Google + and Google My Business are important tools for hoteliers.
Despite being mostly misunderstood and under-appreciated by businesses all over, Google+ can actually have a fundamentally positive impact on your hotel’s website traffic and search engine results ranking. You just need to take advantage. Google My Business, meanwhile, is your fundamental portal to control your hotel’s presence on Google.
Like Facebook and Twitter, Google+ presents a unique opportunity to connect directly to customers and fans. Unlike other social networks, though, Google+ has significant impact on SEO and search traffic volume.
Why is it important to my hotel’s SEO?
Google+ is key to SEO because, to put quite simply, Google owns Google+. Google naturally encourages activity on its own network, and rewards proper use.
Your posts on Google+ have a greater chance of appearing in organic search results than posts to any other social network. Additionally, Google My Business, and therefore by extension Google+, is crucial to creating visibility for your hotel through the knowledge panel (more on that below). The knowledge panel increases the chance for organic clicks into your website, therefore increasing your page ranking.
Many SEO buffs will claim that Google+ activity does not actually play that big a role in your ranking. There is, however, compelling evidence to the contrary. Google tends to favour frequent posters to the platform, as well as posts made to Google+, in their search results.
How Do I Manage Google+ and Google My Business?
Google+ for business is managed through Google My Business, which creates the ‘knowledge panel’ that appears on Google when users search for you. The knowledge panel contains important information about your business when it is queried.
