This Fall, Apple is kicking Google Maps to the curb and replacing it with the new Apple Maps. Currently, Apple mobile products (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) use Google Maps, but with limited functionality (no turn-by-turn directions!). Google Maps has always worked best on Android devices, so Apple has decided to develop their own maps program to take full advantage of their mobile devices. So take that Google!

Apple Maps will be launched on its mobile devices later this Fall with the next iOS 6 software update and your hotel needs to be prepared! The map will soon be integrated into every Apple mobile device and if your hotel listing doesn't show up in local searches, you'll be missing out on a large segment of potential guests. Considering iPads and iPhones are the top devices for mobile browsing in 2012, according to NetApplications, this mobile search platform cannot be ignored for local businesses.

According to Apple, the new maps and local search includes information for over 100 million businesses with info cards that offer Yelp ratings, reviews, available deals and photos. With that in mind, not only should we be paying attention to our Yelp listings in preparation of this launch, but there are a few other places to check as well.

Here is how to optimize your business listing on Apple Maps

Time to pay attention to Yelp

Yelp has been a major player with Apple since the launch of Siri. For example, when an iPhone user asks Siri to find a sushi restaurant nearby, Siri typically shows results based on number of reviews and star rating on Yelp. This will still be the case with Siri, but these ratings and reviews will also be integrated into searches on Apple Maps. Your Yelp ratings and information will populate your business listing on these maps, so be sure your hotel looks great! Make sure your business name, address and phone number are correct and be sure to respond to any recent negative reviews. Business information and business owner responses can be updated through Yelp for Business Owners.

Check your business listing on Acxiom

Apple Maps will be pulling business listing information from Acxiom as well. You can check your listing on Acxiom for free, but there is currently a fee to make any updates. To check your listing on Acxiom, go to mybusinesslistingmanager.com, click through Learn More, click Get Started and search for your hotel by the phone number.

This will bring up your business listing information:

If your business listing is correct, you're done! If your business name, address or phone number is incorrect, you can claim your listing and make updates through the Acxiom Business Listings service.

Check your Business Listing on Localeze

Localeze supplies business information to a wide range of local search sites, including Yahoo!, Bing, MapQuest and soon...Apple Maps. Updating a business listing in Localeze is similar to Acxiom. You can search for your Localeze listing by business name of phone number here.

From here, you can View Listing and you will have the option to claim your business listing to make any necessary updates

In Summary

To ensure your hotel is optimized on Apple Maps and for local search across the web, your NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) needs to be identical across all online channels.  These three items should be identical down to the letter.  For example, if you have "Street" spelled out in your address in half your listings, don't have it abbreviated as "St" in the remaining half. This will not only prepare your business for Apple Maps, but will ultimately benefit your hotel's overall online marketing campaign.

1. Update Content Regularly

Google knows how to generate buzz for their new products from the get-go, even if that particular endeavor isn't being rolled out to the public until much later. So, while it may seem like all that hype about Google+ back in June 2011 was anticlimactic, Google had a master plan brewing. With Google's strategic approach to put Google+ on the map (both literally and figuratively), it's time to make your hotel's Google+ presence shine above that of your competitors.

The Merge

In recent months we have slowly but surely witnessed the subtle integration of some Google+ suggestions into organic search results. Soon after, Google announced a big change to local search: business listings on Google Places (the standard business listings that appear on a Google Map search) were automatically merging with Google+ Local listings.

This transition reorganized the layout of the photos, content and reviews to align more closely with other Google+ initiatives. It also established a unique plus.google.com URL for each local listing, which allowed for business owners to provide a link directly to the listing. Additionally, it abolished anonymous reviews by requiring that customers log into a Gmail account before leaving a review, adding an element of authority.

Google then proceeded to announce that any local businesses that had joined Google's social network by creating a Google+ Page could finally merge their Google+ Page with their Google+ Local listing. Combining all of these various Google platforms allows businesses to have one standard listing that unifies content and photos across all Google search results, map listings and social channels. Business owners will no longer need to visit multiple local and social pages to monitor their reviews, edit content, upload photos or post announcements. Customers will benefit from businesses establishing one all-encompassing listing because they are more likely to receive accurate information that comes directly from the business itself.

We hope you followed our advice several months ago when we recommended that your hotel jump on the Google+ bandwagon because, now that Google's social media platform is gaining momentum, it's time to ensure that your hotel's Google+ Page is standing out among the pages of your competitors. Follow our suggestions to ensure that you are effectively marketing your hotel on Google+.

