Who knows how search engines work? Jeremy Armes, Head of Marketing at protel hotelsoftware GmbH, has a better proposal: forget about machines, think more in terms of humans! He presented this idea at the Adina Apartment Hotel Hamburg Michel to interested parties from the hotel industry. The discussion following his show at the HSMA "SEO is dead! Long live SEO!" gave fresh boost to the day-to-day SEO work in a hotel.
Forget machines! The proposed solution at the same time represents a challenge at the same time. If the hotel website is to address humans, the most important question is: "who is my target group?“ The trick is for the hotel to speak the same language as the actual target group, so that guests wish to learn more about the hotel and its offers—from there, it is a rather small step to the actual reservation. Pinpointing this language and using it in a selective way is the basis for successful SEO.
A collection of supposedly relevant search words in the text can be composed in next to no time, but is not very convincing on its own. In fact, the keys to an effective optimisation of the hotel website are well written and easily comprehensible texts and the deliberate use of photos, videos and social media. Jeremy Armes is unequivocal in stating that "the path to success is through hard work and creativity alone!" He is aware that hoteliers always are aiming at more direct bookings and coupon sales through their own website, and he is absolutely positive that smart and skilful SEO will be extremely rewarding in this respect. In the long term, guest loyalty is more important than single reservations. If guests feel that they are being addressed and understood, as well as even being able to play a hand themselves in shaping their stay through suitable online offers, they will remember this great service—and happily use it again during their next stay.
The HSMA event "SEO is dead! Long live SEO!" was one of many opportunities capitalised on by protel in order to engage in direct discussions with other representatives from the hotel industry. Imparting their own knowledge with a presentation on SEO was only one part of the event. A good many positive stimuli came to light in the subsequent discussions. "It would be a good idea to start directly with Jeremy's SEO check“, explains Birgit Groß from HotelNetSolutions after the meeting. For her, as for many other participants, the prospect of enriching their site’s user experience through new SEO strategies was an increased incentive to get down to action immediately.
Forget machines! The proposed solution at the same time represents a challenge at the same time. If the hotel website is to address humans, the most important question is: "who is my target group?“ The trick is for the hotel to speak the same language as the actual target group, so that guests wish to learn more about the hotel and its offers—from there, it is a rather small step to the actual reservation. Pinpointing this language and using it in a selective way is the basis for successful SEO.
A collection of supposedly relevant search words in the text can be composed in next to no time, but is not very convincing on its own. In fact, the keys to an effective optimisation of the hotel website are well written and easily comprehensible texts and the deliberate use of photos, videos and social media. Jeremy Armes is unequivocal in stating that "the path to success is through hard work and creativity alone!" He is aware that hoteliers always are aiming at more direct bookings and coupon sales through their own website, and he is absolutely positive that smart and skilful SEO will be extremely rewarding in this respect. In the long term, guest loyalty is more important than single reservations. If guests feel that they are being addressed and understood, as well as even being able to play a hand themselves in shaping their stay through suitable online offers, they will remember this great service—and happily use it again during their next stay.
The HSMA event "SEO is dead! Long live SEO!" was one of many opportunities capitalised on by protel in order to engage in direct discussions with other representatives from the hotel industry. Imparting their own knowledge with a presentation on SEO was only one part of the event. A good many positive stimuli came to light in the subsequent discussions. "It would be a good idea to start directly with Jeremy's SEO check“, explains Birgit Groß from HotelNetSolutions after the meeting. For her, as for many other participants, the prospect of enriching their site’s user experience through new SEO strategies was an increased incentive to get down to action immediately.
