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Hotel Digital Marketing Snapshot and Budgeting for 2015
- 1. Milestone Confidential Digital Marketing Snapshot & Budgeting for 2015 Sponsored by:
- 2. 2Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg The Panel Lauren Adams Product Marketing Specialist David King Director of Business Development Heidi Bitar Sr. Director of Client Services Dan Kipp Account Strategist / Team Lead Speakers Moderator
- 3. 3Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Agenda Conversion Optimization Platform Compatibility – Mobile, Speed, Search Local & Off Page Optimization Google +/Google 3 Pack Listing Management/UNAP Social Media Paid Search - Meta Search & Remarketing Digital Budgeting for 2015 Key Take A Ways
- 4. Milestone Confidential Design & Conversion User Experience Images, Videos, Maps, Widgets Site Architecture
- 5. 5Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Conversion Optimization by Improving Usability Information Architecture Color & Images Speed & Performance Legibility & Eyetracking Mobile Friendly
- 6. 6Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Five Simple Rules of Web Site Design Easy to read content Easy to navigate Easy to find Consistency of design & layout Download / Perception Eye tracking & Usability studies Heat maps Search friendly architecture Colors & Images Conversions By Shari Thurow- http://blog.milestoneinternet.com/web-development/insights-in-universal-web-design-an-interview-with-shari-thurow/
- 7. 7Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Information Architecture - Navigation Primary Tertiary Secondary
- 8. 8Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Distractions
- 9. 9Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Case Study Good Design Bad Design
- 10. 10Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Pass the 6-Foot Test Usability tip: Headline Hero shot (image/video) CTA should be legible CTA Headline Hero shot
- 11. 11Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg What is the Point of Usability? Target your audience Improve Conversions Deliver USP
- 13. 13Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Mobile Mobile-friendly Not Mobile-friendly
- 14. 14Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Mobile Usability Report in Webmaster Mobile Friendly Test Tool Mobile usability Report in Google Webmasters https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
- 15. 15Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Responsive or Separate Mobile? Responsive sites (http://www.hotelcasavelas.com/) Separate mobile site (http://www.melrosehoteldc.com/mobile/) Desktop Tablet Mobile Desktop Mobile Option #2: Option #1:
- 17. 17Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Speed & Performance Minimize HTTP requests ( Reduce number of requests going to the server to improve page performance) Minify JS & CSS (Source code on page should be kept minimum to reduce download time) Optimized images (Reducing size of images reduces load time and increase page load speed) GZIP components (Gzipping files reducing the size of the files sent from your server, reducing sizes of pages by up to 70%) Just one second delay in page-load can cause 7% loss in customer conversions!
- 18. 18Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Page Speed Fast and optimized pages lead to Visitor engagement Retention Conversions Tools to measure site’s speed Page Speed Yslow WebPagetest Google Webmaster
- 19. 19Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Crawlability HTML CSS < > xml HTML validation performed on W3C to make sure page complies with HTML standards and helps cross-browser, cross- platform and future compatibility CSS validation to ensure no errors found in style sheets and all browsers aim towards compliance with the existing standards Link checker to ensure no broken links on pages and all links are properly working Canonical tags to avoid duplicate content issues and penalties Sitemap XML for website & images submitted to Google Webmaster
- 20. 20Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Relevant Fresh Engaging Search Optimized Content Optimized meta tags are structured tags that go in page head section so the browser can understand it Heading tags – H1, H2, H3 are present in body content Photos, images and map optimized and indexed for image and map search meta <h1> Schemas for semantic web is micro data and rich snippets that helps search engine index most critical data fast and helps improve click-through rates https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets
- 21. 21 www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Milestone Confidential Content Strategies - Holidays
- 22. Milestone Confidential Local & Off Page Optimization
- 23. 23Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Top Organic and 3 Pack Factors Domain and Page Authority Quality & Authority of LinksLocation of Business Consistent UNAP
- 24. 24Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Google Local 3 Pack
- 25. 25 www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Milestone Confidential Most Important Factors Consistent UNAP Domain and Page Authority Reviews, Social, Mobile Quality & Authority of Links My Business Signals On Page Signal Location of the Business
- 26. 26Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Consistent UNAP on Local Listings
- 27. 27Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg UNAP Scan Report
- 28. 28Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Optimizing & Merging Google+ Local Profiles before after
- 29. 29 www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Milestone Confidential Is this Citation Worth It? Spammy Listing No Address and URL Listing filled with ads
- 32. 32Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Email Campaigns Social Media Contests
- 33. 33Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg The Real Travel Inspiration I’m so stressed out I’m so exhausted! You’re not the boss of me!
