For some in the hospitality industry, digital marketing remains unknown territory, but putting it to use effectively is going to become an ever-larger part of your strategy going forward. While a strong digital marketing strategy will prove beneficial to virtually every industry, it is especially important for the hospitality industry. There have been significant changes in how clients plan and book their accommodations and travel plans online, and taking advantage of these changes to grow your business requires a solid online presence.
Why Choose Digital Marketing?
With the average millennial spending a large part of each day online while also controlling two-thirds of the world’s buying power, failing to make use of digital marketing leaves you at a severe disadvantage. Hotels, as one example, are investing wisely in developing their online presence to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. Other areas within the hospitality industry are following suit. The time to act is now, not after your competition has taken the lead.
Your clients will be using online resources to do all their planning in the future. It only makes sense for you to ensure that they can connect with you quickly and easily. New channels and digital platforms are appearing regularly. Taking action now prevents difficulty in catching up later.
Search Engine Optimization for the Hospitality Industry
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it will be one of the key focal points for your online efforts. Through your efforts with SEO, you will draw more organic traffic to your site and have greater conversion, but you may be unclear on what it is and how it works.
When you search for something on Google or another search engine like Bing, you will be presented with a list of sites that hopefully match your query. The search engine uses the keywords or phrase that you enter to find what it considers relevant information. In order to offer up your website to users, it needs to understand what your website pages are about, and SEO helps make that clear.
Search engines also strive to not only offer a suitable match but also the best possible content and user experience. To do this, they examine sites and rank them based on a variety of factors. Is your site easy to navigate? Is it attractive to users, with video or other visual imagery? Does it have high-quality, well-written content? Even things like the loading speed influence your rank.
Search Engine Optimization looks at all the aspects of your site that Google and others value and strives to continually improve them, thus increasing your rank. This, in turn, will cause your site to be listed higher on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) which is exactly what you want to happen, since most users only click the top three suggestions.
Google Ads for the Hospitality Industry
Your efforts on social media and the optimization of your site through SEO are key factors in your marketing efforts, but there may be times when you are looking for more immediate results. Although SEO can have a huge impact on your business in the long run, if you have a specific deadline or simply feel the need to accelerate the process, there is always the option of using Google Ads.
Google Ads is a platform that can rapidly push your site to the top of the Search Engine Results Page. It is a pay-per-click platform in which you will bid on popular, widely searched keywords and phrases. This means that when a user enters the search terms that you have chosen, your ads will appear right at the top of the page, making you hard to miss. While this is an additional expense, it can be used quite effectively to get you rapid results.
If you have not yet tapped into the power of digital marketing, or if you have any lingering doubts or questions, contact us now and we can show you the benefits that it can bring your hospitality industry business.