How to Find the Right Keywords for Your Hotel and Destination

How to Find the Right Keywords for Your Hotel and Destination

When somebody is looking for accommodation using electronic means their first step is to type a word or a series of words into a search box of some kind. The words they type are your keywords and they are very, very important. Keyword are different for different hotels in different destinations with different facilities.

A very important thing to understand is that you don't choose your hotel and destination's key words - your potential customers do. Your job is to discover what your hotel and destination's key words are, and then to use them effectively.

You use key words in three very important ways when marketing online - in the meta-tags, image tags and text of your website, when registering with search engines, and when buying Google

You don't pick your hotel and destination's key words - your potential customer's do. Your job is to find out what key words they're picking!

adwords and other keyword advertising. If you are using the wrong keywords, or are missing important keywords, then these efforts will be far less effective.

There are a limited number of keywords that you can use. Overuse of keywords, or using too many keywords on your website, can be considered a form of 'spamming' by the main search engines, and will have a negative effect on your search engine ranking. Also, when submitting your website to search engines you are generally limited to around 20 keywords or phrases. For this reason it is important that the keywords that you use are the same keywords that your customers use.

The most productive keywords for your hotel are probably 'destination + hotel'. For example, if your hotel is located in Boston these keywords would be 'boston hotel'. Far, far fewer people will use 'Hotel Boston', although some will (this reflects the importance of your destination in the minds of potential customers). There will also be many other keywords more specific to your hotel and your business. The keywords 'dublin wedding', for example, might produce far less website traffic than some others, but a good ranking under these keywords will deliver very focused, highly qualified traffic that could result in very valuable business.

Again, the trick is to discover the keywords that your customers and potential customers are already using. There's an art to this, but it is also a science. Search engines record search terms and keywords and make this information available in several ways. Since keywords are of such importance to any online marketing, engaging a professional to find and use your keywords properly is usually a good idea.

The journey from a potential customer sitting in front of their computer to that customer making a booking with your hotel begins with the keywords that that customer uses. Getting these keywords right will give a solid foundation of most of your other online marketing.

1. Look for your hotel on Google, Yahoo! and other search engines using a variety of keywords and phrases. Where do you rank?
2. Engage Hotel Sales Online to find your keywords professionally and use them to maximise your website's rankings in the search engines.