Have you ever tried to quickly update your official hotel website with time-sensitive information, but were told it would take weeks for the brand to make the change? Do you want to include links to your hotel’s social media accounts on your official website but the brand says you can’t? Has your brand ever prevented you from adding a link to a website you thought might be valuable for your visitors? Or maybe the brand has placed restrictions on the landing pages you are allowed to create within your site.

As you probably know by now, there are many additions, enhancements and optimization techniques that simply can't be made to your hotel’s official brand website. If this sounds familiar to you then your hotel’s online presence is being limited by your official brand website.

But don’t worry, you’re not alone! Many individual hotels flying big brand flags face these same challenges. Fortunately, an independent hotel website can be a boon to your overall online marketing efforts by effectively bypassing these brand limitations altogether!

Why major brands use constrictive website templates

Hotels may dislike these restrictions and limitations on what they can do with their own sites, but for the most part it's understandable why the brand maintains this control. After all, major hotel brands have massive amounts of content to manage across ALL their sites for ALL their hotels. As such, these brands often need to create strict standards and limited customizable content in order to effectively manage all the web content for their massive portfolio of properties. Imagine trying to manage online content for 2,000 different hotel websites with 2,000 different designs for 2,000 different Directors of Sales? Coordinating that process at the brand level would be a nightmare, hence, the necessity for an easy-to-manage website template with content limitations.

Your website should reflect your hotel's unique personality and destination

While the aforementioned template strategy is great for the corporate brand managers, who strive for uniform brand messaging across all properties, it fails to truly differentiate hotels in the same brand from one another.  In the end, the unique personality and visual appeal of each individual hotel gets homogenized by the templated nature of the sites.

For example, consider the official hotel website for an Embassy Suites in Waikiki, Hawaii.  Notice how it presents visitors with the same aesthetic appeal as the official website for an Embassy Suites in Piscataway, New Jersey. These are two hotels in very different markets: one a lush, tropical paradise known for luaus, leis and lava rock; and the other a small town in the Garden State settled in 1666 by Quakers and Baptists. It's difficult to make that distinction based solely on the screenshots of their homepages below. Online consumers are visual creatures--as evidenced by the fact that photo galleries are often one of the most visited pages of a hotel's website (after the homepage)--so it would be in each hotel's best interest to customize their site design to reflect their unique destinations.

Can you spot the difference between Hawaii and New Jersey?  No?  Me neither.

It is difficult to showcase the defining characteristics of your hotel and the destination in which it resides when the brand fits each hotel with the same school uniform. As a GM, DOS or hotel owner, you know your hotel stands apart from your competitors, but your official brand website is preventing you from creating this distinction in the eyes of your customers! A unique, custom, independent hotel website is often the only way to truly differentiate your hotel from others in your market. Remember, you’re not only competing with other brands in your market, in some cases you’re even competing with hotels in your same brand!

With that in mind, here are the top 7 ways an independent website can benefit your hotel:

1. Offer helpful links and additional content for SEO

With an independent website, your hotel has the authority to add any outbound links to other relevant sites. Links on landing pages and area attractions pages provide a great resource for SEO and link-building campaigns. If your hotel has a page dedicated to the wineries in the area with links to the winery websites, the wineries might be more likely to list a link to your hotel on their website. In addition, interlinking the pages of your independent site can help boost rankings for landing pages targeting niche keywords, like those for area attractions and events.  Efforts like this are simple to implement with an independent hotel website, and can help rank your site for more niche keywords in search engines.

2. Cover more ground in search engine results

With both your official brand site and an independent site, your hotel is able to be fully optimized to rank for many more keywords. There are a limited number of pages of brand websites that can be optimized, targeting just a few keywords. Creating landing pages about upcoming area events, updating meta tags to target important keywords and keeping fresh, keyword optimized content on the site are just a few ways your independent hotel website will stand out in search engines for the keywords that tend to convert better.

In addition, independent websites give your hotel complete control over common SEO strategies that aren't always available on brand websites, including optimizing H1, Title tags, alt tags on photos and creating a search engine and user-friendly site structure.

