What is a Business Listing?

TripAdvisor boasts 40 million monthly visitors.  Knowing people consult TripAdvisor for recommendations from friends and strangers makes managing your hotel’s listing on the site a top priority.  So when looking to make the most out of your TripAdvisor listing you may want to consider investing in a TripAdvisor Business Listing.  The Business Listings are enhanced listings promoted on several pages within the review site.  They offer more information to a searcher and ultimately make the booking process easier for the consumer.

The new components of a TripAdvisor Business Listing consist of:

• Link to your website
• Email address
• Phone number
• Link to special offers
• Special offer tag
• Custom photo slideshow

The enhanced listing is also featured on TripAdvisor’s mobile site.  Mobile searchers looking to book a hotel room are much more likely to make a same day booking than a customer who visits the non-mobile site.  Having a Business Listing would be even more beneficial for this market to make it easy for people to connect with your hotel with the click-to-call feature, which allows the user to call the hotel by touching the phone number in their mobile browser.

Why should my hotel upgrade?

Purchasing the upgraded TripAdvisor listing will not affect your ranking on the site.  Your hotel’s rank will still be determined by the standard TripAdvisor algorithm, which considers (among other things) the number of positive reviews, the recency of comments being made and the frequency of reviews left on your listing.  The cost of the TripAdvisor Business Listing varies by hotel and is determined by location of the hotel and the number of rooms on property.

Already ranking well? Convert those lookers to bookers!

If your hotel is ranking near the top of the page you may find many benefits by upgrading to the Business Listing.  Hotels near the top of the page receive the most visits and, in effect, convert the most bookings.  Instead of referring all the traffic from your TripAdvisor Listing to an OTA like Expedia or Travelocity, direct all your traffic to your brand site instead.  Lead people to book on your brand site and avoid paying the third party sites' commissions for your bookings.

Not ranking well? Get better exposure!

For hotels not ranking on the first page of results in their area, a Business Listing exposes the hotel on other pages of the site.  TripAdvisor displays the hotels with Business Listings and their special offers at the top of the results page.  So even if you aren’t ranking on the first page, you will at times appear at the top of the page along with your special offer.

In addition, hotels will also receive more exposure through TripAdvisors Special Offers emails.  TripAdvisor emails members who are interested in travel to certain regions and includes special offers from hotels with Business Listings.  The additional exposure via email and placement at top of page will drive more traffic to your listing that people wouldn’t have seen on the first page of search results.  More traffic to your listing will result in more direct bookings, and your TripAdvisor audience will be all the more likely to leave a review after staying at your hotel.  The more (hopefully positive) reviews will, in turn, help raise your ranking on TripAdvisor so your hotel will eventually rank on the first page of results organically.

Upgrading To A Business Listing

If you are looking for more results from TripAdvisor and have the budget to upgrade, then visit here to begin the process of creating your Business Listing.  Then, continue to improve your listing on the site by following TripAdvisor best practices.  With a little attention and some time your hotel will start ranking well in your city organically and your TripAdvisor Business Listing will have paid for itself!

Google Alerts is a free tool that every hotel should be using to manage their online reputation and monitor the web presence of competitors at the most basic level. Essentially, Google Alerts notifies you via email any time Google discovers your hotel's name (or any search query you specify) within any webpages it crawls. We at Blue Magnet know the importance of managing a hotel's online reputation and Google Alerts is just one of the many tools we use.

When you set up a Google Alert, you are automatically notified when Google crawls new web content that matches a search term you select. For example, I have created a Google Alert for "Blue Magnet Interactive," which means that I receive an email notification every time Google finds a new mention of that search phrase ("Blue Magnet Interactive") anywhere on the web. This can include content from news, blogs, videos and discussion groups, letting me quickly monitor discussions or posts about Blue Magnet Interactive. This is a quick and easy way for hotels and other businesses to monitor the online gossip about their particular company.

