Search Engine Optimization

Andrew StewardMatthew Golling

Scenario

90-room, limited-service boutique hotel

Performing at a 98.5 percent RevPAR index against its competitive set

Noticed that only 20% of their bookings were coming from their online website when the industry average for brand websites is over 39%[1]

[1]statisticbrain.com/internet-travel-hotel-booking-statistics/

Search Engine Optimization

The process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page to the point of maximizing the number of visitors

Main Goal:- Creating success for a website through focusing on

what is best and most convenient for visitors

All visitors are potential guests

Best Practices: Google Analytics

Service through Google to follow the traffic visiting a website

Many companies ask whether or not social media or Internet marketing is efficient. - 58% of business marketers said social media

creates leads [1]

- To have 42 percent of business marketers declare that social media is not an effective tool to generate leads for the sales process of their products or services make half of the businesses unable to effectively use Facebook[2]

[2] Social Media Examiner’s 4th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report

How Effective is Google Analytics?

Golling Fiat

Michael Golling (Studio Director)

The use of Google Analytics has quantified the increased traffic to Golling Fiat’s website traffic from 80 visits per day to150 visits per day

- Increase in traffic to his website by 87%

- Better allocating his marketing budget due to knowing where his website user is coming from

- Year over year sales has increased 70%

E-purchases are a very small portion of his business. Using analytics in an industry where 57% of room sales occur from online bookings[3], the return on Analytics should improve exponentially

[3] statisticbrain.com/internet-travel-hotel-booking-statistics/

Sources of ClicksGolling Fiat

Geography of Website UsersGolling Fiat

Best Practices: Google Adwords

Google’s main advertising product

An advertisement from your business or hotel will be positioned at the top of the search results based on key words

Displays statistics relating to: - The amount of time certain phrases have been

searched

- Amount of times someone has then clicked on your advertisement from that search

Adwords Advertising Cost

The cost of Adwords is on a per click basis

You can set a ceiling or an upper limit to the amount of money Google will charge you in a given day.

Based on certain sales patterns or trends seen throughout the week, one can control costs by shifting the amount of money they are willing to spend on a daily basis.

ShortcomingsPrivacy Concerns

- Growing unrest from Internet users about this storage of data

- Could be used against individuals if it were sold or released to public domain

Spiders- Problem with unwanted word association

Bounce Rate- Counted accidental webpage browsing

Additional Suggestions Create easy to remember URL

- Get people through the E-Door

Create an easy to navigate webpage- Properly titled webpages - Make it easy for visitors to filter through and obtain the

content they seek

Make best use of "description" meta tag- The brief summary that appears under the title on search

engine pages, it can range anywhere from a sentence to a short paragraph long

Contain quality content and services- What content or amenities does the hotel offer that can be

extend to online browsers to deliver a new online experience?