Search Engine Marketing in Hospitality
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Search engine marketing is an essential
component of the hotel direct online distribution strategy.
According to Forrester research about 80% of overall website
visits begin in a search engine or a directory service. Many
other surveys also show that up to 85% of Internet users rely
on search engines to locate relevant information on the Web (e.g.
Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc).
Search Engine Marketing is a complex undertaking
that includes website optimization and turning the hotel website
into a search engine-friendly website, enhancing the relevancy and
richness of the contents, developing customer segmentation strategy
and destination web strategy, performing relevant keyword search
analysis, boosting the keyword density of the visible copy, developing
page titles, description and meta tags, performing search engine
registrations, launching search marketing campaigns in all four search
formats, etc.
Search engine marketing has four unique aspects:
- Natural (Organic) Listings
- Paid Inclusion Listing Services
- Keyword Search Marketing (Pay-per-click Marketing - PPC)
- Local Search marketing
Each of these aspects requires the development
of a differentiated approach and marketing strategy. Here
is a brief overview of one of the search marketing formats,
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing:
Pay-per-click marketing:
Pay-per-click (PPC) or Pay-for- performance
services as they are sometimes known have become extremely
popular and smart way to position your company brand and local
properties as "Sponsored Links" or enhanced listings on top of
the search engine results. Over 50% of every online advertising
dollar in 2005 will be spent on PPC and paid-inclusion vs. less
than 20% on display advertising (e.g. banner ads).
Hospitality eBusiness Strategies is one
of the early adopters of Pay-per-click (PPC) Marketing. Our
consultants have been actively using and devising PPC
campaigns since 1998. Currently we manage the PPC marketing
campaigns of over 100 hotel companies.
PPC is the most aggressive way to
influence your appearance on the search engines. HeBS
foresees increasing importance of this search marketing
format and considers it as a major short to mid-term distressed
inventory disposal tool:
- Direct-to-consumer channel
- Customers visit and book on hotel website
- Preserves Brand Integrity
- Ideal distressed hotel inventory disposal tool
- Captures new customer segments
- Takes advantage of local events and happenings
- Free impressions-great branding effect at no cost
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