- 34. 34Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Research
- 35. 35Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Social Impacts Trust! How did you like your Stay at the hotel in FL?
- 36. 36 www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Milestone Confidential Impact of Social on Search
- 37. 37Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg From Social to Conversion Social: Travel Inspiration Blog Website Conversions •Facebook •Twitter •Flickr •YouTube •Foursquare •Google+ •Pinterest KPIs Increase in website traffic from social referrals Time on blog Social referrals and assists Clicks to lead generation tab in Facebook
- 39. 39Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Channels: Conversion and Branding Visibility & Branding Conversions & Revenue $
- 40. 40Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Bid on Your Brand
- 41. 41Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Hotel Meta Search Example
- 42. 42 www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Milestone Confidential PPC Strategies Device Optimization Low competition. Target Local destinations. Higher click-through- rate Higher average position Lower cost per conversion So. Cal Hotel Chain - 2OX ROI Average -14X ROI
- 44. 44Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg What to Look For? Conversion Optimization Navigation and Call to Action are clear Site is mobile friendly Platform Download time is reasonable Site is search engine friendly (crawlable) Semantic search, Meta Data, Social Tags are used Local & Off Page Optimization Claimed and optimized Google + Consistent and monitored listings – UNAP Social Social & SEO are integrated Paid Search
- 45. 45Milestone Confidential www.milestoneinternet.com blog.milestoneinternet.com @milestonemktg Thank You! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Looking for more? Visit our blog for more information on the latest trends: http://blog.milestoneinternet.com http://www.milestoneinternet.com http://twitter.com/milestonemktg http://www.facebook.com/Milestoneinc
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Hello everyone and thank you for taking time out of your day to attend our exciting webinar on the Digital Marketing Snapshot & Budgeting for 2015. A few quick things before we get started, we have muted everyone attending so there is no echo or audio disturbance. Please feel free to ask questions using the go to meeting chat box and we will address those questions at the end of the presentation. We will try our best to answer all questions depending on the time left at the end of the presentation. All questions will be answered on our blog post. Webinar is being recorded and the video will be shared on our blog as well. In this session, we’ll discuss what to look for when evaluating your digital presence and why these factors are important. Empowered with this knowledge you will be able to structure your hotel’s internet marketing budget and plan for the New Year. Our panel of experts will cover: Show you the important factors to consider when evaluating your digital presence. Look at industry benchmarks, including organic, local, paid, and social. Where should hotels be spending their Internet marketing dollars Tips and tricks for boosting effectiveness of your marketing spend – some quick/easy-to-implement ideas for little wins. And before we get started, we’d like to give a big thank you to our great friends at EyeforTravel for sponsoring this webinar. EyeforTravel is a community where the world’s top online travel brands come to meet to drive forward growth and innovation in the industry. EyeforTravel offers a diverse product portfolio including industry analysis, insights, research, webinars, reports and conferences to suit the needs of their clients. To learn more about EyeforTravel, visit their website at eyefortravel.com Now, on to the show.
