Search engines play a vital role in the success of hotel businesses. And when it comes to search engines, Google is undoubtedly the king.
NB: This is an article from Hotelogix
Along with the mighty search engine, the search giant also offers powerful features and services that help you significantly boost your hotel’s search engine optimization (SEO).
One of the major but underrated features of the search giant is Google My Business, a fundamental of effective hotel marketing. It is a free feature that allows you to create a profile for your business. This tool opens the door to a bevy of SEO opportunities and increased awareness of your property.
Creating a Google My Business profile is your first step towards ranking higher in Google search. Your guests/potential guests can now be informed about your property.
So, are you making the best out of Google My Business listing? If no, what is holding you back?
In this article, we are going to talk about some of the benefits that hotels get when they are listed on Google My Business.
What You Can Do With GMB?
Before jumping right into the benefits, let us all first look at what exactly you can do with Google My Business
You can list your hotel’s name, address, and phone number, have a geo-marker on Google maps to highlight your location, display hotel photos, display guest reviews, provide additional information such as prices and offers, show a button that redirects directly to your hotel website, display a “call” button and more.
Google My Business is designed in such a way that once your business is listed, you can increase your chances of ranking high in search results.
Benefits Of GMB Listing For Hotels
Make The Best Out Of ‘Near Me’ Searches
Considering the prevalence of the ‘near me’ searches, it is important that hotels must get listed in GMB listing.
When a ‘near me’ hotel search is made, the guest is most likely to have a quick, easy booking mindset. So, when you have information ready upfront on your profile your chances of getting business is quite more.
So, if you are not listed on GMB, it’s time to get it done because local searches are an increasingly important element when it comes to driving business.
An Additional Channel Of Communication
At this point in time when the guests are not only looking for the best rates but also a safer stay, it is important for hotels to have multiple open channels of communication. Your hotel might already be there on social media platforms, but GMB listing would make a huge difference.
As the COVID -19 curve has started to flatten and people have started to move out of their houses, and when they look for a hotel and your hotel shows up in the google search and on GMB, they are much more likely to book with you.
Display all information about the measures you are taking in order to deliver a safer stay and display contact information. If they want to clear up any questions that might be holding them back, they can get in touch with you and get immediate response from the hotel’s team.
Boost Conversions Through Reviews
A huge number of people make a hotel booking decision based on reviews. Someone searching for a hotel stay will be interested in Google star rating and the class ratings. And GMB listing allows hoteliers to display guest reviews on their profile which one of the factors that drive more potential guest attention.
Furthermore, when you respond to reviews on GMB, it shows that you are concerned about the guests’ experience. But what about the negative reviews? Well, responding to negative reviews is also considered to be a good practice, instead of removing them. It shows the credibility that your team has when it comes to handling issues.
And all of these can be showcases through GMB listing. So, it is more imperative than ever that hotels must get listed on Google my business.
Get Benefited By Price Insights
You might have the best price for the stay, but how are you planning to display that? How guests are going to know that your property is currently offering discounts?
This is where GMB comes into the picture. When someone makes a google search regarding a hotel, it shows “price insights”, people can compare hotels and see which one is giving the best rates.
That is not all, when someone looks for a different hotel, there are chances that Google might prompt the user to show other hotel options with lower rates which would also include your hotel.
Boost SEO Through Google Posts
SEO is time-consuming, however, with tools like Google Posts, your business can get an additional push. Google posts is one such tool that allows you to do the same. Google Posts allow businesses to share content directly into the search engine results pages.
So, if you have any relevant content for your guests and potential guests, do make use of Google posts. It would allow you to build a strong brand reputation and reach a greater audience. Someone searches for your hotel would not only see the listing but would also see the content you posted.
