By engaging visitors on your website with relevant, original written content, they will stay on your website for longer, visit more pages and are more likely to convert to a booking.
Content marketing for an independent hotel website is one of the key factors in determining the number of monthly sessions.
The more high quality content you post and the easier you make it for Google to find, the higher your
website traffic and ultimately bookings will be.
Don't forget content needs to be immediately impactful and easy to access. Great content will never engage users if it doesn't load quickly.
So, your content delivery process must be highly optimized.
The following are 6 ways to create content which will engage your guests.
1. BE CREATIVE AND STAND OUT
Great text allows your hotel to stand out and your brand to be identifiable and memorable.
When planning a new subject, consider what is the point of it, who it is directed and why a guest would engage with it. Give it purpose.
These are the five questions your hotel website must answer:
- Who are you?
- Where are you located?
- What do you offer?
- How are you different?
- How can I buy, or contact you?
You know you have a product with unique selling points, but if your website text is generic how is a potential customer going to know that?
2. Start with professional written copy
Try to come up with topics that will benefit your customers. Moreover, address the issues that relate to what you do.
The better your copy, the better your results. The standard of the written content on your website reflects directly on your brand.
3. USE SHORTER, MORE DEFINITE CALLS TO ACTION
Vague, wishful phrases are not effective. It could be as simple as changing ‘Contact us for more information’ to ‘Book now’. Your homepage is most important for this.
Optimise the H1 titles on each page to include keywords that are relevant to your page.
Your text needs to be concise, informative and should target your guests.
Get to know your target market profile and then create your content to match their needs with minimum waffle.
An effective banner headline or main title with action words will pull your audience in and induce them to stay on the site and act.
4. OPTIMISE USING KEYWORDS
This is essential to improving your search engine rankings. Keywords should appear in page titles and main headings as well as within the text.
However, you should avoid ‘keyword stuffing’ as search engines do not like this and neither do your readers.
Including synonyms of your keywords is also a way of helping search engines understand what the text is about without detracting from the flow of the text.
5. Add professional photography & Videography
Your photography and videography both reflects and conveys your hotel's image. Guests want to know what they can experience at your hotel.
Take them on a virtual tour via video or 3D photos.
Avoid uploading large file-size images or videos on your website, as this can slow it down which makes for a poor browsing experience and will reduce engagement and conversion.
6. Tell your story
People are looking forward to seeing a good description of your hotel. You can sell your hotel’s qualities, features, distinctions and the overall experience by sharing your story both visually and verbally.
Your hotel story should include:
- who you are, what are your values, and what is the market you serve?
- what services you offer, to whom and why get should come to you instead of your competitors?
- prospective guests like to hear the story of the hotel. This is a good time to tell them where you are located and what your backstory is – has it been in the family for generations, does it have a rich history, is it near other tourist attractions.
Professional photos, videos, and the perfect content will help you to tell a good, convincing story.
In summary, well-written, relevant website content should form an important part of your content marketing strategy. It is a cheap and effective way of promoting your hotel.