- First, I would like to introduce our panel of experts, who together have over 20 years experience in digital marketing as well as 35 years experience in the hospitality industry. We have David King. David is the Director of Business Development for Milestone Internet Marketing. David is a 15 year veteran of the hospitality industry. He began his career with Hyatt hotels and quickly moved to the OTA world working for Travelocity. In his years at Travelocity he worked closely with hotel partners in developing and carrying out their online distribution strategies. David has focused his career on e-commerce, revenue management and partner relations, working to maximize profits for his partners across multiple channels. He likes long walks on the beach and reading poetry while basking in the sunset. Just kidding. David loves to workout – crossfit to be exact. An he has three boys that have stolen his weekends with soccer games. Next we have Heidi, who brings more than 20 years of hotel industry experience to the Milestone team, where she manages client services and relationships and leads our Chicago office. An integral asset to Milestone, she draws on 15 years of experience in developing ecommerce strategies for hotels, including organic and social media strategies. She’s also a mother to a lovely 12-year-old and Heidi often use her spare time volunteering at her school. Next is Mr. Dan Kipp, And finally, my name is Lauren Adams, I am the product marketing specialist here at Milestone and also the moderator. This is my 3rd year at Milestone. I work closely with Wyndham Corporate and am the program manager for Milestone’s eMarketing Program for the brand and its hotels. I am also the marketing and relationship manager for the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), which has over 12500 members owning more than 20K hotels. A quick something about me, I just completed my first ever Tough Mudder, which is considered the hardest obstacle course in the world comprising of over 11 miles and 25 different obstacles such as running through fire, navigating through an electroshock course, and more. Now for the fun stuff…
- Our agenda for today’s webinar will include: What to look for when evaluating your website for conversion optimization and platform compatibility, Local & off page promotion must do’s as well as Social Media and Paid Search strategies you’ll want to be utilizing. Then we will finish off by talking about budgeting for these in 2015. With that said, I would like to kick off this webinar and pass it over to Dave.
- Thanks Lauren. In the next few slides, I’ll be walking you through what to look for when evaluating your website and ensuring it is designed and operating with conversion as the main goal.
- To ensure your site is optimized to assist visitors to convert, or make a booking, you’ll want to evaluate the 5 following points. Is the architecture of the site easy for consumers and search engines to understand? Is the site mobile friendly? Do the images and colors represent your brand? Are they easy on the eyes? Do take usability studies into consideration And check the speed and performance of the site.
- There are only 5 simple rules when designing a website. Keep the content scan-able and easy to read, Make the website easy to navigate The site needs to be optimized so search engines can easily find it, Design and layout should be consistent throughout the website And the page download time needs to be reasonable as it is a major ranking factor. We focus on these simple rules because the bottom line is if people can’t find and read your website, they will not click, link back to, or share your site socially. Most importantly, people will abandon websites if they can’t navigate through it. The average website conversion rate, including some of the top websites like Amazon.com, is about 3%. The hospitality industry averages a higher conversion rate at about 10%. It is imperative we take usability into consideration when building a website. We want to do everything possible in our power to help visitors convert.
- Here, we show an example of a site in which the navigation is designed for conversion. The navigation is clear, easily readable and understandable. By offering primary, secondary and tertiary navigations, the consumer can easily navigate throughout the site, and the hotel was able to highlight the pages it wanted the consumer to visit first. Same concept can be implemented for any business website.
- Another factor to consider when thinking about conversion optimization is minimizing distractions. Distractions can include too many images, links, ads, videos and even a page speed that is too slow. Think back to the last time you were driving a car to a new location. Maybe you were looking for street names, landmarks, or a building address. Did you turn down the music in the car? If you did, you’re not alone. When we focus our attention on something, we reduce our ability to think about or even perceive other things, even when those other things would otherwise have been obvious. The more visual stimulus and action options your visitors have to process, the less likely they are to convert. By minimizing distractions such as unnecessary options, links and extraneous information can significantly increase the conversion rate.
- In this case study, we’re looking at the differences between a good and poorly designed site. In the example on the right, things like the background image, additional banners with text and maps distract the user from seeing the content and messaging the hotel wanted them to consume. As people, we can only consume so much information at one time. Review your current website, are your visitors consuming the right message?
- Look at your website and see if it can pass what we call the “6-Foot Test”. Are you immediately drawn to a clear and concise headline? Does your site contain an inviting hero image where the consumer could easily picture themselves? Are all the call to actions legible and the next step is obvious? In this example the call to action says Book Now. When crafting your calls to action, think about these guidelines and best practices. Calls to action should be: Visually striking with copy that compels you to click the offer Brief: A couple of words is best, no more than five is ideal Action-oriented: Begin with a verb like "Book" or "View" Located in an easy-to-find spot that follows organically from the flow of the webpage In a contrasting color from the color scheme of the webpage, while still fitting in with the overall design Large enough to see from a distance, but not so large as to detract attention from the main content on the page Easy to understand and clear: Be sure to state exactly what the visitor will get if they click on the Call to action
- So, what is the point of checking all this usability of your website? In short, usability is about the user experience. How easy is it for your visitors to use your site and accomplish their goals while there? How are site visitors interacting with your site? Where do they look and click? Understand this and you will know how to change your site and improve the user experience. Target your audience, deliver the information they are looking for, and conversions should improve.
