The online world is really crowded. How can you make your property stand out?

Stay with me and I’ll tell you how.

Welcome to another edition of Hospitality Property School.

I am your instructor, Gerry MacPherson.

Online is an excellent way to market your business.

Today, the only way for a hospitality property to stay competitive is to have a prominent online presence but there are still some properties that are stuck on their old ways, are stubborn or are just straight-up scared of change.

It’s true that hotels, resorts, inns and bed and breakfasts thrived long before the internet was invented but now there isn’t a single hospitality property that can’t benefit from marketing online.

When a property decides to make a change and increase their online presence, with all the digital tools available, choosing the tactics to best help you stand out, can sometimes be confusing.

Here are 9 proven ways to improve your online visibility

Learn correct website optimization

SEO (search engine optimization) is a term that scares many business owners because they are under the impression that it’s a complex process that will be impossible for them to understand. Fear not, there are basic primary website optimization techniques that are easy to understand and implement.

Now, that is important but it is also important to know that last year, Google fundamentally altered how they crawl websites, moving from “PC-focused” to “mobile-focused”, so you have to make sure you optimize your visitor’s mobile experience.

If it’s been more than a few years since you overhauled your existing website, strongly consider budgeting to build a modern, mobile-friendly, and more productive website.

It is more important than ever.

Many older hospitality property websites may have been designed with mobile as an afterthought. A slow, laggy or poorly laid out mobile website will lower your search engine page ranking and your online visibility but today, the mobile experience is a primary consideration when it comes to SEO and Google’s assessment of performance.

You need to make it a priority to fine-tune your website’s mobile interface, making it a frictionless experience on large tablet and tiny phone alike. Test your site on both top-of-the-line devices and less-expensive products with more modest processing power.

Publish regular blog content

Content is still king.

Publishing regular content is a great way to increase your online visibility and attract traffic to your website.

Whether it’s a blog, social media, podcast, or newsletter, the best way to drive traffic to your website is to create a wide variety of useful and interesting content. Publish travel tips, vacation stories, what-to-eat insights, relevant community news, and lots of content regarding local events.

If you delight your visitors, they will be more likely to share your content on social media, which can introduce additional consumers to your property.

Get creative, invite submissions from guests and community members, and give intrepid travellers a variety of reasons to make your property their home away from home.

Other techniques to consider…

Feature “Best Of” Posts

Drafting a “best of” style blog post affords an opportunity to cycle some of your best-performing content back into the rotation.

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Intertwine Internal Links

When drafting fresh content, don’t forget about the content that came before.

Weaving relevant internal links (links that jump to other pages on your website) into your posts is an SEO best practice, and a proven strategy to increase the duration users spend on your website and lower bounce rates.

#Throwback on Thursdays

You’re probably already acquainted with the #TBT movement.

Hotel brands have made “throwback” posts their own by revisiting images from property milestones and posting historic photos. Other winning ideas include publishing archive photos from the property’s immediate area or nearby points of interest.

Syndicate and Share

Sharing your posts via your brand’s social channels is only a first step. Think about actively sharing links on relevant discussion boards, such as a travel forum on Reddit.

You should also share relevant property posts in professional circles, such as LinkedIn.

3. Offer an App

Frequent guests and loyalty rewards members particularly enjoy the convenience of the app format.

The most advanced apps may include phone-activated room locks, mobile self-check-in and access to other amenities, but even basic apps that offer reward point tracking and further personalize the guest/hotel relationship provides value and drives loyalty.

Not only does an app offer a wealth of personalized marketing opportunities, but its mere existence also increases digital visibility by creating an entry in the app store.

Your app can also include features like

room service menu

the ability to book spa appointments

tours

a calendar of local events

discounts and offers

Get active on a few social media networks

There are a lot of social media networks, which makes it very difficult to effectively participate in all of them. Select two to three that you know that your target audience is active on. I have gone into more detail about different social media platforms and you can find them at …

KeystoneHospitalityDevelopment.com/KHDC132 where I talk about YouTube

KeystoneHospitalityDevelopment.com/KHDC133 is about LinkedIn

KeystoneHospitalityDevelopment.com/KHDC134 is about Facebook

KeystoneHospitalityDevelopment.com/KHDC135 is about Instagram

KeystoneHospitalityDevelopment.com/KHDC136 is about Pinterest

KeystoneHospitalityDevelopment.com/KHDC137 is about Twitter

Before I carry on, have you seen all the Keystone HDC post downloads to help grow your business? We add to them every month.

They are free and you can find them at

KeystoneHospitalityDevelopment.com/KHDC140

5. Build Landing Pages for Local Attractions

Use the marketing potential of local events and attractions.

Build a dedicated landing page for each of the most unique events and attractions in your community. Be creative in how you showcase event info.

With attraction landing pages, travellers who do online searches for the attractions they want to visit can easily find themselves on your website. Provide an abundance of fun pictures, videos, and useful information along with how your property will help guests get where they want to be. Don’t forget to include call-to-action links that encourage visitors to book through your website.

6. Consider Niche Services and Their Keywords

Niches are a powerful origin for keywords.

People often have special travelling requirements and will only book with properties that can accommodate their needs. Perhaps they have very small children, food allergies, a disability or support animals they travel with. Chances are that your property caters to some of these niches even if they are not a “brand speciality.”

Take the time to research niches, then expand your marketing message to include pages and articles for these special groups.

Are these making sense? Let me know by leaving a comment below

Run targeted Facebook ads.

Facebook ads allow you to create very specific ads and place them in front of a custom audience that you select. With Facebook ads, you can attract the perfect audience with booking-intent to your website.

Guest blog on relevant websites

Guest blogging provides you with two great benefits.

First, you are exposed to a much-targeted audience, one that will have a high likelihood of being interested in your region.

Second, you benefit from the links in your author bio, which helps your search engine optimization and can also drive targeted traffic back to your website.

Encourage your customers to leave online reviews

Online reviews help to improve your online visibility by increasing your footprint online. If your property is listed next to a competitor in the search results and you have 50 positive reviews and the competitor doesn’t have any, what property is the average traveller going to book? The majority of customers research properties before doing business with them, so make it easy for your customers to access your review profiles by creating a dedicated page on your website that features all of those links.

In conclusion

By using the nine techniques I shared on a consistent base, you’re defiantly going to stand out with your target customer and get more eyes on your website.

⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY CONSULTING:

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We add to them every month.

KeystoneHospitalityDevelopment.com/KHDC140

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https://courses.keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com/

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