Create a Google+ Page for your hotel

1. Before creating a Google+ Brand Page, you will need to create a personal Google+ Profile. Similar to how Facebook brand pages work, the owner of the page must have a personal profile in order to create a Page. Your Google+ profile must be a realistic name rather than a brand name.
2. In the left hand navigation tab, select "Pages " and "Create New Page."
3. When it prompts you to select a category, choose "Local Business or Place." Only Google+ pages set up as a local business are able to merge their page and Google Places listing thus far.
4. Enter your hotel's phone number to locate it on the map. Select the correct listing and confirm your initial information before creating the page.

Merge your hotel's Google+ Page with your hotel's Google+ Local Listing

1. When you view your Google+ Page, Google will boldly publicize that it is unverified and it will prompt you, as an owner of the page, to "Verify your business to be found across Google, including Search and Maps."
   
   
   
   
2. Google will then require that you verify via postcard which may take up to 1-2 weeks. Enter the name of the person at the business who will be responsible for retrieving the postcard.
3. The postcard will contain a PIN that will need to be entered on the Google+ Page to verify that you are indeed the owner and finalize the merge of your Google+ Local and Google+ Page.

Ensure your hotel stands out from the crowd

Just by merging your listings this early in the game you will automatically be ahead of most of your competitors, but don't sit around waiting for the rest of the not-so-tech-savvy world to catch up. Make sure you optimize your listing with relevant information and incorporate creativity to highlight your hotel's unique personality.

Optimize the content

Begin optimizing your hotel's Google+ page by filling in the fields under the about tab such as: Introduction, Hours, Website, Contact Info and Address. In comparison to many other social networks, Google+ provides the business with a liberal amount of creative control when describing the hotel in the Introduction section. For starters, you will probably be relieved to find that there is no character limitation forcing you to pick and choose what information guests may need to know. You can keep your Introduction short and to the point or you can add flowery language and innate details.

As you're inserting the text, take advantage of the basic formatting tools that Google+ provides, such as bolding or italics, to call attention to key phrases, organize your content or insert hyperlinks. In the example below, the hotel uses a bullet point list to make the amenities easily readable and incorporates two direct links throughout the copy to send potential guests to their brand.com home page and the hotel's restaurant page.

In addition to providing a link to the hotel's website, brands can create a list of other URLs they want to link to on their Google+ page, including social media pages. Hotels can use these additional links to grow their social media followers on Facebook or Twitter, to showcase their hotel's photography on Flickr or to captivate guests with video tours on YouTube. If the hotel's restaurant publishes its menu online or takes reservations via opentable, publicize it here! Since this Google+ page is now acting as the Google+ Local page as well, the listing is ideal for capturing customers that search for hotels or restaurants by location on their mobile devices.

Showcase your hotel's personality

Now that you've got the content in there, it's time to get creative! Similar to Facebook pages, Google+ uses a standard thumbnail image (250 x 250) accompanied by a rectangular cover photo (940w x 180h). If you haven't yet opted in to the cover photo, you may still be privy to the 5 square thumbnails in a horizontal row. (It's important to note, once your curiosity gets the best of you and you switch over to the single horizontal cover photo, you will not be able to revert back to the 5 horizontal images.)

As both an hotelier and as a guest, you are probably well aware that hotel photography can be a powerful "make-it-or-break-it" factor when deciding between 2 or more comparably priced hotels. So, take advantage of these first-impression photos on Google+ and provide alluring images that show guests why your hotel should be added to their Google+ circles.  To get your creative wheels spinning, think about what sets your hotel apart from others. What do guests repeatedly comment on or why do guests keep coming back? Does your hotel have a distinct personality due to the location (i.e. Nashville's country music scene)?  Do your rooms offer spectacular views of the city, the lake or the mountains? Do guests choose your hotel for a particular amenity? Does your hotel pride itself on being pet-friendly? Does your hotel mostly cater to business and meeting guests? Are you known for being an amazing wedding or reception venue in the area? Determine what your hotel's strengths are and highlight them at the forefront of your Google+ Page. Think about your cover photo as a billboard.

For example, the hotel below, which is widely recognized as a landmark in San Antonio and is nicknamed the "Official Hotel of the Alamo," thrives on the city's rich history and culture. Due to its unique architecture and proximity to the Alamo, the hotel captures a big leisure and tourist audience, so the Google+ Page draws on Texan authenticity and must-see nearby tourist attractions.

