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Hotel Web Sites The Missing Link s
here’s a Fifth Element to Inbound Links to your web site
building online revenues from other web sites. In the
from your hotel web site, simplest of terms, a Search
and without it you will never Engine sees a link to your web
appear on page one of Google, site as being like a vote of
Yahoo or MSN for the highest confidence in your web site.
volume search terms…a Fifth you Search Engines believe that if
say? And the first Four Elements other websites are linking to
are? your web pages, you must have
something good to link to and
Well, the first Four Elements they will rate the page being
are: a search-engine-friendly linked to positively.
technical site structure, rich
original content, appealing Search Engine robots or spiders
design and conversion techniques continuously travel virally from
focussed on converting lookers to web site to web site following
bookers…but even if you get these links like an enormous daisy
first four completely right, and chain; in fact Search Engines
you can, you still won’t appear initially discover your web site
on page one of Google, Yahoo or via a link from another web site.
MSN for high traffic generating Once your hotel web site has been
search terms. Highly frustrating found, each page of your site is
I know - been there, done that, then ranked by Search Engines
got the t-shirt; this is the based on a complex set of
answer you have been looking for… criteria known as an algorithm; a
piece of computer code that takes
The Fifth Element has nothing to into consideration on-site and
do with anything actually on you off-site factors collected by the
hotel web site; the Fifth Element robots or spiders. Data is then
involves actively building more assembled, collated and evaluated
in order to come up with a Page
Score or Rank. This is how a Search Engines today take into
search engine determines which consideration several additional
sites to present when someone factors when rating Inbound Links
types in “Hong Kong hotel with to your site:
harbour view” or “New York five
star lodging near Wall Street”. • the reputation or “Trust” value
of sites linking to your hotel
All things being equal, when two web site
hotel web sites have similar • the Theme or Relevance of sites
structure and content, the site linking to you
with the best links will be • the “Anchor Text” (the words
served up first. Note that I that the link is embedded within)
wrote “best links” not “most in links to your site
links”. Some time ago, a site
with the “most links” would have Trust – for example, a link from
won out, however, although Search a government tourism site is
Engines may be blind to images, highly trusted by Search Engines,
they are not blind to webmasters is “on theme” and will most
manipulating their algorithms. likely have anchor text including
They are continuously fine tuning your hotel name (and “destination
their spiders to exclude web + hotel” if you have been e-smart
sites that attempt to “fudge” or have read ahead).
their results. Remember that a
Search Engine’s prime function is Theme or Relevance – a link from
to deliver highly relevant a destination guide web site that
results, not some mysterious may also list other hotels in
pharmaceutical products when you your region is “on theme”; a link
are searching for that “boutique from your local scout troop site
London hotel near Knightsbridge”. is of little value; not “no
value” but little value. links there are currently to your
site and from which sites. Go to
Anchor Text - this is now so Yahoo and type in
critical in maximising your linkdomain:www.yourwebsiteurl.com
site’s appearance at the top of (replacing yourwebsiteurl.com
the Search Engines Results Pages with your own URL) and hit the
(SERP’s) that we recommend that, Search button. Now, before you
for online purposes, that you get all excited, do the same on
include your destination in your Google…using the slightly
official property name eg The different command
Stafford “Paris Hotel”. The terms link:www.yourwebsiteurl.com …and
“destination + hotel” are usually you will see a much smaller
among the major search terms that number. Each of the Search
online searchers use for locating Engines evaluates and counts
their accommodation options. The links differently and Google is
result of this is that links to the fussiest of them all.
your site embedded in you
property name will also, almost How many trusted, on theme,
always, have “destination + relevant links with the right
hotel” in the anchor text. Having words in the anchor text (getting
your keywords in the anchor text the hang of this now?) do you
in links to your web site will need to march your web pages up
help you climb up to page one on the rankings? Whilst it does
the Search Engines. depend on how competitive your
keywords are, about 30 links
There are already some links to recognised by Google, and 600 on
your site from other web sites, Yahoo and MSN will suffice…and
you just don’t know who and how adding about 100 a month means
many. Helpfully, the Search six months work and a lot of
Engines can tell you how many patience, although you will start
to see results within a few
weeks. And please don’t try to • encourage your Conference and
add 600 links in a week (or sign Events team to ask their clients
up for those “1000 links for to link to your hotel web site,
$19.95 in a week” services); the that is, the venue for their
Search Engines are smart enough upcoming conference, event or
to know the difference between meeting…not so strong on theme
reasonable, “natural” link growth but usually they are trusted
(some acceleration is acceptable) corporate or association sites
and web sites that are trying to and again, if you supply them
fudge the results and compensate with the link and anchor text,
for that. there’s a pretty good chance that
they will simply add the link
So, how do you go about building verbatim
more Inbound Links? Here are
three simple, easy methods to • talk to your local partners,
start with: attractions and neighbours and
ask them to link to you…they will
• talk to you suppliers and ask be on theme (destination),
them to link to your web relevant etc etc
site…your suppliers web sites are
likely to be on theme (they You may be asked to provide a
supply your industry), somewhat link back, and that is fine, but
“trusted” (don’t we all trust our the preferred result is a “one
suppliers) and will more than way link” to your pages. In
likely be happy to phrase the simple terms “links in” minus
link text exactly the way you “links out” gives you a net link
want (and if you add this request value from the Search Engines (in
into your final negotiations it reality its more complex than
is difficult for them to say no) that).
Yes, short term results can be
Naturally, there is a lot more to achieved through certain “black
building more Inbound Links…we hat” techniques and I know a lot
haven’t touched on submitting to of them…but the risk of having
web directories, outbound links your web site banned from Google,
to trusted sites, reciprocal Yahoo or MSN, is just too great.
links, link exchanges, buying Remember, if it sounds too good
links, renting links…in highly to be true, it probably is. The
competitive online markets you Search Engines employ some of the
may need to use all of these smartest software engineers on
tools and more. the planet and they are light
years ahead of anything you could
Oh, and sorry, but there IS a think up to fool them.
Sixth Element to consider as you
work your way up to page one on Starting today, now, put into
Google for your main practice the simple methods I
keywords…patience. You just can’t have outlined above to build
hurry along the Search Engines. relevant, theme-based links with
The same way that the very best the right anchor text…and watch
chefs know that you need time and as your web site starts heading
patience to create a culinary North over the following few
masterpiece, so you will need weeks and months. Assuming you
time and patience to work your have the first Four Elements in
web site up to page one for your place, the results of
optimum search terms. There is no implementing your own Fifth
“quick fix” and anyone who Element, an effective Inbound
promises to achieve “a page one Link building program, will be
listing for high volume keywords rapidly growing visitor traffic
in a month for $49.95” is a liar. to your web site, increasing
online revenues and growth in
RevPOV (Revenue Per Online little time and patience.
Visit). And don’t forget to add
in that elusive Sixth Element, a
About the Author:
Or you could just contact us at Hotel Marketing Workshop (www.hotelmarketingworkshop.com)…we’d be very happy to assist. Keith Paulin is the General Manager of Hotel Marketing Workshop (http://www.hotelmarketingworkshop.com). Keith has worked in senior marketing roles within the hotel industry (Hilton, Regent, Hyatt, Accor) and in other industries (HP, Lion Nathan, Shell) and holds degrees in Marketing and Business Management.
Read more articles by: Keith Paulin
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