How to Set Up a Google Alert in 3 Easy Steps

1. Google Alerts - Go to www.google.com/alerts
2. Search Query - Add the business name or search term you would like to track in the Search Query field. It's a good idea to set up an alert for any variance of your business or hotel name. For example, the Hilton Chicago should add alerts for "Hilton Hotel Chicago," "Hilton Chicago" and "Chicago Hilton." You can do the same for the names of your direct competitors.
   
3. Add result type - Results type allows you to choose what type of alerts you would like. You can choose from news, blogs, videos, discussions and books. It's best to choose "everything" so you receive alerts for any mention of your hotel name across the web.
4. Add notification frequency - You can choose how often you receive alerts: "As it happens," "Once a Day" or "Once a Week." "Once a Day" is the option I choose, as it gathers all of your alerts for the day and sends them in a single email.
5. Designate the number of results - You have the option to receive "Only the Best Results" or "All Results."
6. Add your email - Simply specify the email address to which you would like your notifications sent.
7. Create alert - Clicking "Create Alert" will send a verification email to your designated address. Once you verify your email address, the alert is created! You will soon receive emails, like the one below, for each search term you added.

How Google Alerts Work for Hotels

There is no limit to the number of alerts you can set up. This free tool not only allows hotels to regularly monitor their own online reputation, but also helps keep hotels updated on their competitor's online presence. With competitor alerts, you can stay informed about new hotel specials in the area, competing hotel events or a wide range of guest reviews--and it all comes straight to your inbox!

Online reputation management for hotels is important and requires a strategic approach. Google Alerts isn't the only ingredient in our recipe for online success, but it's definitely a great jumping off point for hotels looking for simple (and free!) reputation management solutions!

Following Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is the third most popular social network, but have you been giving Pinterest the attention it deserves? As pin-tastic Abby Heft outlined in her post about how Pinterest works, Pinterest is a great way to present your property in a very visually captivating way, share travel and industry knowledge, and engage with your online community. Just as it applies to all other social networks, it's not enough to simply set up an account and then sit back and relax. You also have to ensure that the right audience discovers your account and that you regularly interact with that community. To get started, you're going to need to optimize your Pinterest account!

What’s In A Name?

Everything! Make sure to include crucial keywords in your Pinterest name, even if they aren’t in your official property name. For instance, DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport’s Pinterest account looks great at first glance, but their name is missing one important word! If I were to search “Seattle hotel” to check out different properties on Pinterest, this hotel would not populate in its search results.

A main point in online strategies is to be easily found and highly visible; whether your goal is for search engines or TripAdvisor; the same should apply here. By including these small but crucial keywords into your account name, your Pinterest will be that much more visible and therefore effective. In addition, make sure to add your location (which can be found and updated when you select "Edit Profile"). Pinterest currently does not have a specific format for inputting your location, so you can also include indicator keywords such as Downtown Seattle, Washington versus Seattle, Washington or Seattle, WA.

Add Links

Links on Pinterest are now nofollow, which means that the search engine power behind Pinterest links isn't passed back to your site.  But just because you don’t get the link juice doesn’t mean you should disregard your backlinks. Make sure that your links are pointing to the correct pages so Pinterest users can easily find what they are looking for, make bookings, or pin other images onto their own boards from your site. In addition, be sure to add links to your Facebook and Twitter accounts from your Pinterest page so users can easily follow and connect with your other social media channels.

Beautify Your Boards

Just as having a visually captivating Facebook Timeline Cover Photo impacts users coming to your Facebook page, the same goes for Pinterest users coming to your page. Make sure that your page’s main image grabs users’ attention, and update your board covers to show off your best pinned images right from the get-go. Pinterest now allows you to choose and position your board covers so your page can have its best face forward.

Know Your Pinners

To keep up with the attention span of a pinner, you will need to update frequently to stay top of mind. Having your beautiful, visually appealing photos cycling through on your followers’ “Pinners You Follow” feeds is crucial for having your pinners visit your actual page, and for getting comments and repins. Additionally, keep in mind the pinner community and what pinners are generally interested in.

According to an RJ Metrics study, the top categories on Pinterest are Home, Arts and Crafts, Style and Fashion, and Food. Just because travel is on the lower end of the pinning spectrum, you can still use this channel to show off your hotel’s hip style, catering creations, and fashion-related images for the stylish jetsetter. Use these categories, create keyword strategies to target those pinners, and add targeted keyword hashtags into your pin descriptions for added exposure.

