We have put together a complete hotel internet marketing plan for independent hotels on how to drive direct sales. And take note, these marketing techniques, tips, ideas and best practices can be implemented in any hotel!
We will be covering the following areas of online marketing for hotels:
1. Hotel website best practices
2. SEO (search engine optimisation)
3. Trademark protection
4. SEM (search engine marketing)
5. Metasearch marketing
6. Discounts and loyalty offers
7. Reputation management
8. Booking engine requirements
9. Conversion stimulation
Great hotel website design is the first step to success
First of all, you have to implement one crucial aspect into your thinking and acting: your hotel website is not only your source of pride and your ‘business card’ but also the most important tool to generate direct bookings. Your own website is your best friend and you should treat it with care and attention to detail!
Your website needs to have a nice and original design, a style matching the character and DNA of your hotel, and include a user-friendly booking engine, and be well optimized to attract natural search engine results.
Unfortunately many hotel websites are developed without even the basic concern for SEO and proper keyword research. This can have negative repercussions on the number of visitors and at the same time on the bookings made via the website (or in that case, the bookings which are not made!).
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