While the polaroid-inspired montage above may take some extra creative skills  that require time, effort and even possibly outsourcing, it very clearly sets the hotel apart from the typical Google+ page -even a hotel that has great, high-res photography. If you use a design program, you can even add text on top of the photos for additional branding opportunities, as in the example below.

Respond to your reviews

Reviews, which were previously found on your hotel's Google Places listing, are now hosted on your Google+ page. In an attempt to weed out false reviews or spammers, Google requires reviewers to be logged into a Gmail account. As an hotelier, you already know how important it is to respond to most of your reviews, whether good, bad or mediocre. Reviews on Google+ are no exception. Crafting a well-written response and putting a positive-spin on any negative feedback will show the reviewer as well as any other potential guests on Google+ that the hotel has a caring management team and appreciates guest comments.

Google+ makes it easy page admins to respond. When you are logged into your Google+ Page, select the About tab and scroll down to see the reviews. Make sure they are sorted by "Latest" so you are responding to the most relevant reviews. Hit "Respond" and enter a quick, personal note of gratitude for their positive feedback or mention the steps the hotel is taking to improve upon whatever the complaint may be.

What's next for Google+?

In related news, Google+ is now allowing page owners to invite up to 50 additional admins to co-manage the Google+ page. This lets multiple people monitor and edit Google+ pages without having to share confidential login information. Although only one person can be the actual owner of the page, ownership can be easily transferred to another person.

In typical Google fashion, Google+ has finally announced that it is rolling out vanity URLs to select brands, celebrities or public personalities that are in a large amount of peoples' circles. While most of the Google+ world will have to wait it out, some fortunate folks are now able to select a unique URL where the brand name replaces the long string of numbers in the standard plus.google.com URL. For example, if the Emily Morgan Hotel wanted to promote their Google+ page on printed marketing collateral, they would provide the following link: https://plus.google.com/b/118259268316760754340/118259268316760754340/posts, instead of something more concise such as: plus.google.com/emilymorganhotel. Having key phrases, like your brand name, in the URL will be beneficial for both SEO efforts and for marketing your Google+ Page.

Don't say we didn't warn you! Google is determined to make Google+ a powerful force in the search, social and local world. Setting up, merging and managing a bold and well-optimized Google+ Page will ensure that your hotel is one step closer to dominating the search engine results!

Want 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.

If you've never been to the beautiful Poconos Islands in the tropical turquoise waters of the Caribbean you should definitely add it to your list of top places in the world to visit. A tiny, undeveloped archipelago floating lazily off the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic (see map below), The Poconos Islands are what most people envision when they dream of the quintessential beachfront paradise.

Yes, surely add it to your list of exotic, must-see destinations.  In fact, you can add it right up there with El Dorado, Shangri-La, Platform 9 3/4, the lost city of Atlantis, and any other mythical destination you had your heart set on.

Sadly, there are no Poconos Islands. But that photo above sure made you think twice, didn't it?

For hoteliers, the message should be clear: the imagery on your hotel website serves as an incredibly persuasive tool for converting visitors into paying guests. When paired with a description of your property or a claim about your features and amenities, an image can actually enhance the perception of truth about that particular statement.

Dead or alive?

A recent study mentioned in Arstechnica highlights this very impact and image can have on "truthiness:"

The authors, based in New Zealand and Canada, performed an "alive or dead" test, showing the names of minor celebrities and asking undergraduates whether the person was still alive. In half the cases, they also showed a photo of the person. When the photo was present, people were more likely to answer that the statement was true.

The obvious explanation for this is that none of the photos were of a corpse, and seeing a person alive would almost certainly bias the participants toward thinking the person was alive. So, they switched the questions, asking another group whether they thought the person was dead. As it turned out, the photo also caused people to evaluate the statement as true, and answer that the person was no longer alive.

To make sure this didn't only work with people, the authors switched to true/false trivia questions, like the macadamia example mentioned above. Again, photos (in this case, images of the subject of the question) caused people to answer "true" more often than they did in a control quiz. And it wasn't just images. They could get a similar effect by reading a short description of the person in question.

Picture vs. common sense

Imagery is incredibly persuasive.  In instances where even the most common of sense should prevail, imagery can cast doubt on your firmly held notions.  Take the introduction of the Poconos Islands above, for instance.  It's pretty convincing when you see a legitimate-looking beach photo labeled "The Poconos Islands" or a map of the Caribbean featuring the mysterious island chain.  Still, you're pretty sure you were always taught that the Poconos were a popular ski destination in mountainous eastern Pennsylvania.  ...on the other hand, maybe there really are Poconos Islands somewhere out there.