- One of the fastes growing mediums today is mobile. A comScore report says smartphones and tablets combined now account for 60 percent of all online traffic up from 50 percent a year ago. For example, Android and iPhone devices now account for an estimated 23 percent of organic traffic. And that share is expected to grow by 50 percent this year. Add to that, tablets now make up about 12 percent. With mobile search up almost a third of organic traffic, having a mobile strategy is no longer an option…it’s a necessity.
- We know that Google already penalizes sites that provide a bad experience to mobile searchers. Remember, Google wants to provide the best information and the best user experience regardless of what platform they use. Recently, Google confirmed that it is testing with, what seems like, a boost for providing mobile users better search experience. Google said that it is experimenting with giving sites that have earned its new mobile-friendly label some type of special treatment within its ranking algorithm. The image on the left shows an example of the mobile friendly label.
- Providing a good mobile experience is no longer optional. Is your website mobile friendly? Google is making it very easy for you to check. They recently released a mobile friendly testing tool. You can easily check your site or a competitor’s site to see if they are providing a proper mobile experience. Additionally, Google offers a mobile usability report in Webmaster Tools. The Mobile Usability reports includes these issues: Flash content, missing viewport (a critical meta-tag for mobile pages), tiny fonts, fixed-width viewports, content not sized to viewport, and clickable links/buttons too close to each other. If you’re showing any errors in your usability report, you’ll need to budget for mobile improvements in 2015.
- You have some choices when it comes to mobile. At the most basic level, it’s the difference between having one website or two. One option is a responsive website. Responsive design allows the layout, scale and orientation of the desktop site to adapt and render accurately for mobile viewing. Build a website that showcases your business on every screen from smartphones and tablets to computers. The website should identify the device and show visitors the version appropriate for their device. In a sense, you have 3 different websites in 1. A second option, usually easier on the budget, is a separate mobile site. A mobile website is separate and distinct site from the desktop site, and must be maintained as such. Which one is better? The answer will be different from hotel to hotel. Both will provide a mobile friendly experience and satisfy the needs of search engines. This about the needs of your guests and how will they be using the website while on the go? Take your budget into consideration and determine the proper mobile solution for your property.
- Now let’s talk about site speed and technical performance. Page loading time is obviously an important part of any website’s user experience. And many times, we’ll let it slide to accommodate better aesthetic design, new nifty functionality, or to add more content to web pages. Unfortunately, website visitors tend to care more about speed than all the bells and whistles we want to add to our websites. Additionally, page loading time is becoming a more important factor when it comes to search engine rankings.
- There are several factors taken into consideration when we discuss site speed. We need to reduce the number of requests that go to the server, the code on page should be kept to minimum, image file sizes should be reduced and GZip components should be used. Gzipping reduces the size of files sent from your server to increase the speed to which they are transferred to the browser. Just a one second delay in page load time can cause a 7% loss in customer conversions. This benchmark is so important, I am going to say it again. A one second delay in the page load time can cause a 7% loss in conversions. Is your website speed helping or hurting your conversions?
- Fast and optimized web pages lead to engaged visitors, visitor retention and improved conversions. Here are our suggested tools where you can measure your site’s speed when evaluating your digital marketing snapshot.
- In addition to being people friendly, you need to verify your site is search engine friendly. From a technical perspective, your site should comply with HTML standards allowing it to perform across all browsers and platforms. There should be no errors in the style sheet, no broken links, properly tagged and should include a sitemap for not only the website but also images and videos if these apply. A Crawl Test can surface duplicate content, server redirects found on the page, errors in the title tag or URL, pages that are blocked with Robots.txt, and many other factors that affect a site’s search engine crawlability.
