Search engine optimization (SEO) has only been around for 20 years or so. But in that time, almost everything about it has changed, including how to rank higher in search engine results. The rules of SEO change so frequently, it’s almost impossible to keep up.
Each year, for instance, Google updates its search algorithm around 500-600 times! While most of these changes are minor, Google occasionally rolls out a “major” algorithmic update that affects search results in significant ways. For this reason, hotel marketers are well advised to seek out a specialized SEO partner; one whose job it is to monitor these changes and integrate them into their clients’ SEO strategies for maximum results.
In this article, we outline what to look for in a strong SEO partner for your hotel.
What to look for in a SEO partner
Aligning yourself with the right SEO partner is crucial to the success of your hotel’s digital marketing strategy. The wrong choice will not only fail to drive the results you want, but can also damage your SEO standing with Google, to the point where it might take years to recover.
Here are 5 things to look for in a great SEO partner for your hotel:
#1: They do not promise first page rankings overnight
This is not a trait to look for in the right SEO partner, and is, in fact, one of the easiest ways to eliminate an SEO provider from your shortlist.
Here’s why: Google has a lot riding on the results it delivers to its users. It cares about the quality of those search results, so much so that it looks beyond the title and meta-description of a webpage to determine its SEO worthiness.
Yes, there are ways to quickly get on the first page of search results. But the vast majority of them involve `black hat’ SEO tactics; tactics that are very aggressive and don’t usually follow search engine guidelines. To maintain its product quality, Google is constantly on the lookout for websites that employ these black hat tactics and ruthlessly stamps them out whenever possible. Engaging in black hat SEO tactics carries the risk of your website being penalized with lower rankings, de-indexed or being banned altogether from Google listings.
