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 –

  1. Technology and layout of the website 

  2. The content on the website

  3. 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.

Master Channel Parity: Complete Guide to Consistent Hotel Pricing Across All Platforms

In today's competitive hospitality landscape, maintaining channel parity, ensuring consistent pricing and policies across all distribution channels, has become crucial for hotel success. With travelers comparing prices across multiple platforms before booking, any discrepancy can damage trust, reduce direct bookings, and impact revenue. Let's explore the key components of channel parity and why they matter for your hotel's bottom line.

What is Channel Parity?

Pricing Consistency

Inclusions & Amenities

Cancellation Policies

Payment Options

OTAs vs Direct Bookings

Third-Party Resellers

Global Distribution System

Mobile vs Desktop Pricing

Rate Fencing

The Technology Solution

What is Channel Parity?

Dynamic pricing adjusts your room rates in real-time based on supply and demand, competitor pricing, and market conditions. Think of it like the vegetable market - onion prices fluctuate based on availability and demand. Your hotel rooms should work the same way. Channel parity refers to maintaining consistent room rates, policies, and offerings across all distribution channels, including your hotel's direct website, Online Travel Agencies(OTAs), Global Distribution Systems(GDS), and third-party resellers. This consistency builds guest trust, protects brand integrity, and ensures fair competition across all booking platforms.

Pricing Consistency: The Foundation of Trust

Pricing consistency forms the backbone of channel parity. Research shows that guests who discover lower rates elsewhere after booking are more likely to cancel and leave negative reviews. Hotels maintaining consistent pricing across all channels report 15% higher guest satisfaction scores and increased direct booking rates.

When guests see the same price whether they book through Booking.com, your hotel website, or a travel agent, it eliminates confusion and builds confidence in your brand. This transparency is particularly important since 78% of travelers compare prices across multiple platforms before making a decision.

Inclusions & Amenities: Beyond Just Price

Channel parity extends beyond room rates to include amenities, services, and inclusions. While maintaining rate parity, hotels can differentiate their direct channels by offering exclusive perks like complimentary breakfast, late checkout, or loyalty points without violating parity agreements. This strategy helps drive direct bookings while maintaining fair pricing across all platforms.

Cancellation Policies: Balancing Flexibility and Protection

Consistent cancellation policies across channels prevent guest confusion and operational complications. However, hotels can use varying cancellation terms as rate fences - offering more flexible cancellation for higher rates while maintaining non-refundable options at lower price points.

Studies show that 52% of travelers prefer refundable rates even at slightly higher prices.

Payment Options: Streamlining the Booking Process

Offering consistent payment options across all channels ensures a seamless booking experience. While OTAs typically handle payment processing, your direct channels should provide equally convenient options including credit cards, digital wallets, and buy-now-pay-later services to compete effectively.

OTAs vs Direct Bookings: The Ongoing Battle

The relationship between OTAs and direct bookings remains complex. While OTAs charge commissions ranging from 15-30%, they provide global reach and marketing power worth billions of dollars annually. Direct bookings, costing only 4.25-4.5% of revenue, offer higher profitability and complete guest data access.

Hotels report that direct bookings generate9% higher profits and have significantly lower cancellation rates (18.2% vs 50% for OTA bookings).

Third-Party Resellers: Managing the Uncontrollable

Third-party resellers pose unique challenges to channel parity. These entities often purchase rooms in bulk and resell them at discounted rates, creating apparent parity violations. Hotels must carefully monitor these channels and work with technology partners to identify and address unauthorized discounting that can damage rate integrity.

Global Distribution System (GDS): Reaching Corporate Travelers

GDS platforms like Amadeus, Sabre, and Galileo connect hotels to over 600,000 travel agents worldwide, primarily serving corporate travelers who typically spend 50% more on hotel services. GDS bookings generally cost around 10% commission plus transaction fees, making them more profitable than OTA bookings while reaching high-value business segments.

Mobile vs Desktop Pricing: Consistency Across Devices

With over 60% of hotel searches now happening on mobile devices, maintaining pricing consistency between mobile and desktop platforms is crucial. Any discrepancies can confuse guests and damage trust, particularly as travelers often switch between devices during their booking journey.

Rate Fencing: Strategic Price Differentiation

Rate fencing allows hotels to offer different prices for genuinely different products or conditions. Common fences include advance purchase requirements, minimum stay restrictions, or non-refundable conditions. These fences must be transparent and clearly communicated to maintain guest trust while optimizing revenue.

Effective rate fencing examples include:

  • Early bird discounts for bookings made 30 days in advance
  • Weekend packages with minimum 2-night stays
  • Corporate rates with specific booking codes
  • Seasonal promotions with restricted dates
     

The Technology Solution

Modern channel management systems automate rate distribution and monitoring across all platforms, ensuring real-time updates and parity compliance. These systems can detect discrepancies within minutes and alert revenue managers to take corrective action, making channel parity management more efficient and accurate.

Conclusion

Channel parity isn't just about matching prices, it's about creating a consistent, trustworthy brand experience across all touchpoints. Hotels that master channel parity while strategically using rate fencing and exclusive direct booking benefits will win in today's competitive marketplace.