- Content is still king. When you are reviewing you site make sure you have relevant, fresh engaging content. Then make sure it is optimized properly, good old fashioned SEO. Keyword rich title tags, descriptions and heading tags are still important. Your images need to be optimized and indexed for image and map searches. Semantic search will continue to grow in 2015, so ensure your site is ready. By its very definition; the idea of “Semantic” is to find meaning and or intent in someone’s words. Search engines will continue to fully understand the user’s intent and provide them with the most relevant results. Schemas, which are tags that help the search engines index your most critical data and understand more about your site are a must. You can check to ensure your site has schemas deployed by using Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool.
- Here’s an example of some holiday pages and blog posts recently created for our clients. Holidays and special events are great way to add relevant and trending content to your website.
- Now that we covered what to look for on page, I am going to pass it over to Heidi who will review what to look for in your local and Off Page Strategies.
- Thanks David. Everything you do, both on and off your site, should be working towards the end goal of making your user’s experience awesome. All of the tactics David just reviewed regarding on page are extremely important. When we look at the top factors that affect Local Rankings, these on page signals are at the top of the list, followed closely by off page factors such as link signals, Google + signals and review signals. Are you looking to appear in the Google Local 3 pack? Take all of the above and add in consistent UNAP, which stands for URL, name address and phone number, along with social signals and personalization and you have a recipe for success.
- I’m sure you have all noticed that Google has recently replaced the local Carousel, as seen here, with the Local 3 Pack shown here. The ranking factors that applied to the carousel, also apply to the 3 pack. You’ll notice in the example that Best Western University Plaza appeared in the first position of the carousal and it also appears in the local 3 pack.
- So, what is important to look for when analyzing our local presences? Are your listings consistent? Is the information about your hotel throughout the local ecosystem accurate and consistent, no matter what channel a consumer visits? Do they see the same name, address, url and phone numbers on every listing or mention of you hotel? This is extremely important to search engines as it establishes trust. What is the website’s domain authority? How are the reviews mostly positive or negative? Is your hotel or business active on social channels? Do you have a mobile strategy? Does the website have good quality linking partners and citations or is it playing with spammy, unreputable partners?
- These are several examples of possible listings and citations. As I mentioned, having the same information no matter where a consumer visits is critical. You can see in this example the hotel is using the exact same name, address, URL and phone number. Always use your local number, not an 800 number. Pay attention to small details, for example if you spell out the work Avenue on your website, spell it out in all your listings and citations. Listings Management is one for the most important off page activities for your website.
- At Milestone, we’ve developed Naptune, a tool to effectively manage hotel listings. Naptune will publish the correct information about your property as well as continue to scan for errors and duplicates which can pop up at anytime. The internet is full of old and new information and listings can be overwritten and changed at anytime. Listings Management is not a one and done type of activity. It requires constant attention to identify errors or duplicates and get them corrected. This can be compared to your preventative maintenance program at your hotel. You actively budget resources to ensure your hotel runs smoothly today and in the future. Make sure your 2015 budget includes managing your listings to keep your digital health in check.
- As I mentioned a few slides back, a fully optimized and accurate Google Plus local profile is also key to local search rankings. Ensure you have the proper category association on your Google+ profile and that your hotel or business listing is owner verified. The listing should also look compelling with high quality images and videos and a robust description. Don’t forget to stay active on the channel by posting regularly. For attending today’s webinar you will be receiving a white paper with more information on how to optimize your Google+ profile.
- The last item I am going to discuss before I turn it over to Dan is citations and Links. In today’s search environment, having QUALITY citations is more important than the quantity of links and citations. Citations are defined as mentions of your hotel or business name and address on other WebPages—even if there is no link to your website. An example of a citation might be an online yellow pages directory where your business is listed, but not linked to. Citations can also be found on local chamber of commerce pages, or on a local business association page that includes your business information, even if they are not linking at all to your website. Make sure you evaluate any potential partners for a link or citation. In this example, the listing looks spammy, has no address or URL, and the listing is filled with ads. One that should be absolutely avoided. Now I am going to have Dan begin with why you need to be participating in Social Media.
- Thanks Heidi, Social media marketing is no longer an option, it is a necessity for online success. Social signals have both a direct and indirect impact on organic search rankings as well as assisting in the customer journey to conversion. Let’s take a look at this in more depth.