3. Present a unique design and improved user experience

An independent website showcases your hotel property and can be customizable to your unique surroundings. Is your hotel on the beach? A winery? In a city center? Your unique, independent website can be customized to your hotel property type, giving you an edge over the template brand websites.  Why would you want your hotel, which sits at the heart of a bustling metropolis, to have a website that looks the same as a hotel in the middle of rural America? Whether you like it or not, people do judge books by their covers, and your customers are no different.  Potential guests are making snap decisions about the quality of your hotel by the way it presents itself online.  If you have a poorly designed site, don't expect customers to be lining up at your reservation desk.

For a good example of this, Embassy Suites Temecula is located in the heart of Temecula wine country in the beautiful rolling hills of southern California, which is reflected by the unique background on their independent hotel website. Because of the template of their brand website, the hotel isn't visually showcased as such a great destination. As you can see, the background, photos and unique design on their independent website give visitors a snapshot of the beautiful location and everything the hotel has to offer.

Independent Hotel Website (visit site)

Brand Hotel Website (visit site)

Along with the website design, the pages of the independent hotel website are customizable as well. If your hotel wants to promote pet-friendly rooms, on-site weddings or green accommodations, a unique landing page can easily be created to capture search traffic for those terms.

4. Make website updates more quickly

With an independent website, the hotel has complete control over the content. If your hotel recently created a special brunch menu, or took new photos of the lobby, those can be displayed on the independent hotel website within hours or even minutes. Not only do brand websites typically have a lengthy approval process, but there is not always a dedicated spot on your brand site to display important content, making it more difficult for visitors to take action on those items. Even loading simple content on some hotel brand sites can sometimes take two weeks or more--a long time to wait if you're trying to promote a last-minute special offer!

5. Showcase on-site hotel outlets

Hotels frequently ask Blue Magnet for help promoting their on-site outlets, including spas, restaurants, gift shops, fitness centers and golf courses. Although there are great strategies for promoting hotel restaurants and other on-site amenities, a branded website only allows for so much customization.

For instance, Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines wanted to be sure they highlighted their popular on-site amenities as you can see below. They specifically wanted to be sure they were actively promoting their on-site restaurant, which is frequently updated with special menus and even includes a special Meet Our Chef page.

With the freedom a hotel has with their independent website, outlet pages can include important things such as a widget for visitors to make restaurant reservations, descriptions and photos of your on-site spa services, special event flyers or the ability to view and book tee times. These can be fully optimized for local dining or local attraction keywords and can capture searches not only for guests staying at the hotel, but for non-hotel guests looking for area amenities as well.

6. Better social media integration

Hotels now realize the importance of social media in their industry and have hopefully created hotel profiles across the major social media channels. Now, how do you let your guests know that you have a Facebook page or Twitter account?

Unfortunately, many hotel brand websites don’t allow for on-site integration, thus limiting the promotion of such channels. When equipped with only a hotel brand website, visitors will likely only find your social media profiles when specifically searching for them. Independent hotel websites allow you to integrate and prominently showcase each one of your social media profiles, making it easy for visitors to follow, like and interact with your hotel.

The Hilton Bellevue Hotel has a link to their Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor listing on each page of their website, as you can see in the screenshot above. Visitors to this hotel website can easily follow the hotel on Twitter, like them on Facebook, or leave a review on TripAdvisor following their stay. The easier it is to find your social media profiles, the quicker a hotel will grow their fan base.

7. Detailed website tracking and analytics

This may be the most important benefit to having a unique, independent hotel website. With website analytics, the hotel can track how users are finding the website and can monitor visitor activity and behavior once they arrive. This invaluable information for hotels includes everything from number of visitors viewing the site on mobile devices, search terms visitors are using to find the site and popular room types or specials. New analytics tracking even allows us to see social media influences on conversions and how multiple channels (PPC, SEO, social media, etc) are working together to influence each booking. This information can only be accessed through independent websites, as many hotel brands don't provide such detailed analytics tracking to their hotels.

This hotel, for example, can see that a majority of visitors to their website are going straight to the reservation widget to book a room or check rate. They can also see that their breakfast and dinner menu on the dining page are the 2nd and 3rd most viewed events on the website, followed by the Double Queen and Standard King room types. With this insight, the hotel knows that their dining page should be fully optimized, as many people are viewing the menus. They can also see that maybe they should take another look at their lunch menu, as maybe it is not as enticing as the Breakfast and Dinner. There are many opportunities to find when you have insight such as this.

