seo basics for your hotel website

Copyright © 2014 Leonardo Worldwide Corporation

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1-800-263-6317

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SEO Basics For

Your Hotel Website

April 23, 2015

Darlene Rondeau, VP, Best Practices, Online Merchandising, Leonardo

Marco Braggio, SEO Expert and Co-Founder, Braggio Cook Interactive

Alicia Whalen, Digital Marketing Expert and Co-Founder, Hashtagio.com

Technical Difficulties?Contact

Citrix GoToWebinar

1-800-263-6317

support@citrixonline.com

Darlene RondeauVice-President,

Best Practices, Online Merchandising

Leonardo

@darlenerondeau

Follow:

@VFMLeonardo

Tweets & Questions:

#LeoWebinar

Marco Braggio SEO Expert and Co-Founder

Braggio Cook Interactive

@marcobraggio

Alicia WhalenDigital Marketing Expert and

Co-Founder

Hashtagio.com

@Alicia_Whalen_

► Over 131 billion web searches a month

► More than 85% of travelers start their

search online

► Mobile matters

► Social media impacts rankings

Introduction to SEO

Marco Braggio SEO Expert and Co-Founder

Braggio Cook Interactive

@marcobraggio

WHAT is SEO

Search Engine Optimization is the

process (marketing and technical)

of getting qualified traffic from the

“organic”, “editorial” or “natural”

search results within search

engines.

What does that mean?

How Search Engines Work (nutshell version)

TWO MAJOR

FUNCTIONS

1. Crawling & Indexing

2. Providing Answers

3 Basic Elements

Accessibility

Relevancy

Usability

Organic vs. Paid

Org

an

ic

Accounts for 83% of

traffic

No media cost,

substantial ROI

Best converting channel

Global reach & hyper

localization83%

Organic vs Paid

Org

an

ic

Accounts for 17% of

traffic

High media cost, lower

ROI

Keyword discovery

83%

Paid Ads

17%

Short term strategy

BEHIND the CURTAIN

OFFPAGE

SEOONPAGE

Site Architecture

& Coding

Duplicate Content

Monitoring

Conversion &

Goals

Rich Media

Site Uptime

Site Speed

Keywords &

Content Marketing

Link Building

Mobile

Optimization

Localization &

Google Hotel

Finder

Blogs & Articles

Topic Association

Press Releases

Social Optimization

#LeoWebinar

SOCIAL impacts SEO

The Importance of Social Media

Drives higher quality website

traffic

Link Potential

Personalization

Search Query Volume

Brand Signals

The Mobile World

MOBILE isn’t a TREND

Mobile is Here to Stay…

#LeoWebinar

Prepare for Mobile

Build for mobile first, not

desktop

Device-agnostic

approach

Simplify content

Make it navigable

#LeoWebinar

SEO is frequently misunderstood

It’s critical to have a wider SEO strategy

Best SEO aligns with both search engines

and users

Mobile is not a trend

Key Takeaways

#LeoWebinar

Alicia WhalenDigital Marketing Expert and

Co-Founder

Hashtagio.com

@Alicia_Whalen_

The Travel Buying Funnel

Fact: The average travel research/buying process

runs across 22 different websites and 9.5 sessions

before booking

Fact: 85% of travelers use the web for research and

booking

Fact: 62% of travelers start travel research in a

search engine before they even know where they

want to go

Source: Goggle Think Travel

#LeoWebinar

Consumer Path to Purchase

The Roadmap:

Lead your guests to the point of booking

• Allocate a portion of marketing spend to SEO and good content

• Have a strategy: Align your SEO efforts with unique demand drivers (i.e. weddings,

sports teams, location to attractions etc.) and specific times of the year

• Do keyword research to determine what is actually being searched

• Do your own research

• Optimize your Google Local/Places listings: Google+ Google Places, Google Maps

• Measure and benchmark with Google Analytics

Getting Started with SEO

#LeoWebinar

• What you need to be found for -

including “hotel” "accommodations” +

City, Geo Reference, demand driver,

specials, packages, F&B outlets

• Identify what customers are looking for

as part of their path to purchase

• Are you providing the best rate

opportunity when they click through to

the website?

GOALS:

• Over time, work to build indexing in

Search for keywords related to all

demand drivers + MEASURE

Use Google Analytics

and Keyword Research

#LeoWebinar

First Booking Opportunities: Be Found

OTAs + Brand

PPC

TripAdvisor

Google Local

Measuring the Impact of SEO

Traffic sources:

#LeoWebinar

• Keep target keywords in mind in content off the website

• Link back to the website where possible

• Social signals (links back to the website from

Social Media sites are important for SEO)

SEO Principals to Follow Off-Page

#LeoWebinar

SEO in Practice

Website optimized for “Yellowknife Hotel” and related

keywords

Indexed on Page #1 – 2 Booking Opportunities

Impact of Implementation of SEO Strategy

132% increase in

TRANSACTIONS(Month over month)

from being found in

Search.

RESULTS700 NEW VISITS TO THE WEBSITE WITH SEO APPLIED

OVER 250 NEW VISITS DURING THE PREVIOUS PERIOD

Bring the Customer to the Point of Conversion

#LeoWebinar

Be visible in all places along the consumer

path to purchase

All roads lead to the website – point of

transaction

Be strategic with SEO and allocate budget

Optimize Google Maps, Places, Google+

Key Takeaways

#LeoWebinar

It’s a Wrap

TripAdvisor Tell-All: How to Use Reviews to

Craft Your Story and Drive Bookings

Save your spot:

http://bit.ly/TripAdvisorWebinar

www.leonardo.com

1.877.593.6634

@VFMLeonardo

blog.leonardo.com

Connect with us!

@marcobraggio

Marco Braggio

Alicia Whalen

alicia.whalen@gmail.com

www.braggiocook.com

www.ideahatching.com

hello@braggiocook.com

@Alicia_Whalen_