Pin For Engagement, Not Self Promotion

Of course you should pin your own photos that link users back to your website, but Pinterest users can easily become disinterested in your page and pins if they are always self-promoting. Include a board for area attractions, travel tips, and wedding inspirations to ensure that you are providing your Pinterest followers with useful, relevant, interesting content.

There's no denying the buzz around Pinterest and how it can work for your business, but because pinning can be so fun, it is easy to forget about optimization. Make sure to use our easy-to-follow steps to ensure that you are effectively reaching those millions of Pinterest users and engaging with them!

According to a recent survey by the World Tourism Organization, there were over 940 million international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2011. Almost 60 million of those travelers are coming in to the United States. This presents a huge market that hotels in the US should be sure to target in any online sales strategy. International travelers tend to book early, stay longer, and rarely cancel, all attributes that make international travelers ideal candidates for staying at your hotel.

In order to reach these travelers as they start their online planning, your hotel must make a conscious effort to target them in the channels they use the most. Because these travelers are coming from countries around the world it's important to note that they're not always going to use the typical online travel planning sites that we use here in the US.  Some travel websites do have a strong international presence, but other sites may be specific to individual countries, while having little to no presense in others.  For instance, while Google is the dominant search engine in the US, the Chinese rely heavily on a local search provider known as Baidu for the lion's share of their search queries, despite Google also providing Chinese search results.

Below are some of the most budget-friendly and ROI-producing strategies for targeting international travelers online.

Long term strategies:

1. Local Attractions - International guests likely won't know your city very well, but they'll probably do plenty of research on local attractions they plan on visiting.  Your hotel should partner with local area attractions for link building purposes and visibility. Make certain your hotel is featured as a recommended property on any local event or attraction that may draw an international audience. This will vary by location. For example, if you have a Seattle hotel, it would be important to be listed on the Pike Place Market or Space Needle website. For Chicago, top listing on the accommodations page for Navy Pier would be ideal.
2. OTA Opportunities - Work closely with your OTA Market Managers to receive notice of any upcoming seasonal promotions. Expedia and other OTA’s email lists include an incredible number of travelers, both international and domestic, and being included on these promotions can greatly increase visibility.
3. International Travel Sites - Ensure your hotel is live and optimized on the following international sites:
   • Agoda.com
   • aResTravel.com
   • Booking.com
   • Roomkey.com
   • TripAdvisor.com
   • Hotels4u.com
   • Bookit.com
   • Octopus.com
   • Letsgo2.com
   • HotelPlusPortal.com
   • HomeAway.com
4. Mobile - Ensure the property has a strong mobile strategy. Many Asian countries have a huge (and ever-increasing) mobile shopping base. Make searching for your hotel on mobile devices easy for these travelers and they’ll be more likely to stay with you.
5. PPC on OTAs - Take advantage of pay-per-click listings on OTA sites. Expedia’s TravelAds program gives your hotel top listings on result pages, which is great for both branding your hotel and encouraging guests to choose your property over others. TravelAds only takes $500 to start and most hotels see a very healthy ROI from even the smallest bid. TravelAds will even give you more specific tips on how to target specific groups of travelers, international travelers included.

Short Term Strategies:

1. Advanced Purchase - Ensure Advanced Purchase Rates are bookable on the hotel’s website. Most international travelers book 21+ days in advance and are looking for discounted rates since they typically plan to stay longer.
2. All-In-One Packages - Build promotions to include transportation and meals on-site. Make traveling in a foreign country as easy as possible for your guests. They are likely unfamiliar with the area and would appreciate knowing they have backup transportation readily available if they struggle with figuring out local transportation options.
3. LOS Packages - Ensure your hotel has LOS packages live and bookable on your site. These guests will want to stay to explore the area and LOS packages will keep them at your hotel as long as possible.
4. Multilingual Website Options - Make sure your hotel website auto-translates to various languages, especially to accommodate your top international feeder markets. Your hotel fact sheet, or a one sheet document that gives the basics of your hotel, should auto-translate as well.
5. Multilingual Staff - If you have multilingual staff on-site, say so on your collateral. Guests with limited to no English speaking ability will find comfort in having someone on property that speaks their language.
6. Holiday Inventory - Always load inventory on OTA sites around the holidays. Europeans, for example, tend to take longer vacations in the summer months and around holidays.

