6. I will rise to the challenge imposed by the recent Google Panda and 'Freshness' updates!
Situation:
Today's hotel website must adhere to very high expectations from not only website visitors but also the search engines. In a typical year Google makes more than 500 updates to its search algorithm. 2011 saw two major updates: the Google Panda Update (now in version 2.5) and the Google "Freshness" updates, which made most hotel websites obsolete by introducing very strict requirements for content, interactivity, and page download speeds. The Panda update requires websites to have engaging and unique website content (as opposed to bland, old and tired content and in addition to the existing requirement for deep and relevant content) that increases the site's "stickiness". The recent Google "Freshness" update requires that hotel websites maintain fresh and new content to rank high in the search engines.
Why are these updates important for the hospitality industry? Between 50%-70% of hotel website visitors and website bookings originate as leads from the major search engines. Traditionally, hotel websites are content rich vs. news rich, with descriptions and information featuring and explaining in detail every facet of the hotel business and service, from the bed linens to the capacity of a meeting room. The "static" content is there, but the "unique and engaging" and "fresh" content is lacking. This is the main issue with current hotel websites after the latest Google algorithm updates.
Action Plan:
In 2012 hoteliers must work harder than ever to enhance the uniqueness and engaging nature of the content on the property website by employing professional hospitality copywriters and maintaining fresh content on the hotel website year-round.
Build promotional landing pages and tiles for timely specials and events. Create new content pages on various topics including seasonal and sports events, local festivals and customer segment-specific content. Use "micro-formats" applied to every local promotion and event, which signifies to the search engine that these events are in fact standalone current events, with exact starting and ending times. Incorporate Schema codes on all time-sensitive content pages. Maintain a blog highlighting specials and events along with general hotel news. Talk about local events, highlight someone's stay, seasonal activities in the area, or feature infographics about your hotel or region that deeply engage users.
Another must is incorporating real-time Twitter feeds and Facebook interaction information in the hotel website to ensure that interaction is recorded, up-to-the-minute, and relevant.
Updating the hotel website should not be a costly endeavor – a good content management system should give hoteliers the tools they need to perform these updates easily, efficiently, and without extra cost to the hotel, as well as ensure automated push of new content (e.g. promotions, events, packages, etc.) from the "desktop" website to the property mobile site and Facebook and Twitter pages.
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