The State of Hotel SEO

Travelers from Europe, Asia, South America and in North America conduct billions of searches for hotel rooms. Given the scarcity and cost of hotel accommodations, they may see the hotel search as the most important aspect of their itinerary planning.  All travelers need a place to stay. SEO is a key driver of hotel marketing success.

Hundreds of millions of travelers use Google or Bing (and increasingly ChatGPT, Co-Pilot and Gemini) to search for rooms. The prices on Bookings.com, VRBO, Expedia, Hotels.com, Trivago, Airbnb and other major hotel websites concern them. Their search for affordable rooms with their needed amenities (mountain or beach views, spa, swimming pool, double beds) and lowest price, drives their continuous quest for the “best hotel.”

Having been a hotel SEO specialist for a major hotel chain, I am aware of the tremendous value of reaching so many travelers on Google or Bing. I raised Delta Hotel’s traffic from 1.2 million visitors to 2.5 million visitors (annual rate). From that, I also worked on the chain flagship website in Toronto, learning the issues of a niche hotel. What I learned is that hotel SEO is a lot more than rankings on a few choice phrases. 

Hotel SEO is the major lead channel for most hotels. It’s affordable, reaches active room bookers, and when done expertly, it says the right things, draws in intrigued visitors, leads them into a trust and credibility establishing process, capturing more of their full intent to book a room.

Google Search: Serving up Billions of International, National and Local Hotel Search Results

The biggest travel sites enjoy tens of millions of visits per month. They get most of their traffic from Google and Bing.

Getting the best rankings, exposure, brand value and leads from Google or Bing is a matter of intense strategy. Because, you’re likely not interested in a little search traffic. Instead, you want substantial traffic, high quality travel decision makers, and those looking to book multiple nights and join your loyalty club. Very smart, and never doubt for a minute that hotel SEO won’t be able to help. Think high and wide, with the right selection of content that prepares and fulfills travelers trip planning challenges, and your lead pipeline will be flooding with new bookings (and LTV long term customers too).

When I provide my free audit of your SEO, website and content needs, I deliver a strategy/plan to help your hotel compete well. From your ranking power, EEAT, impact, content engagement, and room listings, to backlink building and local SEO picture, I get your website firing on all cyclinders. I leverage the whole, to give individual components an unfair advantage over your competitors.

Ideally, what do Hotels Need?

• content creators who can develop interesting, engaging, trusted, immersive, and backlink-building content
• visual content creator (e.g., unique, original relevant travel photos, local cultural and leisure photos, and videos)
• a clever, technique powered search engine optimization consultant to provide keyword and topical research and strategy to rank well on Google and Bing
• PPC manager to optimize ad campaigns to reduce spend while growing the highest quality leads
• graphic web designer who can craft the website and downloadables into visually attractive pieces
• content strategist who can weave content experiences to engage visitors and generate leads/bookings

Chances are that most agencies won’t be able to ace this list of must have’s.  Some agencies do specialize in travel, however it may result in conflicts of interest with other clients.  Good talent is very hard to find, which is yet one more reason why small travel agencies, hotels, tour operators, and others give up on trying. Finding versatile but expert providers is smart because it means you’ll have funds for content creation, software, travel, and ppc advertising campaigns. Cutting just one salary could power up significant improvements in your hotel SEO and digital marketing. Sometimes a little reorganization is needed to get competitive.

Your Website Must be a Great Experience

When visitors arrive at your site and bounce off, to return to Google, it will hamper your future rankings and traffic. On the other hand, great content experiences create good vibes, trust, and intent to book. It also creates fans and supporters who will mention your business on travel blogs and social media posts.  Great content powers up SEO.

Your copywritten content, in room listings, amenity pages, hotel site photos, and videos all together create SEO assets — things that influence travel bloggers, travel business partners, and search engine ranking algorithms.  Videos, pages, blog posts, itinerary and attraction downloadables, travel webinars, and other event descriptions are good examples.  This gives SEO concrete, real value to share with searchers — this is what they seek. SEO paves the path to fulfillment.

SEO’s continuous exposure on Google or Bing creates awareness, familiarity, trust and comfort. It creates a stable frame of mind to capture more of their travel intent. Some will book, while others will share, and offer up their own content that expresses the great experience they had at your hotel (user generated content).

Great, useable content is what keeps travelers on the major OTAs and hotel sites.

Today, it’s all about the customer journey, the experience they have while searching. That search may begin with “cheap hotel rooms Los Angeles “, “best hotels in New York City” or “hotels in San Francisco downtown.”

What do You Need to Win your Google Rankings?

1. bold, confident keyword selection (head and longtail both)
2. clever, engaging and hyper-relevant content constructed as a team to manage your ranking power expertly
3. high performing EPIC-level, original, unique visual content
4. high-quality, sharable blogs, pdfs, videos, photos
5. interesting, engaging blog posts using semantically relevant copy
6. high-quality travel-related stories in your key locations
7. a strong promotional campaign to get traction in the marketplace

Example Hotel SEO Campaign

Just for demonstration purposes, let’s get familiar with an actionable Hotel SEO strategy.

