Reservation implementation panel
A panel for implementing reservations directly from a Google business card
Professional photos - we buy with our eyes
You should also start positioning your hotel page on Google Maps by placing good, sharp and properly exposed photos on your profile. Take photos of all the interiors you offer and add them to your business card. The opportunity to familiarize yourself with the standard of accommodation in advance is very important for your potential guests.
Photo editing panel on Google business card
Photo editing panel on Google business card
What photos should you add:
from the outside of the hotel, showing the area so that guests have no problem finding the right place,
from the reception and common rooms (e.g. dining room, hall),
from the rooms or apartments you rent, so as to leave no doubt about the standards.
Add a logo and a main photo as well. A large number of attractive photos will help you increase your hotel’s visibility – a ranking factor when it comes to local SEO.
ProTip
The Localo tool I mentioned above tells you how many photos to add to keep up with your competition.
Virtual tour
You can also try to create a virtual tour of your hotel, thanks to which you will be able to familiarize your customers with the hotel's offer already at the stage of analyzing available options.
Perfect online reviews - an important element of hotel positioning
Local SEO cannot be achieved without a good opinion gathering strategy. This is a key element that not only affects the position of the business card, but also helps potential customers choose the best-rated companies, rejecting those that do not enjoy a very favorable opinion.
As you can imagine, you should run your business to have as many references as possible. Also, remember to respond to them. If you want to learn more about managing references, read our dedicated article on Google Maps reviews
Reviews are also useful when it comes to positioning hotel websites. You can place a panel with Google reviews on your website, which will help customers make a decision.
Careful Link Building
The next step is to gradually acquire external links. When you are positioning your hotel, you need to focus mainly on the so-called NAP (name, address, phone). This is a type of link that comes from company directories placed on the web, storing the contact details of companies.
Remember that links are one of the most important ranking factors for Google Maps and play an important role when it comes to positioning pages in the Google search engine . Their quality is what counts — not quantity. When choosing a portal where you intend to add data with the location of the hotel, check whether it has high traffic and authority in Google (you can determine this using tools such as Ahrefs or Majestic). Examples of NAP services:
targeo,
Firmy.net,
panoramacompany,
offereo.
If you also want to create a good Link Building for your homeowner database website, you will be helped not only by NAP business cards, but also by sponsored articles from the hotel industry, online participation in forums and comments, or links on other sites with similar topics, e.g. those of your contractors with whom you cooperate.
As a tip, you can check which portals your competitors have entries on and, if you think they are suitable, add your company there as well.
Website optimization
When performing hotel positioning, you also need to focus on your website. It should be user-friendly, adapted to mobile devices, fast enough and contain reliable information. Thanks to this, your potential customers who go from your business card to your website will choose you. Based on keywords, it is worth preparing an appropriate SEO strategy and performing specific optimization activities.
Page loading speed
This is one of the most important elements of a website, which not only affects its functionality but is also a ranking factor. Your hotel website should be fast - nobody likes elements that take forever to load. A user who does not receive all the data on time will simply leave it.
You can speed up your hotel website with the PageSpeed Insights test , which will show you how your site is currently performing and give you some suggestions on what you can improve.
PageSpeed Insights Test Results
PageSpeed Insights test result - a tool that analyzes a website in terms of speed
Mobile-friendly website
You also can't forget to make sure your site displays correctly on mobile devices. Why? Because most people currently surf the Internet using phones - according to statistics, more than half of all traffic on the Internet comes from these types of devices . What's more, this is another factor that affects positions in the Google search engine.
What happens if you don’t meet this requirement? The user will simply leave your hotel page and go to the next search results – your competition.
Check if your website displays correctly on different types of devices. This way you can be sure that your potential customers will not encounter any problems. Look carefully not only at the home page, but also at important subpages such as contact or the subpage with the booking form.
Friendly user experience (UX)
This is another important factor that affects the positioning of a hotel website. Unfortunately, it is not as easy to eliminate as the previous ones, because it usually requires a broad look at the page. Depending on the type of hotel page, the elements that need to be improved are different. Below I will list a few basic ones. Check if:
the designed website is adapted to several language versions of search, especially in English (it is worth translating it into the languages in which you have the most customers),
internal linking is correct, i.e. can your users navigate the hotel website without any problems,
the contact form contains all the necessary fields,
the site has friendly URLs,
potential guests will receive all the necessary information,
and what I consider a must-have in the case of hotels - is it possible to quickly book with online payment?
Of course, the points I listed above are just a drop in the ocean and there are many more. Websites are different, so you have to look at each one individually.
Content Marketing - Optimal content on the page
The next step on the path to greater visibility in the search engine is content marketing and content optimization for previously selected keywords. You can implement content marketing, for example, through blog posts. It is especially important that you not only use the right keywords here, which will help you boost search results, but also match the content to the needs of customers.
Make sure to provide accurate contact information and describe the location of the property. Fully present the accommodations, amenities, and attractions that await your guests. Remember, too, that your customers come from all over the world, so try to take into account the needs of all of them! Good content optimization will help you increase the visibility of your website.
Website and Google business card
The website and Google business card are a perfect pair that together can boost search results. This is because they go hand in hand and when implementing hotel positioning, you should focus equally on both of these elements. The rule is simple and everyone should remember it: A well-optimized website to which we attach a business card pulls it up along with it. It also works the other way around - a well-optimized business card has a positive effect on the positioning of the website. Together they are unstoppable!
Hotel positioning - results of activities in Google Maps
Finally, I present you with further proof that positioning hotels in Maps really makes sense. Below are the statistics we obtained after a longer period of positioning the hotel.
Statistics from Easy-Local - the effect of positioning the hotel's business card
Number of conversions after implementing Google hotel listing positioning
The screenshot comes from the Easy Local tool and shows the monthly number of views of the listing. I have to point out that this is a hotel in a smaller town than, for example, Warsaw, but the results are still impressive.
Summary
Is it worth positioning a hotel in Google Maps? I know it is. Although all this keyword selection, implementing an SEO strategy, making the hotel website tailored to potential guests requires a lot of effort, it is worth it, because thanks to it you will gain a lot of new customers.
However, if you do not have the time or skills, outsource the management of the business card to us. We will help you promote your hotel on Google.
