Booking.com and Expedia have captured 40% of the global travel and tourism market in just the last 2 years. The other smaller players in the field carry another 40% of the total travel market. That leaves only 20% of the market to direct players in all travel sectors.
If your hotel stays fully booked year round you are one of the very few. Have you tried searching for your hotel' website recently? Billions in marketing are the reason your website has taken a deep dive in search engine rankings in the last few years. Unless you have the same amount of cash to dump into marketing you need to use these OTA systems to your advantage. By optimizing your property listings on every channel you can be a top player in this ever-growing industry.
How Online Travel Agencies Rank Your Hotel
OTA listings are ranked by statistics and analytics. There is not a little man sitting there putting his favorite hotel on top. The hotels that rank the best know how to get the best out of their property listings across the board. If your listings are not producing as they were several years ago, now you know why.
How You Can Improve Your Rankings
Do you need to be a professional to create a powerful SEO resume’? That depends on how much time you are willing to study what it takes to make a property rank higher. We already know high-resolution professional photos are important as well as the text in your photos. Reviews are a no-brainer, right? How you respond to reviews is just as important as a 5-star review written by a satisfied customer. You should always respond to every review. The quality of your written content is a factor in ranking as well. Well-written property descriptions with the right keywords are extremely important. Your written hotel content needs to be SEO optimized throughout your entire online presence.
Guest Booking is King
Of course, your property is important to these power player travel agencies however, the buyer is far more important. Your property is a commodity and if your content is old news and dilapidated your rankings will be pushed down by the more potent content players. If your property is and has been selling rooms naturally your rankings will be higher for an online travel agency.
Your Content needs to Be Updated Regularly.
Updated content is very important to the algorithms that online travel agents use. Updating your content each year to match new events and happenings in your area, or to any updated property areas you have. This will fine-tune your content each time it is read by the analytics and algorithm systems.
Updates Must Match and Be Current On All OTAs and Websites
By Keeping your content consistent across all platforms you have successfully branded your business. This ensures your property will rank higher on Google and other search engines. How many times have you heard a guest complain about one site's pricing or the room details not matching? This new age of algorithms and optimization is here to stay, it is best to start as soon as possible.
Rate Parity
How many times have these words “rate parity” gotten you frustrated? The rates must be the same across all travel agencies, you should never post a lower rate anywhere unless it is done across the board. Rate parity can be frustrating especially if you are using multiple integrations. I highly recommend that you hire a dedicated team member to do only rates.
Understanding the depth of how bookings and hotel property management systems interact is now a priority in the small hotel industry. Knowing how each OTA works and its systems are important. Each property owner has their favorite online travel agency, by choosing the top players you will be more competitive today. SEO and graphics have become the top tools for successful small hotels.
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