1. Keyword Strategy by User Intent

Hotels must target keywords based on search intent (informational, navigational, commercial, transactional).

Priority Keywords to Target

• Short-Tail (High Volume, High Competition)

  • “Hotels in [City]”

  • “Best [City] hotels for [couples/families/business]”

• Long-Tail (Lower Competition, Higher Conversion)

  • “Pet-friendly hotels near [Landmark]”

  • “[Hotel Brand] group booking discounts”

  • “Luxury hotels with free airport shuttle [City]”

2. Content for all Phases of the Funnel

Creating content not just for rankings, but also for conversion purposes is good. Google likes content that feeds into a successful visit.

A. Top-of-Funnel (TOFU) – Informational Content

Goal: Attract travelers researching destinations with landing pages that appeal to their travel spirit and things to do.

Content Ideas:

• Destination Guides
   > “Where to Stay in Miami: Best Areas for Families, Nightlife & Beaches”
   > “10 Must-Visit Restaurants Near [Hotel Name]”

• Comparison Content
  > “All-Inclusive vs. Boutique Hotels: Which Is Right for You?”
  > “Airbnb vs. Hotels in [City]: Pros & Cons”

SEO Tactics:

• Internal link to booking pages.

• Optimize for featured snippets (answer “People Also Ask” questions).

B. Mid-Funnel (MOFU) – Consideration Content

Goal: Position hotel as the best choice.

MOFU Content Ideas:

• Hotel-Specific Guides
  > “Why Stay at [Hotel Name]? 5 Unique Perks You Won’t Find Elsewhere”
  > “[Hotel] Room Tour: Which Suite Is Best for You?” (Video + Blog)

• Seasonal/Event-Based Content
  > “Best Romantic Getaways in [City] – [Hotel] Valentine’s Package”

SEO Tactics:

• links to room listing pages with best-features for your target, with copy that includes most appropriate MOFU keywords.

• links to customer reviews and user-generated content.

• links to blog posts on the most preferred local attractions for your customers (based on your knowledge)

C. Bottom-of-Funnel (BOFU) – Transactional Content

Goal: Drive direct bookings with content that assumes the booking, speaks of post-purchase confidence and the great trip ahead, and contains exclusive offers.

Content Ideas:

• Deals & Promotions Pages
  > “Exclusive [Hotel] Summer Sale: Book Now, Save 20%”

  > “Free Miami Zoo tickets on multiday stay — exclusive perk for direct booking!”

• Urgency-Based Landing Pages
  > “Last-Minute Weekend Getaway Deals – Limited Rooms Left!”

SEO Tactics

• links to your loyalty club membership
• best deals page — packages, perks for long stays

Trust-Building SEO Tactics

A. On-Page Trust Signals

• Badges & Certifications (e.g., “AAA Diamond Rated,” “TripAdvisor Excellence Award”)

• Real Guest Testimonials (with photos/videos)

• Clear Cancellation Policies (reduce booking hesitation)

B. Local SEO & Google Business Profile (GBP)

• Optimize GBP with:

  • High-quality photos (lobby, rooms, amenities)

  • Q&A section (pre-answer common queries)

  • Regular posts (events, promotions)

• Get Listed on Directories (TripAdvisor, Booking.com, local tourism sites)

C. Backlinks from Authority Sites

• Guest Posts on travel blogs (e.g., “The Ultimate [City] Travel Guide”)

• Partner with Influencers for backlinked reviews

• Get Featured in “Best Hotels” roundups (e.g., Conde Nast, Travel + Leisure)

4. Measuring Success

• Rankings: Track target keywords (Ahrefs analytics to see what’s moving the needle).

• Content that Moves Them:  Content funnel analytics to determine which keyword themes, title tags, and images are driving clicks, engagement time, and bookings.

• Traffic: Monitor organic visits to booking pages (Google Analytics).

• Conversions: Track “Book Now” clicks & revenue (Google Tag Manager).

Example Campaign: “Luxury Beachfront Hotel in Miami”

1. Keyword Target: “best luxury hotels Miami Beach”

2. Content Piece: “Miami Beach Luxury Hotels: Why our [Hotel] Stands Out”

   > Embed: Virtual tour, guest testimonials, live booking widget.

3. Promotion:
   > Share via email newsletter & Pinterest
   > Social media posts with short video of best features and your logo/business sign

   > Retarget visitors (Google and Facebook) with a “Book Direct & Get Free Breakfast” offer.

An Expert Plan to Win Your Hotel Market

As part of your winning hotel marketing strategy, SEO actually provides a bulletproof visibility and lead source.  It’s reliable, versatile, prestigious, frequent, and has incredible lasting value in exposure, leads and revenue.

My plan for your hotel will be powerful and all-encompassing. Shallow, best practices campaigns don’t win in a serious way. It’s competitive and you need an SEO strategy that will win.

Call me Gord at 416 998 6246 to launch business changing results for your hotel.

Title Image courtesy of Pickpik.com