Google plays a vital role in the success of luxury high-end hotel businesses. Google my business (GMB) for luxury hotels is a fundamental of effective marketing.
NB: This is an article from Aro Digital
This free tool increases the awareness of your brand, especially for local search, and helps you rank higher in Google search result pages.
Your audience will like the immediacy and clarity – especially when a ‘near me’ search is made e.g. ‘fine dining restaurant nearby’ or ‘5 star hotel in the area’.
Your potential guests can be kept up-to-date reliably and effortlessly about your property.
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GMB helps you to improve and even maximise your occupancy rates on your hotel.
It also helps you to make sure you’ve got the right guest in the right rooms and that obviously makes it a good experience for you as a hotelier and for your guests.
WHAT CAN YOU DO ON GMB?
Let’s look at what you can do with Google My Business for hotels.You can:
- List your hotel name, address, and phone number
- Highlight your location on Google map
- Display your property photos
- Showcase guest reviews
- Add extra information about prices, offers, and events
- Use call to action buttons that redirect potential guests to your website
GMB is an additional channel of communication to present contact information and the measures you are taking to have a great, safer stay.
If you haven’t taken advantage of GMB, the best time is now. Let’s dive in and see how to optimise it for hotels.
1. COMPLETE HOTEL ATTRIBUTES AND DETAILS
Log in to your GMB account, choose info and click on ‘hotel attribution’ section.
You can update the amenities and services offered at your hotel which to make your property more compelling and fascinating.
You should also provide a brief description about your hotel in the ‘hotel details’ section. Make sure you give all the information that your guests need.
2. REPLY TO ALL REVIEWS
Good reviews lead to more guests!
GMB hotel reviews are popular selection tools. When people give reviews of your website or your hotel, you want to encourage them to put as much information as they can and include photos as well.
Therefore, engage with your guests and always reply to their reviews.
Don’t respond with “yes” or “no” answers; be informative and reply with a detailed response.
If you don’t agree with a comment or see a negative comment, don’t be defensive – stick to a polite answer and ask them to contact you separately.
3. BUILD UP YOUR QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
The FAQs appear on your listing under the reviews. Don’t leave them without answers since this section is useful.
When someone asks about your services, provide the answer and refer them to your website or ask them to contact you if they have more questions.
Bear in mind!
If someone asks a question that you find particularly important and you think it would benefit other readers, you can “upvote” it.
This moves it up the Q&A listing and potentially increasing the visibility of that question on your listing for others.
4. POST LOTS OF HIGH-QUALITY PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
Utilise the eye-catching advantages of GMB by presenting plenty of attention-grabbing photos and videos of your hotel.
Post pictures of your hotel at different times of the day and seasons. This will help your guests with an inside look at your property.
Include exterior shots, room interiors, amenities, employees assisting guests and unique features which differentiate your hotel from your competition.
Optimize your images for SEO with filenames and alt tags – optimizing your images will have a positive impact on Google Image searches.
5. THINGS TO AVOID
Don’t do these! It will provide a better user experience for your potential guests:
- Have multiple Google listings for the same location
- Over-use of keywords to answer questions or reviews
- Choose categories which don’t match your offering
- Use stock photos
- Use images that don’t convey what your hotel offers
6. BE UP TO DATE
There is nothing more frustrating for a guest than inaccurate information.
If anything changes, such as reception hours, review responses, temporary closures or new images, make sure you update it.
Complete all the blank fields and pay attention to details. These actions have a great impact on your local ranking on Google.
CONCLUSION
Log in to your Google My Business account and enter your core information initially, then upload photos and videos and keep them up-to-date.
Keep an eye on reviews and questions.
