Why Off-Page SEO is Important for Hotels
Enhancing a website’s performance is vital; however, there are other factors that influence search engine positions. Off-page optimization is one of the most important factors in increasing the hotel’s exposure, credibility, and authority. It entails activities outside of the website, such as obtaining backlinks from high-quality and relevant websites, increasing positive reviews, and participating in social media marketing.
Such off-page search engine optimization techniques allow hotels to compete more effectively within the market and help them gain and earn the trust of potential visitors. In this article, we will examine the key strategies that enhance off-page SEO for hotels and increase the number of bookings.
What is Off-Page SEO for Hotels?
Off-page SEO involves activities that happen outside your own website. This increases the authority and relevance of your website. These activities give signals to search engines that your website is trustworthy, popular, and deserves a higher ranking. Off-page activities for hotels include building backlinks, gaining positive reviews, listing the hotel on online directories, and engaging guests through social media.
Google takes off-site signals into account when ranking your website. If your hotel is mentioned on reputable travel websites frequently or receives numerous positive reviews then Google can consider that your site is trustworthy and relevant. It enhances your ranking.
Building Quality Backlinks for Your Hotel
Among the many factors that affect search engine ranking, backlinks (links from other sites to your hotel’s page) are considered the most potent. Any additional backlink aids the search engines in determining the core value of the content on your website. But, not all backlinks are the same. It is better to have some quality-related links than a number of poor-related links.
Strategies for Building Backlinks:
- Partner with Travel Blogs and Influencers: Associating with famous travel bloggers and influencers is another great method for getting quality backlinks. You can offer them complimentary accommodation in your hotel in exchange for a review or mention on their blog. But keep in mind that their blogs have a good reputation and a high domain authority.
- Submit Guest Posts: Writing guest posts for reputable travel websites or blogs can help you build valuable backlinks. For instance, you might write a post on travel travel-related blog named “Best Activities that Can Be Done Around [Your Hotel]” that contains a link to your hotel’s site. Be sure to choose blogs or sites that have an extensive readership and perform well in SEO.
- Leverage Local Partnerships: Develop relationships with local businesses and tourism boards. Many will have their own websites and may mention your hotel when recommending accommodations. For example, if your hotel collaborates with a nearby restaurant, you could launch a joint promotion in which both parties link to each other’s websites.
Learn how to manage your local online presence with Local SEO for Hotels: How to Rank High in Your Area.
Generating Positive Reviews to Boost Rankings
Positive reviews constitute an important off-page SEO element when it comes to hotels. A good review tells your potential guests and search engines that your hotel provides a quality experience. The three most relevant hotel review platforms include Google, TripAdvisor, and Yelp which are the most active, and controlling them will affect your rankings.
Tips for Generating Reviews:
- Ask Guests for Reviews: A thank-you email sent three days after the guest has left the accommodation, with an appropriate request for a review, should usually work. Of course, make sure to include direct links to review sites like Google or TripAdvisor for their convenience.
- Respond to Reviews: Always engage with the reviews left, whether positive or negative. Thank the customers for praising the service, and try to resolve the problems that have been highlighted by the disgruntled customers. Engaging with reviews impacts Google ratings and each response proves that you acknowledge guests’ opinions.
- Offer Incentives for Feedback: Even though positive reviews cannot be promoted in a direct way, offering minor incentives for feedback, such as guided tours, free Wi-Fi, a discount on the next stay, etc., may help to increase the volume of reviews for your hotel.
Want more tips on managing your online reviews? See How to Track and Measure SEO Success for Hotels for detailed review management strategies.
Listing Your Hotel on Online Directories
Having your hotel registered on credible online directories enhances visibility for the hotel which also helps to generate backlinks to the hotel’s website. There are many travel and accommodation directories that rank well in search engines hence being part of them will also help to drive potential traffic to your website and also increase the possibilities of being seen by potential visitors.
Key Directories to List Your Hotel On:
- TripAdvisor: TripAdvisor serves as the biggest travel review portal in the world. It is important to have an optimized listing in this platform to create a positive reputation and increase bookings. It is also essential to maintain NAP (name, address, and phone number) information for the hotel across all platforms.
- Yelp: Apart from restaurants, Yelp is also used for reviewing hotels and other places for accommodation. An active and appealing Yelp page can increase the number of visitors to your hotel’s site.
- com, Expedia, and Other OTAs: Although it is not advisable to depend on Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) exclusively, it is certainly very important to be listed on them in order to appeal to particular demographics. Update and maintain your OTA profiles and, where applicable, incentivize your guests to book directly with you through your website by offering more competitive prices or value-added services that they can’t find on other websites.
Learn more about how to ensure consistent listings across the web in Local SEO for Hotels: How to Rank High in Your Area.
Engaging with Guests on Social Media
While it’s true that social media doesn’t have a direct effect on your SEO ranking, it goes a long way in ensuring that traffic reaches your site and your hotel brand is recognized. Highly interactive sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter among many others can also help enhance relationships and attract customers back for repeat visits. All these activities in turn help improve SEO as there is increased traffic and more backlinks to the website.
Tips for Effective Social Media Engagement:
- Share Guest Experiences:
Encourage your customers to share their experiences on your social media pages. Also, ask them to tag your hotel in their post. It can help attract new followers and potential guests.
- Promote Blog Content:
To engage more customers through content engagement, promote your blog posts and travel guides on social media. For instance, if you are posting a travel guide of the best tourist sites closer to your hotel, then do not forget to post it on Facebook or Instagram with your blog.
- Run Social Media Contests:
Run a contest that creates excitement in users and encourages them to share your posts or tag friends. This boosts interaction and could lead to increased traffic to the site.
Internal Link: Looking to create more engaging content? Check out our guide on How to Use Content Marketing to Attract More Guests to Your Hotel.
How Social Signals Affect Search Rankings
It must be noted that interactions in social media (likes, shares, comments) do not have a direct influence on how search engines rank the site pages. However, social signals do have an indirect impact on your SEO strategy. Enhanced social media interaction can increase website traffic. When you have more visitors going through your website you stand a higher chance of getting backlinks and thus improving your ranking.
How to Boost Social Signals:
- Encourage Sharing: It is imperative to put up social sharing buttons on every page of the website in order to make it easier for visitors to share blog posts, photos, special offers, and others.
- Create Shareable Content: Focus more on making shareable content that speaks to the audience. Excellent examples of this include stunning visuals of the hotel, local travel advice, and other local guides.
Dive deeper into building an effective content marketing strategy with How to Use Content Marketing to Attract More Guests to Your Hotel.
Conclusion
The role of off-page SEO is extremely important in designing any search engine strategy for the hotel. Backlinks, reviews, management of listings, social media, and all other such activities can affect the visibility and ranking of the hotels. The more engaging your presence on the web, the more direct bookings you will get and ultimately the more profits to the organization.
Next Steps:
- Internal Links Recap:
- Explore more ways to boost your local presence in Local SEO for Hotels: How to Rank High in Your Area.
- Ready to track the impact of your SEO efforts? Check out How to Track and Measure SEO Success for Hotels.