Another helpful analytics report shows what country website visits are coming from. As you can see below, this hotel has quite a few Canadian visitors. This is great insight, as the hotel can focus on making sure they are optimized online for both Canada and the United States, including updating their listings on popular Canadian travel websites or creating special offers for Canadian travelers.

Many major hotel brands provide very limited reporting to their individual hotels, making it difficult (if not impossible) for them to track and analyze user behavior as highlighted above. In the end, having access to these kinds of web reports and being able to analyze the behavior of your users can help you modify your site’s content to increase overall conversion rates.

A necessary ingredient of the online optimization pie

An independent hotel website allows for many opportunities to stand out online, above and beyond the 7 reasons above. With all the benefits and flexibility it provides, for many hotels an independent website is a necessary ingredient of their online marketing mix. With the ability to track website clicks, gain detailed keyword insight and really showcase your unique property, independent websites are a popular alternative to hotel brand websites.

That's not to say that you should ignore your official brand site!  Far from it.  After all, all reservations must still be directed through the official brand booking engine.  But as an individual hotel you should use the Brand-provided website as a base platform--a starting point.  It will allow hotels with smaller budgets and fewer resources to participate in the online marketing game, and will elevate those hotels to the same level playing field as bigger hotels flying your flag.  But it won't set you apart.  An independent site allows you to create your own, flexible digital marketing hub.  It gives you the power to elevate your property above the brand's base efforts and experiment with exciting, new online revenue generators in which the brand may not be interested in participating.

Overall, an independent website is simply a more efficient, sexier vehicle in which to move a guest through the 5 stages of travel--from the research, to the booking, to sharing. In the end, it's hard to resist a hotel with a well-designed, unique, custom website, complete with all of the information visitors are looking for. Create one and your conversion rates will thank you for it.

Need more information?

Give us a call at 877-361-1177 x202 or send us a note if you are interested in finding out more about independent websites or how Blue Magnet can help you achieve your hotel's ecommerce goals.

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!

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!

We know that YouTube is one of the world's largest search engines, but before you broadcast your channel to the world take a few minutes to make sure it looks fabulous! Video is a powerful tool for the hospitality industry. A video tour of your hotel, an interview with your staff or a quick cooking demo from your hotel chef can really engage a potential guest and give them a taste of the great experience they’ll have at your hotel.  You can even integrate YouTube's must-have app into your hotel's Facebook page for even greater exposure.

Your job isn't over once you've set-up your YouTube channel, that's the easy part. You must have content! When you set-up your account, be sure to have at least two videos to upload...and more in the works. These 6 YouTube optimization tips won't work for an empty channel.

Now, it’s time to optimize! Below are 6 hotel marketing tips to engage potential hotel guests on YouTube.

1. Post videos worth sharing. Your hotel videos should be interesting, informative or entertaining. It's great if you've created your YouTube account, but like they say, content is king! Great content is important in your hotel YouTube videos--even more important than high production value. Videos such as virtual tours are great to showcase your hotel, but it's not likely to be shared. Are you hosting a singing group who just did an impromptu performance in the lobby? Take a quick video and share! The more you diversify your content, the more likely your videos will appear in relevant searches and be shared.
2. Keep it short. Most shared YouTube videos are under 5 minutes. If you have a long video tour, think about dividing it into multiple videos. Shorter videos are more likely to be watched and shared by users.
3. Link with your website and other social media accounts. A link to your YouTube channel should be included everywhere you have a “Like Us on Facebook” button or “Follow Us on Twitter” link.  When you post a new YouTube video, share it! Embedding the video on your website and posting about it on Facebook and Twitter are great ways to extend your reach.
4. Optimize tags and compelling video descriptions. Optimizing your tags (similar to keywords) and video descriptions ensures that you will show up in relevant searches, not only on YouTube, but Google as well.  Tags can be specific, such as your city and hotel name, or more general, such as “hotel tour” or “chef tips”. The more relevant your video is to a user’s search, the more likely they will watch and share!
5. Monitor and respond to your comments. YouTube is social! Users are able to interact with, share and comment on videos, which can be great insight into what potential guests like about your hotel or what they want to see more of. Answering questions, removing spam or offensive comments and keeping up with user feedback are just a few reasons to regularly review your video comments.
6. Create a snapshot of your city. Your hotel’s YouTube channel is not only an outlet to post your videos, but it’s a chance to build a community. Similar to other social media sites, you have the ability to add “friends” and create a list of your favorite videos. This is a great opportunity to connect with local businesses, visitor bureaus and restaurants, or find other videos relating to your city. This city snapshot is a great resource for both current and future guests.

