Is your hotel trying to get more direct bookings? Or trying to reach certain types of travelers? Maybe you just want to share updates about the latest renewal? There are countless reasons why you might want more traffic for your hotel website, but there isn't always a clear answer on how to get it. Moreover, acquisition channels such as Facebook and Google Ads continue to rise year after year. Many marketers are guilty of trying to funnel money into problems they don't understand. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to increase website traffic for free with a little creativity.
Where do you start, especially if you don't have a marketing budget? In this article, we will outline 8 ways to increase website traffic for free. You don't need to be a computer expert or a professional writer to implement these ideas either; Our simple yet impactful solutions will help you increase website traffic while keeping costs down. But if your hotel has some marketing spend available, we also share some ideas for investment marketing that will give you a big bang for your buck.
Marketing Research
Many potential guests find hotel websites on search engines. They type in a search term, then click on a result that looks attractive. How does your hotel measure up to the competition? Does your hotel show up on search Try searching for some relevant popular keywords on your favorite search engine and see how your website looks in the search results. Does the title sound catchy and attractive? Is all text accurate? Optimizing your website content in search results is an easy way to increase website traffic for free!
Suppose you are a hotel guest trying to book a room in your city. What are the things you are looking for? Create a list of 20-30 terms and analyze the types of content that come up when you search for them. Identify areas of your website that can satisfy the searcher's intent for those queries, and if you don't have any, consider creating technical SEO pages to capture search traffic for those terms. For example, if your hotel is in San Francisco, you might want to create a page for "Restaurants near the Golden Gate Bridge" or "Hotels Nearest to Napa Valley and Wine Country."
You want to target low-volume, content-rich competition terms. Google is getting better and better at identifying the best content for searchers, so make sure you're writing for people, not bots. Create valuable content that actually solves customer and booking pain points.
If your hotel has some marketing budget available, you can take your search results game to the next level by purchasing pay-per-click advertising through platforms such as Google AdWords.
SERP Optimization
In order to improve SERP click-through rate and increase traffic, you need to optimize your meta descriptions and titles with keywords.
● Meta Description: Use between 155-165 characters, show the value the reader will get, and make it actionable.
● Meta Title: Use 60 characters or less, put the keyword near the beginning, and indicate value or interest.
Use links within your content
If you create and publish content on your site, be sure to include at least three to four links to other pages. Your ranking will improve, the traffic to your website will increase and your visitors will surf your site for longer earning you more value.
Improve your page speed
Speed is a key factor so the faster your site loads, the better. Make sure to optimize image file sizes, page structure, and third-party plugins.
With Google PageSpeed Insights tool, you can measure the performance of your website and see how it is developing.
Update your content regularly
You might be surprised what refreshing content can do even if your post ranks on the first page of Google. Even evergreen content loses its luster over time. You'd be amazed at what a new post can do for your website. You can improve your CTR and rank higher in SERP if you update your posting history.
Changing a few words and updating the post date will not necessarily increase your traffic.
Here are some strategies on how to increase traffic:
● Add or update information and statistics.
● Attach new pictures to clarify concepts.
● Update links with fresh sources.
● Make sure to fix broken links and images.
● Use the Search Console add new keywords.
● Ensure that your meta title and meta description are correct.