Of course, the best strategies for targeting international travelers depends on your hotels market and top international feeder markets. With the number of international travelers consistently increasing every year, international travelers are a market you want to be sure to reach no matter what your hotel's size or location.

A hotel's ultimate goal is to put heads in beds while increasing ADR, so it's not surprising that most hotels focus all of their online marketing budget and efforts on promoting the hotel's rooms, amenities and location. In regards to SEO, a hotel is typically concerned with website optimization, link building and OTA management, all of which ensure that the hotel is targeting the appropriate keywords and highlighting the best aspects of the hotel across all online channels. With so much emphasis on filling hotel rooms, hotel restaurants often get left in the dust.  While you work towards increasing occupancy in your hotel restaurant, you will inadvertently market your hotel's guest rooms as well.

Follow these five extra tips to optimize your hotel restaurant's online presence to improve your restaurant occupancy as well as supplement your hotel's overall SEO strategy.

1. Linkbuilding

Creating inbound links to your hotel's website is vital for both SEO power and referral traffic, so why not build some links that highlight your onsite restaurant? There are several marketing opportunities for restaurants to list their address, phone number, hours, menu, photos, and of course, website!

Whether you choose to promote your official brand site or a custom, independent site, establishing a link to your dining page will benefit your hotel in more ways than one. Not only will you spread brand awareness to local folks who may not think to dine at a hotel restaurant, but you will also be creating a new online citation with a link!

Hate linkbuilding? Don't worry! Many of the sites that collect and share local restaurant information are user-generated, meaning you can manually upload and edit the information yourself rather than seeking out a third party website's IT guy. Create a login for the hotel and find the add venue, add menu, edit or claim button to submit your requests. Here are a few sites to get you started: Urbanspoon, Metromix, MenuPages and Yelp.

2. Local Listings

Hopefully, you have already grasped the importance of claiming and optimizing your hotel on the various local listing channels, such as Google Places, Bing Local, etc. Search engines are becoming more personalized, offering tailored search results that are narrowed down by your city or zip code; thus, it can be extremely beneficial to optimize and claim your hotel restaurant as a separate entity from your hotel.

Since your restaurant most likely uses the same address as your hotel, it is important to differentiate the restaurant listing slightly so that it is not considered a duplicate. For example, use the restaurant's direct phone line rather than the hotel's front desk number. Also, direct the website link to the interior dining page that offers the visitor relevant information rather than the hotel homepage.

Creating a business listing for your restaurant will allow you to target an entire range of new keywords, which will populate as a search result for people intending to find a bite to eat rather than a hotel room. This also gives your hotel a new platform for receiving and responding to reviews, opening up another channel of communication with customers. As Google is the biggest player in the game, start by making sure your Google Places restaurant listing is owner-verified and optimized, but also check out Yahoo! Local, Bing Business Portal and MQVibe, which is MapQuest's newest local business center.

Some of these local sites also give businesses the opportunity to create special offers. For instance, after claiming your Google Places listing you can craft a coupon to redeem special offers that will display prominently for viewers to see. Be creative (but follow Google's guidelines) and establish enticing offers. Try giving away something like one free dessert with the purchase of one entree or complimentary valet parking when you spend X amount. Also, make sure to include terms and conditions as you see fit!

3. Keyword Research & On-Page Optimization

Your hotel's website should already be optimized for the appropriate keywords that you have decided to target, but take that a step further and ensure that you are actively SEOing your dining page as well. Use Google's Keyword Tool to determine what restaurant keywords you might want to target and include them seamlessly throughout your copy. Check that your meta-title incorporates highly-searched city dining keywords too!

