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Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities Adapting SEO Metrics to SERP Changes

Melissa Walner | Director, Global SEO

§  Hilton Worldwide At-A-Glance §  Importance of SEO to Hilton §  Google SERP Changes – The Nature of the Beast §  Choosing the Right Metrics §  Key Takeaways

Agenda

Hilton Worldwide At-A-Glance

•  Founded by Conrad Hilton in 1919 in Cisco, TX

•  First hotel to carry the Hilton name was in 1925 in Dallas, TX

•  Grown to over 4,000 hotels in 90 countries

•  Ten brands to fit every lifestyle and occasion

•  Debut of Hilton.com in August 1995 made Hilton Hotels an industry pioneer on the information superhighway

•  In 2013, Hilton became the first hotel brand in the world to earn more than one million Facebook likes.

Hilton Worldwide At-A-Glance

As the most recognized name in the industry, Hilton remains synonymous with the word "hotel."

Of course, the Hilton name isn’t just known for hotels....#famousforbeingfamous

Importance of SEO to Hilton

Spotlight on SEO

Customer acquisition begins with the search box.

Understanding search behavior allows us to reach guests wherever they are

Integration of organic search into other marketing efforts.

In-depth competitive analysis data that helps us improve and stay ahead

The Mighty ROI

Google SERP Changes – The Nature of the Beast

The Ever Changing Landscape of SEO

The Nature of The Beast Each year, Google changes its search algorithm around 500–600 times, including updates to SERP layouts. SEO best practices and metrics must be adjusted accordingly. •  Panda •  Penguin •  Domain Clustering •  Authority Boost •  Local Knowledge Carousel

§  Horizontal, image carousel layout located at the very top of the search result page.

§  First affected categories were restaurants and hotels. Entertainment businesses followed shortly thereafter.

§  Users can scroll sideways through the results and click on a business image to display more details about that specific local business.

§  Clicking on an image in the carousel will change your search results serving up related and more targeted results based on the business image you clicked on.

Google+ Local Knowledge Carousel

The introduction of the Carousel in SERP’s has presented a new challenge and a new opportunity.

Evolution of SERP’s

THEN

NOW

Choosing The Right Metrics

SERP Impact on Performance Metrics

Average Classic Rank increased immediately after the Carousel rollout.

Universal Results drastically decreased immediately after the rollout. This is because the large number of blended (universal) results we had were local listings.

A Holistic Approach to Performance Reporting

SEO Metrics

Impressions & Visits

Social Signals

Revenue

Conversion

SOV

Technical Errors

Universal Rank

Backlinks

Example: Holistic View of Page 1 Visibility

Keyword/Search Type Carousel Organic Listings Hotel Finder Ads

Chicago Hotels None 10 None None

Downtown Chicago Hotels None None None 7

Hotels in Downtown Chicago IL None 7 None None

Chicago IL Hotels None 9 None None

Chicago Hotels on Michigan Ave 1 4 N/A N/A

Hotel has representation on all keywords via at least one unit.

Disclaimer: The example above is for illustrative purposes only. Actual results may be influenced by personalization; also ad position can fluctuate each time depending on your competition at that moment. N/A – no listings are generated for a given query. None – a site does not produce any ranking in a given search type.

Key Takeaways

§  The SERP’s change constantly, so best practices and metrics must remain flexible.

§  Shift the focus away from strictly looking at

ranking reports.

§  Always be looking ahead for the next big thing and how you can incorporate that into your KPI’s in the future.

§  Take a holistic approach to analysis. All

KPI’s are interrelated in some fashion. Go broad and look at as many applicable metrics as possible.

Thank You! Melissa.Walner@Hilton.com

The information herein is for informational purposes only and is not to be distributed. It represents the current view of Hilton Worldwide as of the date of this presentation.