While there really are no Poconos Islands, many years ago I created them.  Some coworkers were talking about their recent vacation in the Poconos and how great the skiing had been.  Having never been to the Poconos nor having known much about the destination, the name always sounded Caribbean to me, which seemed an unlikely place to go skiing.  It could be that I was simply confusing the Beach Boys' island ballad "Kokomo" with the similarly sounding Pennsylvanian Mountain range.  Regardless, my followup question about skiing on some snow-capped Caribbean isle was met with a hearty round of laughter.  In retrospect, it really didn't make sense to me either, but in my mind "The Poconos" could only exist as a name for an island.

The power of the picture

To save face I insisted that such an island did exist and that I was sure I could locate it on Google Maps.  So I went back to my desk, opened the Caribbean map in Photoshop, created a new island by cloning Cuba, and labeled it "The Poconos Islands."  I emailed the altered map to my coworkers and then made my rounds to each office to witness their confusion firsthand. It turns out I received some head shakes of disbelief, an apology, and some exclaimations of frustration from those who simply couldn't locate the fabricated islands on their own computer.  But even though my coworkers remained fairly skeptical, they had trouble refuting the altered map and eventually accepted the lie.  All because of an image.

These coworkers knew better, but the fact that they now had an image to support my erroneous claim caused them to abandon what they new for sure to be true (the Poconos of PA) for the uncertainty of a newly proposed fact (the Poconos of the Caribbean).

What hotels can learn from The Poconos Islands

I'm not suggesting that hoteliers should lie to customers about features of their hotel.  Instead, the Poconos Islands--while an extreme example--should remind us of the power of imagery to persuade.  Here are a few items for hoteliers to consider in managing their online presence:

1. Use photos to strengthen the perception of your claims - If your selling feature is your proximity to the downtown area, show a photo of downtown.  If your hotel's spa has the best Swedish massages in town, show a photo of the spa service.  If your hotel is just minutes from the airport, show a photo of the closest airport.  Each image can have an impact on how truthful your customers perceive each of those statements to be. After all, it's much easier to make a judgement about a single photo of a guest room than 10 paragraphs of text about how great it is.
2. Budget for professional photography - According to the study, just having any relevant photo is enough to convince people of a statement's truth.  But that doesn't mean you should skimp on good photography. It's been said before, but due to its importance in every online marketing channel, it bears repeating: good photography is crucial to selling your hotel.  Don't cut corners by using your iPhone to capture killer shots.  Hire a professional who understands good composition and can sell your hotel through interesting framing rather than relying on Photoshopping in features you don't have.
3. Don't lie or exaggerate through your photos - You may fool customers into booking at your hotel, but once they arrive they'll be sure to correct your mistake with photos of their own--photos which will quickly be shared on TripAdvisor, Facebook and any other network of which they are a member. Not only will be losing that customer in the future, but all potential customers with which that person shared their experience. Don't Photoshop ocean views into your suite photos if you're a mile inland.  In the age of internet transparency, many travel sites already do a great job of exposing the deception of over-doctored hotel photography.

In addition to images' ability to enhance content's truthiness, we've seen that photo gallery pages are consistently one of the top viewed pages on hotel websites.  We see the same engagement on social media channels, where imagery posted on our clients' social networks always gets greater interaction than plain text status updates. When done right, professional photography can be an expensive investment but one that's well worth it, especially considering how ubiquitous imagery is in the online travel world. Those photos can be used on your hotel website, OTAs, social media, menus, brochures, blogs, TripAdvisor and other third party sites, to further support your claims about your property.

So whether your hotel is in Aruba or Jamaica, Bermuda or Bahama, or anywhere else around the globe, when it comes to the the power of your hotel's photography, just remember a little place called Poconos.

Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go
Down to Poconos
We'll get there fast
And then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go
Way down to Poconos.

With over 20 million users, Foursquare provides businesses with a great opportunity to engage with users on a hyper-local level. Featuring a streamlined interface and growing user base, there’s no reason that your hotel shouldn’t use this social media site. Setup is easy and it there’s very little management needed on a daily or even weekly basis. In December, Blue Magnet's very own Abby Heft described how to create a Foursquare profile for your hotel. Since then, there have been a few updates to the system.

Here’s a quick overview of the redesigned Foursquare dashboard and new features that allow brands to focus on customer acquisition and retention.