4. Social Media

Does your hotel restaurant feature special events periodically that might garner a following? Special happy hour deals? Live bands on Friday nights? Monthly wine tastings? If so, your restaurant may deserve its very own social media profile to showcase its personality.

While managing two separate pages can create a bit more effort on your part, it may be worth it since it can actually extend your fan base. Your restaurant will likely target a more local or regional market whereas your hotel's official Facebook page will appeal to a much wider audience. To make it easier to manage, set up the two unique Facebook pages under the same Facebook account so you can easily switch back and forth to scour your newsfeed and review your analytics. Post high-quality pictures of your best dishes with detailed captions, boast about your exceptional cocktails, announce your daily chef specials and, most importantly, engage with local customers on your Facebook wall. Don't forget that Facebook is a two-way street! Why not use it as an outlet to ask your followers what they'd like to see on the menu? Keep in mind that you can use the @tagging feature to create a partnership between your hotel's official Facebook page and your hotel's restaurant Facebook page.

Facebook also recently introduced Facebook Deals, a similar concept to Foursquare Check-In Specials, which encourages guests to check-in on their mobile device to redeem special offers. Foursquare Check-Ins and Facebook Deals both promote a healthy word-of-mouth marketing that takes very little management effort. Businesses can select from a variety of deal options depending on what your objective may be. You can opt for a simple check-in reward, you can foster a sense of community by requiring X amount of friends to check-in together or you can encourage loyalty by requiring X amount of previous visits, like a virtual punch card. Just make sure that your restaurant staff is well-versed on the deal's stipulations to ensure all transactions run smoothly!

5. Flash Deal Sites

Hotel restaurants share a common challenge: distinguishing themselves as local dining establishments rather than the food and beverage department within a hotel. Because a restaurant is often hidden within the hotel's intricate design, it doesn't typically offer as much curb appeal as an established, individual restaurant; therefore, it's easy for local folks to disregard a hotel restaurant when selecting a lunch or dinner spot. However, in some instances, restaurants can be a significant revenue generator for hotels, so how can hotels market their restaurants to people living in the area who may not think to frequent it? This is where flash deal sites come into play!

Groupon, Living Social, Travel Zoo Local Deals, Google Offers and countless local "knock-off" deal sites are popping up left and right. They offer people unbeatable dining deals based on location. While restaurants do have to offer a steep discount to make their deal shine, the value to both the customer and the restaurant is very strong. Deal sites take a creative approach--they encourage people to spend money locally, while still inherently saving, and they offer restaurants a unique, online advertising opportunity with a targeted reach. Who can say no to a good deal on food?

There is no doubt that a hotel's online marketing efforts should largely concentrate on promoting their accommodations, but that doesn't mean it should miss out on additional services that can bring in revenue. These simple suggestions to market your hotel's restaurant online will ultimately direct more traffic to your hotel's website and location.

The importance of social media to the travel industry is a well-known fact by now, and we’ve helped to show you the way to the best Facebook apps, how to optimize on Foursquare, how to create captivating content, and even persuaded you into building a Google+ profile.  Just as you thought you had everything under control on the social media front, Facebook unleashed a new format for brand pages last month called Timeline and brands everywhere are working hard to make their pages look their best.  Looks like it’s time to roll-up our sleeves once again and tune-up our Timelines.  But, before you jump into your Facebook makeover, take a minute to read over these five tips.

1.  IDENTITY CRISIS: New format for Business Pages looks just like the format for Profile Pages.

The new brand pages (for businesses) now look just like personal profile pages (for people) with a large cover photo and two columns with the “timeline” in the middle and a sidebar timeline to jump through the years.

How you can optimize: Use these new features to your marketing advantage by featuring an attractive, focused cover photo that your guests will see as soon as they go to your page.  Your cover photo will need to be 850 x 315 pixels and you can add a welcome tagline, such as the one in the example below. However, be sure to read Facebook’s guidelines, as cover photos cannot contain ANY of the following:

• price or purchase information
• contact information
• any reference to user interface elements (such as “Like Us!”)
• calls to action

If you include any of those elements, Facebook will penalize your page.  

