Hotel search engines are a key part of hotel digital marketing, and they can help you get more bookings. They are also important for driving traffic to your website and improving your organic visibility on Google.
SEO for hotels is an inseparable part of digital marketing and a sure-fire strategy to win over competitors. It includes keyword research, optimizing your website, and implementing Schema markup.
TripAdvisor
One of the most popular travel search engines, TripAdvisor is a fantastic place to find hotel deals and prices. It also includes helpful extras such as price prediction and adjustable cost to book, which make it an excellent choice for travelers looking to save money on their next stay.
Founded in 2000, TripAdvisor is one of the most dominant players in online travel reviews. Its business model relies on users who write their own reviews.
But that’s not all – TripAdvisor has its own set of rules to keep the site’s content authentic and useful. For example, reviewers are not allowed to include commercial or promotional content – they need to provide genuine advice about the experience.
As a result, TripAdvisor’s reviews are not often used as marketing tools by hotels. However, it’s a great way to get honest opinions about a hotel from real guests. That’s why it’s important to read reviews carefully before booking a hotel.
Google Hotel Finder
If you’re looking for an easy way to search for hotels in your area, Google is one of the best places to start. You can draw simple shapes on a map to define neighborhoods you’d like to stay in, and one click adds hotels to your shortlist.
Once you have a few options, you can narrow down your search with filters like dates of stay, number of guests and price range. You can also view photos, reviews and street view panoramas to help you decide if a hotel is worth booking.
In the last few years, Google has rolled out many new features that make it easier for travellers to book online. These updates are great news for hotels that want to generate more online bookings.
Google Hotel Finder is one of the best ways to boost your hotel’s visibility and increase direct sales. It is important to keep up with the latest features and make sure you have accurate information displayed on your hotel’s Google Hotel Finder profile.
Trivago
Trivago is a metasearch hotel search site that quickly sifts through the metadata of hotel sites and other travel booking portals to find you the best deal in a matter of seconds. Its majority shareholder is Expedia Group, so it directs bookings to its websites by means of various “adjustments” to how other sites’ rates are perceived.
This system earns Trivago a small referral commission whenever a user books a room through its hotel listings. The company also makes money from its Cost Per Click (CPC) model, in which hotels bid on keywords and their listings rank for specific searches.
However, despite the success of this model, it is important to note that a metasearch engine like Trivago is not responsible for the quality of a hotel or the payment of a guest’s stay.
To be able to receive direct bookings from Trivago, a hotel must register for Business Studio and activate their certified Booking Engine and channel manager. They can then publish their website rates on their Trivago profile and run a cost-per-click marketing campaign. Alternatively, they can integrate the Express Booking API, which checks room availability and submits a booking request with credit card data to a hotel.
HotelTonight
The HotelTonight mobile app and website curates rooms at the best hotels and connects users with great deals. The company focuses on hotels that can deliver high quality at a good price, and helps properties earn revenue by filling empty rooms.
In its early days, HotelTonight was primarily focused on same-day hotel bookings, but it has since expanded to be an international metasearch engine with a wide range of accommodations in the Americas, Europe, Japan and Australia. Its customer service is top notch, with live chat as soon as you book and a neatly categorized FAQ page.
HotelTonight has been around since 2011 and is a specialized site and mobile app that allows users to find and book last-minute hotel rooms at great discounts. It works by screening properties and matching them with users based on criteria such as proximity to the airport and the availability of specific room types.
HotelTonight also offers a feature called the “Daily Drop” that gives its users access to a special deal that is only valid for a short period of time. The Daily Drop comes up when you’re searching for a hotel and shows a flashy “unlock” button that lets you know you have 15 minutes to book the deal before it expires.