At Simplotel we have built websites for over 2,000 hotels, and every single time we have been asked about how we drive traffic to a website. We have been asked by those who are usually suspicious of SEO because they paid for such services in past and may or may not have seen results. And we have been asked by our customers who see a 3x plus growth in their website traffic after coming to our platform – as to how we do it. While SEO can be a deep subject, today we will attempt to outline how one must think about SEO in this post.

At a high level SEO depends on three things –

Technology and layout of the website
The content on the website
Things happening outside your website

Technology and layout of the website

In order to determine the relevance of a website for a search term (also known as a keyword) search engines have a piece of software called a Bot (derived from the word Robot) that crawls (think of it as reads) content on your website. The Bot then stores the keywords that a website is most relevant for. This is known as indexing of a website.

Unlike users, bots see the code of the website and not what users see on a website (you can view the code of most websites by right clicking on a webpage and selecting view page source). The easier this code is for the search engines to understand, the better chance you have of conveying your content to the search engines and making sure that your content gets indexed correctly. Here again there are hundreds of things that matter. These include the load time of a website, the structure of website code, mobile friendliness, proper tags and sitemaps. Detailing these is a topic for a future blog.

The layout of your website also plays an important role in search engine optimization. Clean and simple navigation, easily readable content – they all add up towards SEO friendliness.
To get these things right a website must be built for SEO from the ground up – retrofitting these things can often mean redoing the website. The good news is that Simplotel, out of the box, takes care of all this for your hotel website.

The content on your website

Now that we have gotten the technical aspects covered, the next most obvious thing about SEO is the content of the website. If your website’s content is about ice cream cones then your site will be indexed for ice cream cone searches and not for hotels. If your content is about a luxury hotel, then you won’t be indexed for budget hotels and consequently it is unlikely that you will show up for searches related to budget hotels.

Content also comes in many shapes. It includes the text on the website, the images that you put, the links you provide and the various tags (page titles page descriptions etc.). Each one of these have a significance and how and where you place them also matters. Content that is higher up on a page matters more than the content that is below. On things like page titles, the content that is to the left matters more than the content that is to the right. How you structure your content with various Headers (much like a word document) matters. How you name your images, how you name the links – they all matter.

All content on your website should be original content – copying of content from another website hurts your traffic – as the search engines and users skip past you believing you have nothing new to say. Adding fresh and relevant content has also shown to impact the SEO of a website.

There is also data about your hotel (meta data) that you can provide on your website, it is not visible to your customers but tells the bots the location, name, etc. of your hotel. Once again, Simplotel does this out of the box for your site. Our experts write the content for your hotel website so that it is all set up well. This is another reason why our customers see a 3x plus growth in traffic.

Things happening outside your website

After the technology and the content on the website, there are things that happen outside your website that impact search engine optimization. These include your guest reviews, your listing on Google Maps and local listing sites, your mention in travel blogs, etc. – they all matter. Here are some suggestions,

Verify and own your Google My Business (GMB) page and make sure that the map marker is accurate.
Ensure that your hotel’s name, address and contact info is exactly the same on all online channels – your social media pages, local listings and classified listings.
Get good reviews by taking care of customers and encouraging customers to write a glowing review. Also, respond to your reviews on various review channels time to time.

There are few silver bullets in SEO – so you must skin it with a thousand paper cuts. Please let us know your comments, questions and feedback at hello@simplotel.com.

Home > Blogs > Hotel Website Engagement: Keeping Visitors Hooked for More Direct Bookings

Hotel Website Engagement: Keeping Visitors Hooked for More Direct Bookings

Name: Simplotel
Address: 2, HSR Layout, Vinayak nagar, D' Souza Layout, Electronic City, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560100, India, Bangalore, 107
Telephone: tel:+919840475444

Driving traffic to your hotel website is only the first step of the direct booking journey. What really makes the difference is how you keep those visitors engaged once they land on your site. After all, it’s not enough to bring potential guests to your door. You need to capture their attention, earn their trust, and motivate them to book directly with you.

In our previous blog on hotel website traffic, we discussed how SEO, paid ads, and content marketing can attract the right audience. Now let’s focus on what happens after they arrive: engagement and retention. This is where hotels can turn browsers into buyers and one-time visitors into loyal guests.

Why Engagement Matters for Direct Bookings

Engagement is about creating meaningful interactions with potential guests. A well-engaged visitor is more likely to:

Here’s why website traffic is crucial:

Spend more time exploring your website.
Learn about your property, offers, and experiences.
Provide their contact details for future communication.
Eventually book directly, skipping OTAs.

Simply put, the longer a visitor stays and the deeper they explore, the higher the chance they’ll convert into a booking.

Personalised Website Experience

Every traveller is unique. A family looking for a weekend getaway won’t engage with the same content as a business traveller booking midweek stays. That’s why personalisation is key.

Tailored content & offers: Show relevant packages based on browsing behaviour. For example, repeat visitors could see loyalty offers, while international travellers could be shown airport transfer deals.
Smart recommendations: Display related rooms, add-ons, or upgrades during browsing.
Geo-targeting: Highlight local events, festivals, or attractions based on the user’s location.

A personalised touch makes visitors feel understood and valued and that directly impacts booking intent.

Interactive Content: Turning Browsing into an Experience

Static pages often fail to hold attention. Interactive content, on the other hand, invites users to explore and participate. Hotels can use:

Paid ad strategies for hotels:

Virtual tours: Let guests walk through rooms, pools, spas, and restaurants digitally.
Guest testimonials & reviews: Real stories from past guests create instant trust.
Interactive maps: Showcase nearby attractions, dining, and experiences in an engaging way.

By making the browsing experience immersive, you increase dwell time and reduce bounce rate, two strong signals for both guests and search engines.

Email Marketing: Extending Engagement Beyond the Website

Not every visitor will book on their first visit. But if you’ve captured their email through a newsletter pop-up or an enquiry form, you have a chance to re-engage them.

Personalised emails: Send messages based on their interests (family packages, luxury stays, local getaways).
Relevant updates: Share seasonal promotions, new experiences, or local events.
Automated journeys: Remind abandoned cart users about the rooms they viewed, nudging them to return.

This not only keeps your brand top-of-mind but also drives them back to your website, where the chance of booking directly is much higher.

The Link between Engagement and Retention

Engagement isn’t just about keeping someone interested in the moment; it’s about building a lasting relationship. When guests feel connected to your brand, they’re more likely to:

Book directly again in the future.
Recommend your hotel to friends and family.
Leave positive reviews that further engage new visitors.

By combining personalisation, interactive experiences, and continuous communication, hotels can turn first-time visitors into loyal repeat guests.

Wrapping It Up

While traffic is the foundation of the direct booking journey, engagement and retention are what truly convert visitors into guests. Every interactive map explored, every tailored offer displayed, and every email sent adds up to a stronger connection between your hotel and its guests.

Focus on:

Delivering personalised experiences
Creating interactive, trust-building content
Offering deals that reward direct booking
Using email to re-engage and retain

In our next blog, we’ll explore the final piece of the puzzle - conversion optimisation, where all the engagement efforts come together to turn clicks into confirmed bookings.