Optimize your Timeline features by adding important milestones relevant to your business.  Some examples include your business’ opening day, renovations, re-openings, or top sales days.  You can also pin important posts to the top of your timeline, which will stay there for 7 days or until you pin another post.  Pinning posts works best to advertise a sale or event that you want guests to see immediately.  Similarly, highlighting a post will also call attention to important events, updates, or sales, as that post will expand it to the entire width of your Timeline.

2. FACE-LIFTED: Tab Visibility has been reduced to only 3 tabs

The panel of tabs on the left-hand side of the old page, which many brands used as landing pages to introduce potential fans to your brand, have been moved and reduced.  On the new Timeline, tabs (which contained Facebook applications) are now displayed as application boxes under the large cover photo.  Additionally, now only 3 tabs are visible before expanding the “see more” option.  Be sure to note that the “Photos” application box will always be visible and automatically consumes one of the 4 available boxes on display.

How you can optimize: Although the old tabs/landing pages were very useful in personalizing a brand page and adding content, this new arrangement forces brands to consider which three tabs are the most important to your company’s current marketing objectives.  The tabs can be re-arranged as often as you’d like in order to focus on ever-changing goals and targets.  The new Timeline application icons are 111 x 74 pixels, so you can incorporate attractive photos into your icon to draw guests’ attention to your tabs.  Without updating the icon picture, the old tab icons will be centered in the middle of the new application boxes without any adjustments, so it’s best to update the new format.

3. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: No Default Landing Pages

Without the aforementioned tab pages used as landing pages, brands no longer have the ability to send visitors to designated landing pages upon arriving at a business's Facebook page.  Instead, the "homepage" of a business Facebook page will always be the new Timeline page with the large cover photo. This change will dramatically affect the user’s first impression of your brand, and it changes marketing strategies for “Likes” and email signups.  Brands that previously relied on "Like walls" (where users had to like the page before viewing exclusive Facebook content) will no longer be able to grow their community base in that way.  However, on the positive side, removing this marketing tactic for “Likes” means the guests who continue to “Like” your brand page will be high-quality fans, which translates into high-quality engagement with people who really DO like your brand.

How to optimize: It’s time to re-think your marketing strategy since you can no longer force new visitors to navigate through the calls-to-action on your landing pages before reaching the wall of your Facebook page.  The best way to ensure your new or returning guests have a positive user-experience on your page is to create an attractive cover photo that highlights your best amenities, guestrooms, or products.  Feature a pinned post at the top of your page with a great rate, sale, or event. Highlight an even better post to expand it across the width of your page to make a great first impression.  Bring your applications front and center, which shouldn’t be difficult to accomplish since the new app boxes are much larger than the old 16x16 icons and encourage guests to expand your app list with attention-catching visible tabs.

4. OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW: Fresh ways to feature content

With the tried-and-true methods of marketing to new fans and incorporating fresh content removed from the Timeline format, marketers need to learn innovative ways to feature fresh content.  Luckily, as the saying goes, “When one door closes, a window opens.”  In this case, although landing pages have been removed from marketers' arsenals, pinned and highlighted posts have been added as new opportunities.

How to optimize: Facebook added new features to posts on your Wall, including “Pinned” posts and “Highlighted” posts.

• Highlighting a post: When you hover over a given post and click the star icon that appears, the option to highlight that post appears.  Highlighting a post will stretch the post to the entire width of your Page, thus calling attention to that particular message among the hodge-podge of other posts.  The highlighted post will remain this size until you highlight a different post.  Use this feature to draw attention to contests, sales, or to market special events.  Multiple posts can be highlighted at any given time.
• Pinning a post: Similarly, by hovering over the pencil icon in a post you can pin the post to the top of your Page.  This post will remain at the top of your page until you pin a different post, for a maximum of 7 days.  A ribbon on the right-hand corner of the posts indicates that the post has been pinned.  Again, pinning posts to the top of your Timeline is a great marketing strategy for flash sales, approaching events, or contests.

5. PERSONAL CONNECTION: Engage with your fans privately

As you may know, private messaging was not available through the original Facebook pages.  However, the Timeline format encourages more socialization, and with that comes deeper interaction between the brands and customers through the addition of private messaging.

