elements. In addition to classic text links, Google increasingly displays visual content such as images and videos, but also previews of social posts, taken for example from LinkedIn long forms.

Then there are featured snippets, which are quick answers that appear at the top of the SERP in the form of highlighted boxes and respond directly to the user’s query. Another fairly recent element is the AI Overview, which is a summary generated by artificial intelligence that appears for certain searches and offers a direct and immediate overview of the topic of interest to the user.

So, Google has evolved over time, both in its responses and in its internal workings. You’ve probably heard of “keywords,” those strings of text typed into the search bar by the user that generate a specific SERP (for example, “B&Bs in Venice” or “where to stay in Florence,” etc.). Well, keywords are still important, but they are no longer the only parameter used by the search engine. Today, Google also takes into account voice and visual searches: just think of the growing use of voice assistants or tools such as Google Lens, which allow you to search for information starting from a photo. For this reason, optimizing a website also means thinking about how people really search: with their voice, with images, with more natural questions. The more your site is able to respond to these needs, the easier it will be to find.

Advantages of SEO for Hotels

As mentioned above, there are essentially two ways to appear in prominent positions in SERPs – and get as many reservations as possible from user searches – through paid campaigns or organically through SEO optimization activities.

Promotional strategies vary from property to property. However, it is advisable to cover generic keywords (“hotel + city name”) and brand keywords (the name of your hotel), so as to intercept both search intentions and outperform, at least visually, competitors and OTAs. Paid campaigns are certainly immediate, but they are expensive and, in the long run, could involve costs that are not always sustainable.

SEO optimization is a process that takes more time but is less expensive than traditional advertising, Google Ads campaigns, and social media campaigns.

SEO also offers a significant advantage over the competition even when Ads campaigns are turned off. Except in special cases, the organic ranking obtained is fairly stable and long-lasting and guarantees a certain amount of visibility whether you decide to invest in Ads or not.

On-page and off-page SEO

Before continuing, it is important to specify that SEO activities are varied and not all of them concern the website. On-page SEO includes strategies such as keyword research and their use in content, website structure organization, the quality of the user experience on the website, and code and image optimization.

Off-page SEO, on the other hand, has to do with link building and digital PR, and concerns relationships and interactions with other online portals, which can contribute to visibility and quality traffic on the site.

SEO for hotels: tips for optimizing your website

So far, we have understood that if your site is well optimized, the chances of it appearing in searches are higher. But what does SEO optimization consist of and how can we put it into practice?

Here are some tips to get you started.

Define your audience

The first step in building a SEO strategy for your hotel website is to define your audience. You will need to answer questions such as:

• Who are the people who stay at your property?
• What are their habits?
• How old are they?
• Where do they come from and how do they travel?
• How do they book?
• When do they travel and for how long?

This information will help you build a detailed profile of your buyer personas.

Do keyword researches

Keyword research is used to identify and predict the terms people use to search for a business on Google. Let’s take an example: Giovanna wants to go on vacation to Valencia and searches for “best hotels in Valencia,” “hotels in downtown Valencia,” and other similar search terms, depending on her preferences for her stay.

Identifying which words are most commonly used by your customers allows you to use them when writing the text for your website and to work on other elements that are important to people and to Google: metadata, like page titles and meta descriptions. These elements, which are displayed by the search engine in SERPs, must be unique and serve to tell people looking at the results what the page is about.

To get an overview of the terms relevant to your business, you can search for properties in your region or city and study the SERPs. Keyword research, on the other hand, is carried out using special tools and platforms, some of which are available for free.

Study your competitors for inspiration and to stand out

Sometimes inspiration or a good strategy can come from what your competitors are doing. It’s not about copying their moves and hoping they work for your site, but about finding your own way.

For example, are there many historical monuments in the area where your property is located, but none of your competitors have an in-depth section on their website with this information? You could then decide to use this topic for your blog. Do some research, check if there are any keywords and build an editorial plan for publications with content that is interesting for your audience.

Optimize images and videos to increase visibility

Photos and videos aren’t just for making your site look pretty: they can actually improve your search rankings. But for that to happen, they need to be used in the right way. Organize professional photo shoots, without distorting the images too much in post-production: it’s important to give potential customers a realistic idea of what they’ll find at your property and in the surrounding area.

Images must be high quality, but also lightweight: ideally, use the WebP format, which allows you to maintain good resolution while reducing file size. For videos, it’s best to upload them to platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo and embed them on your site so as not to slow down loading times.

File names and alternative text (alt text) are also essential. The file name should clearly describe what can be seen in the image, such as “double-room-with-balcony.jpg” instead of “IMG1234.jpg.” Alt text, on the other hand, is read by search engines and accessibility tools, so it should be written in a descriptive and natural way, including the keyword only if it makes sense.

Including short, well-made videos showing the rooms, breakfast, services, or surroundings can increase the time users spend on the site and improve the overall experience. It is best to avoid videos that are too long or generic: focus on content that tells the story of what makes your property unique. One video for each topic area (rooms, common areas, local experiences) is a good place to start.

Always produce relevant and meaningful content

Every piece of text on your site should have a purpose within your strategy, but it should also be clear and provide useful and relevant information. Google’s algorithms rank website pages, and if you write quality content, you will be rewarded by the search engine.

Similarly, there is no need to fill every page with images or videos: the right content, well distributed, optimized, and updated is enough. If well curated, it can help you appear in visual results, image searches, or even SERP video carousels.

More tips to improve optimization

These are the basic steps to start working on your website’s SEO, but that’s not all. To gain more visibility on search engines, it is important to:

• optimize your site for all devices: remember that most reservations come through smartphones;
• take care of local SEO: make sure your Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) is complete, up to date, and consistent with the information on your website. It’s a powerful tool for helping people find you when they’re looking for accommodations in your area;
• integrate reviews: if you’ve received positive reviews on reputable portals, consider displaying them on your website as well. Having authentic testimonials increases user confidence and can convince them to book;
• update your website regularly, both in terms of content and the technology behind it, to keep up with industry developments and the technical requirements valued by search engines.

Zak for website creation and SEO optimization

What does a PMS have to do with your property’s website? A lot, if we’re talking about Zak, the all-in-one management software by WuBook. In addition to the advanced features of hotel software, Zak also allows you to create websites for accommodation facilities equipped with all the main SEO features. Using the dedicated module, you can create a complete website with customized text, images, and videos, choosing from a range of templates. You can set one or more languages, edit the metadata of all pages, and use your own domain or a free one provided directly by the PMS.

Above everything else, the website is already optimized for mobile devices and integrated with the reservation system (native Booking Engine): this way, if your SEO strategies are successful, you can sell rooms directly from your portal.

SEO optimization in the hospitality sector is a complex and multifaceted task, which also depends on technical and technological choices, and must be carried out competently and without haste: it takes a bit of time to see the first results. If done right, however, it can really make the difference between you and your competitors, with a significant return in terms of reservations and the image of your property.