- This timeline depicts the customer’s journey from the beginning with travel inspiration, all the way through booking and post stay. You will notice that social media plays into the journey no less than that 3 times, 5 if we also include reviews. Social Media is an assisting channel and you will be missing a very important piece of the puzzle if you are not using this medium. ASSISTING businesses build brand awareness, consideration, and intent earlier in the customer journey or “purchase funnel.”
- Create travel inspiration to drive traffic to your hotel or business, whether through social media email campaigns or sweepstakes, as these can provide the nudge a potential guest needs to consider your property or destination.
- Let’s take a look at several travel inspirations. The real inspiration for most getaways to escape our daily routines! Whether it’s time off from a stressful job, to a getaway for family bonding - everyone needs a vacation at some point in their life. Get your messaging to the right person at the right time, and they are on the path to conversion.
- Once you have the potential client inspired to visit, they will begin their online research. Consumers are visiting up to 38 different sites, including social channels before making a booking. Can your find you regardless of what channel they use to research?
- In addition, social media impacts trust. In addition to reading property reviews, potential guest can read how your hotel is interacting with previous. This is your chance to make that initial first impression while the guest hasn’t even set foot at your property.
- The impact of social in search is also significant. Information and social posts from the Google+ Business Page are appearing on the search engine results pages. This is prime real-estate on the search engine results page and is an opportunity for you to set your hotel apart from the crowd.
- When evaluating social for your digital marketing snapshot, keep these KPI’s in mind. Social media can increase referral website traffic. Having a destination blog and actively sharing compelling and engaging content can also drive traffic and enhance consumer experience, which will assist in closing the consumer’s buying decision. Lastly, ensure you have a clear call-to-action that allows visitor conversions from your social channels.
- Moving on now to paid search.
- There are several different mediums within the paid search realm, all with a different purpose. While riving direct booking and conversion can be accomplished with traditional PPC and Meta search PPC, businesses can also increase visibility and branding by tapping into the Google Display network or social media PPC. When budgeting for 2015, consider your goals and where PPC might fit in or be expanded.
- At the minimum, every hotel or business should be bidding on their own name. This is sometimes done by the chain or corporate office. Check with your brand guidelines to see what options are available for paid search. If you are an independent, non-branded hotel, running a branded PPC campaign should be a no-brainer. Because if you’re not, you can guarantee the OTA’s are! In some cases both the hotel and OTA’s are bidding, this will give you a fighting chance at capturing those direct bookings. In this example, the hotel is not running a PPC campaign bidding on its own name. You can see how many booking options are offered above and next to the organic hotel listing.
- Meta search is an increasing medium and one that should be considered. Google is displaying rates and booking options with the search engine results pages. OTA’s are extremely active in Meta search, so again, another opportunity to win back some direct bookings.
- Today’s customer journey not only includes multiple websites, it includes multiple devices as well. Consider creating a PPC strategy that is device-specific. Review your analytics and see how your customers are finding your hotel, what devices they are using, and then act according. This is another great place to also compare yourself to your competition and see if you are missing out on some direct bookings.
- We know that was a lot of information in a short amount of time. When creating your 2015 Budget, review the items we have discussed and budget accordingly:
- Make sure your website is optimized for conversion, easy to navigate, and has clear call-to-actions With 3 out of 5 searches being done on mobile and tablest, make sure that you have a mobile strategy in place In terms of platform, make sure that the download time is reasonable, site is search engine friendly (crawlable), implement metadata and social tags, and also focus on semantic search. In terms of local and off-page optimization, make sure to claim and optimize your hotel’s Google+ Business page and post frequently. Don’t forget to monitor your listings to make sure your UNAP is accurate and consistent. Social media and SEO strategies should be integrated And don’t forget to take advantage of paid search, especially bidding on your brand name – because if you aren’t, you’re turning business to OTAs who are bidding on your name.
- Thank you team for such a wonderful and insightful presentation. No doubt about it, there are tons of practical data and tips our audience can use to improve their online performance. And it seems that we do have some time for a few questions. Q1: How can I get Google’s “mobile-friendly” label for my website? Q2: What are the ranking factors for the 3-pack? Q3: How frequent would you recommend we post on Google+? Q4: What are the top social media channels that I should be focusing on? Q5: What kind of return should I expect to get from PPC?