How to optimize: Although this isn’t exactly considered “optimizing,” there are times when it’s best to use private messaging.  For example, the Timeline format creates a scattered, disorganized feel for some users.  When a customer or guest posts an inquiry on your Wall, it can become overwhelming and appear scattered as the responses multiply or when multiple people begin posting.  This would be a perfect opportunity to move the conversation into a private message so that you can address all the customers’ questions without clouding up your valuable Timeline space.  One thing to note: Brands can receive and send private messages with users, but the user has to initiate the private conversation by sending the first message.

If you're anything like me, you've jumped on to the Pinterest bandwagon and have never looked back. Actually, I have a true-to-life re-enactment of the first day I discovered Pinterest:

If you're not yet pinning all the things, here is a quick overview of Pinterest.

Users can create virtual bulletin boards to "pin" images from around the web. It's basically a bookmarking site for everything from the delicious bacon recipes you want to save, secluded beaches you want to visit, IKEA furniture you want to buy, etc. When a user pins a photo to one of their boards, the image links back to the original website where it lives. Pinterest is a more visually appealing way to save all of those links you would like to refer back to in the future.

At its core, Pinterest is incredibly social. You can follow other users, re-pin their pinned images, comment on pins and "like" pins. When you pin an image, it is not only shared with everyone who follows you, but is pushed out to the general Pinterest community. Once you pin an image, the re-pins, comments and likes come rolling in!

What Does This Mean For Hotels?

Pinterest offers a unique opportunity for hotels, especially destination hotels and hotels with a strong gallery of beautiful photography. Not only does Pinterest get your hotel images (and website link!) in front of potential guests, but pinning is a great way to engage others.  Although links from pinned content are designated as no-follow links (meaning your website doesn't get any SEO boost from millions of users pinning your content), the benefit comes from the organic social spread of your photos across the Pinterest community.

According to Google, the 5 stages of travel start with a dream. Most of the users on Pinterest are sharing images of future plans, or where they hope to visit. This is the perfect time for hotels to interact with Pinterest users and make it onto their travel boards!

The most successful hotels on Pinterest have a wide range of pins - everything from local attractions to cute animal photos. An example of a hotel using Pinterest is the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin. This is a great example of how to get successfully involved in Pinterest - post a variety of images that users are likely to re-pin, not necessarily focusing all of your pins on hotel-specific images.  Users don't spend time on Pinterest sharing photos of ADA approved bathrooms.

5 Pinterest Board Ideas for Hotels

1. Room and Hotel Photos. Although this shouldn't be the focus of your Pinterest, it is important to showcase your hotel. Pinning images from your hotel website provides users with a direct link to your site, potentially providing a small boost to your web traffic!
2. Local Area Sites & Attractions. Along with creating a Pinterest board for your room photos and amenities, a board with local attractions will really give users a feel for your hotel area.
3. Wedding Trends & Locations. Wedding planning ideas and tips are extremely popular on Pinterest. I know a handful of soon-to-be brides (and maybe a few single ladies) that are virtually planning their weddings. If your hotel has a beautiful wedding location, pin it! Or, if you've seen some creative wedding crafts, share them!
4. Favorite Travel Items. Having a travel-themed board is important in your hotel's Pinterest strategy. This could include some great travel gadgets or travel games for children--things your guests (or those looking specifically for travel images on Pinterest) would be interested in.
5. Vintage Hotel Photos/Local Historic Photos/Vintage Travel Photos. Basically, any vintage photographs and images of times of yore are pretty popular on Pinterest. This would be a great board if your hotel is housed in an historic building, or has a rich history. Vintage images from your local area would also be great for engagement, as you would capture the attention of those familiar with your city and capture the imagination of others in the Pinterest community.

Pinterest users are looking to be inspired! With a bit of planning and some time spent browsing, your hotel can create quite the presence on this popular social media site. Before you go pinning all the things, however, just be sure you are clear on your Pinterest goal. Although your hotel images on Pinterest could lead to a boost in traffic to your website, the ultimate benefit of Pinterest is engagement. Happy pinning!

