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.

Maximize Your Guest Data: Strategic Follow-Up for Revenue Growth

You've invested time and money driving visitors to your hotel website. Some browse, some engage, but many leave without booking. Here's the thing, that's not the end of their journey. Smart hotels know that the real conversion magic happens after the initial visit, through strategic follow-up campaigns that turn yesterday's browsers into tomorrow's guests.

The Power of Guest Data

Email Remarketing

Multi-Channel Remarketing

Timing Is Everything

Personalization Drives Results

The Bottom Line

The Power of Guest Data: Your Conversion Goldmine

Once someone visits your website, searches for rooms, or abandons their booking, you have valuable data. Use it! Studies show that guests who receive targeted follow-up messages are significantly more likely to return and book directly with your property. This isn't just about capturing one booking, it's about creating repeat customers and brand advocates who drive long-term revenue growth.

At Simplotel, we constantly remarket to our clients and leads through social media and email campaigns. You've probably noticed our consistent presence across platforms and that's intentional. The same strategy that keeps us top-of-mind for hotel technology solutions can work for your property to stay visible to potential guests.

Email Remarketing: Your Direct Line to Conversions

Email remarketing is the cornerstone of effective follow-up. When someone abandons their booking or browses your rooms without converting, automated email sequences can bring them back. Research indicates that remarketing emails achieve open rates as high as 44.9% when properly segmented, compared to just 30% for generic campaigns. Effective email follow-up strategies include:

  • Abandoned booking recovery emails with incentives

  • Personalized room recommendations based on their browsing history

  • Limited-time offers to create urgency

  • Local area highlights and seasonal promotions

  • Thank-you emails post-stay with future booking incentives

Beyond Email: Multi-Channel Remarketing That Works

Don't limit yourself to email alone. A comprehensive follow-up strategy includes social media retargeting, display ads, and even personalized phone outreach. Data shows that retargeting ads generate400% returnson average with50% lower acquisition costs compared to other digital advertising methods.

Create custom audiences on Facebook and Google based on website visitors, then serve them targeted ads showcasing your best rooms, special offers, or upcoming events. The key is staying visible without being intrusive.

Timing Is Everything

The timing of your follow-up can make or break your conversion rates:

  • Pre-arrival emails should be sent 12 days before check-in for optimal engagement, with follow-up reminders 9-10 days prior.
  • For remarketing to website visitors, immediate follow-up within 24-48 hours yields the best results.

Personalization Drives Results

Generic follow-up messages don't cut it anymore. Use guest data to personalize your approach, reference the specific rooms they viewed, mention amenities they showed interest in, or highlight experiences that match their travel purpose. Personalized campaigns consistently outperform generic messaging by significant margins.

The Bottom Line: Follow-Up Equals Revenue

Hotels that implement strategic follow-up campaigns typically see 15-25% increases in direct bookings and higher guest lifetime value. Every visitor who doesn't book immediately represents future revenue potential, don't let that opportunity slip away.

Ready to transform your website traffic into bookings? Start with email remarketing, expand to multi-channel campaigns, and watch your conversion rates climb. Contact us now!