With these 6 tips, your hotel will be a YouTube star! It might take awhile for your videos to reach the 91 million views of my favorite dog video, but with a little optimization, users will be sure to find your hotel on YouTube.

By now, most hotels have come to understand the importance of social media, but many are missing out on a rapidly growing social media opportunity...Foursquare. Foursquare is a location-based service, which can be linked to a user's Facebook and Twitter account, and allows visitors to check-in to a place to accumulate points, earn badges and unlock special deals.

For the uninitiated, here is how Foursquare works from the user's point of view:

1. Download: Users start by downloading the Foursquare app to their smartphone or other mobile device.
2. Open the App: When a user visits a particular location (store, library, train station, airport, park or other point of interest), they open the app on their mobile device to "check in" on Foursquare.
3. Let Your GPS Do the Work: In order to "check in," the Foursquare app relies on the mobile device's GPS location to determine points of interest in the vicinity that the user might want to check in to.
4. Select Your Location: The user scrolls through the list of nearby places and selects the coffee shop they just entered.
5. Check In and Leave a Tip: The app asks if the user would like to check in to the selected coffee shop.  In addition, it asks if you'd like to share this "check in" with other friends in your network, which might include other friends on Foursquare, Twitter or Facebook.  Users can also write tips for those who may consider checking in to the business in the future.
6. Get a Discount: Some business offer discounts and freebies to encourage users to "check in" on Foursquare.
7. User Benefit: The benefit to the user is that it's a fun game that awards points for achieving various check-ins.  For instance, if you check into 5 coffee shops in one week you might earn the "Coffee Achiever Award," worth 5 points on Foursquare.  While the points themselves don't necessarily mean much, they do foster a healthy competition among friends.
8. Business Benefit: The benefit to the business is the viral sharing of a user's check-in.  Other friends in a Foursquare user's network will see where the user checked in, as well as any tips or recommendations on that business or point of interest.  For such little effort on behalf of the business, the organic spread of the business name can work wonders for your hotel's social reputation.

How To Get Your Hotel Started On Foursquare

Whether you realize it or not, your hotel is most likely already listed on Foursquare. Whether the business wants to participate or not, users can create their own check in locations, so it's best to claim your business so you can use it to your advantage.  Hotels and other businesses are slowly noticing their presence on Foursquare and are leveraging themselves to engage more customers and guests. Here are a few steps to optimize your hotel's presence on Foursquare to connect with your guests and grow customer loyalty.

Customize Your Foursquare Page

Foursquare recently allowed for businesses to create pages for free. Hotels can now add customized banner images, create hotel descriptions, add a link to their website and more. Customizing your page will set you apart from other nearby businesses and will provide guests with an access point to your website.

Create Hotel "Check-In" Promotions

Hotels can get creative with their promotions on Foursquare, offering everything from free wi-fi to a complimentary dessert in their restaurant. When a guest checks-in to your hotel through Foursquare, their check-in is shared not only with all of their Foursquare friends, but also to everyone connected to them through Facebook and Twitter. Offering an incentive to your hotel guests is a quick way to get your hotel name across to hundreds of people at the click of a button!

Create a List of Nearby Restaurants and Attractions through Foursquare

A list of nearby attractions to your hotel is an added value to your Foursquare page. This is a great way to engage your guests and give them a reason to return to your Foursquare page while they're staying with you.

Let Guests Know That Your Hotel Is On Foursquare

Remind guests to check in when they enter your hotel by including a "We're on Foursquare" decal or flyer at your front desk.  Most heavy Foursquare users will check anyway, but it helps to have the reminder to encourage participation.

If you follow these tips to optimize your hotel on Foursquare, you'll have your guests checking in while they're checking in at your front desk in no time!