You read the informative post by the lovely Miss Mann about why your hotel needs a Google+ page. You jumped on the Google+ train and created a Google+ page for your business, but now what do you do? As you know from managing your other social media accounts, maintaining lively and active pages with fresh and exciting content is key to successful social media strategies. In addition, it is also imperative to optimize these social channels! It is Google we’re talking about, after all. Because Google’s natural search algorithm now incorporates social behaviors and factors from Google+, it is crucial to effectively optimize your Google+ page.

Before we get started, make sure to change your profile into a Local Google+ page. By doing so, you will be able to select a local category, which will also add to your optimization. Much like the categories for Google Places business listings, this category selection will help users find your page easily, give visitors a better understanding of your business, and add your relevancy to nearby attractions and local hot spots.

Google+ Business Page Optimization: Let's Get Started!

• Consistent Name, Address, Phone & URL - Much like your Google Places listing, ensure that your Google+ page name, address, phone number, and URL mirror that which is on your brand.com. Ensuring that these four factors all match up with your Google Places listing will not only impact your ranking in local search, but will also add to your on-page optimization of your Google+ page.
• Describe Your Business - The About section is the space for you to tell users about how lovely and accommodating your hotel is, but make sure to optimize this section to tell Google of your relevancy to your targeted keywords. Determine what search terms you want to pursue and naturally incorporate those keywords into your content. For example, if you are ranking on the first page for local, organic and paid search for “hotels near Navy Pier,” effectively targeting that same search term in your About content will only help to add to your SERP real estate, further increasing your visibility and relevancy. As for Bragging Rights, use this section to flaunt your hotel’s greatest attribute while targeting a keyword at the same time. Is your complimentary airport shuttle always prompt, ensuring that every guest makes it to his or her flight on time? Let your users, and Google know about this valuable information.
• Make it Visual.  Upload some photos - Showcasing appealing photos of your property is a no-brainer when it comes to portraying your hotel anywhere online! Virtually transport your users, and help them envision themselves relaxing in your hotel spa, sipping a refreshing drink with a cocktail umbrella poolside, or drifting off to sleep in your serene suite featuring fluffy, luxurious bedding. Your Google+ page can feature five main photos. Choose five visually-captivating images that will pull users in and show off your hotel’s best features. In addition, optimize your Google+ images by including photo captions that contain your keywords. This will also increase your visibility in the Google Image SERPs.
• Add relevant people and places to your circles of trust - In my fellow BMI-er’s post about why hotels need Google+, Andrea outlines the different types of circles that would be beneficial for hotels to create. She suggested creating circles such as one for your brand, local sports teams, groups and organizations, city attractions, niche markets, and travel publications. Of course, you want to have fans adding your page to their own circles, but it is important to have other people, businesses, and organizations in your circles, especially if they are relevant to your hotel and your business in general. When a user clicks “View All” to see those in the hotel’s circles, users can view by name or by relevancy. You can arbitrarily add pages of interest to your circles, but by adding relevant people and businesses, Google will sort them and show off your relevancy to these area attractions, sports teams, and other big businesses and people in your area.
  
  
  
  
• Interlink with your other social accounts - The last tip is to remember your links! Google+ gives you the ability to link out from your page to other social media channels and sites. In the Other Profiles section, link out to channels such as your Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, Pinterest or YouTube accounts. Does your hotel have a blog? Link out to this in the Contributor section. For Recommended Links, utilize this space to link out to relevant sites that will continue to provide useful information to your users. Is your TripAdvisor listing overflowing with glowing reviews? Do you love your eBrochure, filled with gorgeous 360 degree tours and elegant wedding menus? Recommend links to information that your users will find interesting, engaging, and relevant. As for off-page optimization, link back to your Google+ Page! Does your email signature have links to your other social media profiles? Add a link that directs people to your Google+ Page, and include targeted anchor text to achieve some Google+ link building.

Reactions to Google+ have been all across the board, but whether you are a skeptic or +1 enthusiast, Google+ will continue to be integrated into natural search results, and proper optimization is the key to having a successful Google+ page.