New Updates & Useful Foursquare Features

• Local Updates: Foursquare recently added the “Local Updates” feature so that brands can keep in touch with their loyal customers. You can now share new menu items, discounts, etc. and they will show up in your customers’ friends tab when they’re in the area. For example, as a hotel, you could offer a free cup of coffee from your in-house Starbucks to the "mayor" (most loyal customer) of your property. These updates go out to your fans, show up on your business page, appear when someone has checked in and can be found in Explore (Foursquare’s search component).

• Promoted Updates: Looking for more opportunities to acquire customers? Foursquare recently launched “Promoted Updates” that work similarly to Google AdWords, as results are based in part on relevant queries. This is currently rolling out using a “cost per action” model in which local updates (information or specials) are fed out as recommendations based on location and past user/friend activity. Currently if a user is near one of Foursquare’s 23 launch partners they will see these updates labeled "Promoted." The great thing about this is that Promoted Updates only feed out to people in the area, enhancing relevancy. Promoted updates are currently in the beta phase and there isn’t any data available to judge its effectiveness, but you can sign up to learn more.
• Multiple Venue Management: If you’re an agency or hotelier managing several properties’ profiles on Foursquare, the administration process is now more streamlined. For example, you can now create one special and feed it out to all of the properties to which you would like it applied.
• Improved Insights: Foursquare has also made improvements in terms of how you view and monitor engagement with your property.  You can view check-ins to your business, check-ins shared via Facebook and Twitter, and unique customer information. This is an easy way to see how venue check-ins are affected if you are running a promoted update, featuring a check-in special or are managing another campaign. These changes also allow business owners or account managers to view the virality of their local or promoted updates.

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.

When visitors arrive at your hotel website using their mobile phone what do they see? Is it easy for them to book a room? To find directions? To call the hotel? Or have you forced your potential customers to try to view and navigate your standard website--which was designed for large computer monitors--on a small, mobile screen about the size of a playing card?

If your customers are still pinching, zooming, scrolling through your standard website on their mobile devices, it's likely that you're losing out on room revenue from mobile visitors due to your hotel website's frustrating mobile experience. Discouraged customers will book elsewhere if it's too difficult for them to navigate your mobile website. Stop driving paying guests to your mobile-optimized competitors by creating a mobile version of your own website!

Just take a look below at how a standard website appears on your mobile phone versus the mobile-optimized version. As you can see, the mobile optimized website on the right is much easier to read and navigate right from the get-go--no zooming required!

As a hotelier, being able to communicate effectively to your potential customers on their mobile phones can have a tremendous impact on your bottom line. Unlike a standard computer, most people are tethered to their smartphones all day, every day. Think about it: if you're a smartphone owner, try to recall the last time you were separated from it for more than 10 minutes. Chances are that gadget is next to you at all times: while you eat, while you sleep, while you commute, while you're at work and maybe for some of you it's even with you in the bathroom. Your mobile phone is an always-on, omnipresent device that's connected to the internet 24 hours a day, thanks to the wonders of fast 3G/4G data streaming. The chances of someone searching for your hotel on a mobile phone are quite high when you consider how much time we smartphone owners spend with our gadgets. This is great news, because there's nothing a marketer likes more than an always-connected audience to advertise to.

Why bother with a mobile hotel website?

There are two primary reasons why your hotel needs a mobile site:

1. An increasing number of users are reaching your site through mobile devices
2. The way a mobile user interacts with your website is very different than that of a non-mobile user

Because of the sheer volume of mobile users it makes it that much more important to address this growing group's needs. In order to foster the best conversion rates on your site you need to present the right content in the right format depending on how the visitor is accessing your site. If you just bought a new house you wouldn't use a single pickup truck to move in all your furniture! Sure, it might save you a little money and would get the job done, but it would take forever! Using a moving truck with professional movers is a much more efficient way to accomplish the task. The same goes for your website. Sure, users can muddle their way through your standard website on their mobile device, but it's much more efficient to have the site optimized to fit their mobile browser. It's all about providing the right tool for the size of the job.

The rise of the mobile user

So just how many users have gone mobile, you ask? Well, you've likely heard the recent statistics about mobile phone ownership outpacing personal computer ownership (PDF). Or how half the population of US mobile subscribers now own smartphones. Or that it is estimated that there will be over 108 million tablet users by 2015. While there are plenty of sites that have these statistics, at Blue Magnet it's even more compelling when we look at our own client data.

For instance, take a look at the increase in mobile visits to this hotel's website in July 2010 vs the same month in 2012. Keep in mind that by 2010, the original iPhone had already been out 3 years, yet this hotel still only saw 5% of their traffic coming from mobile devices. Fast forward to July 2012 and you can see that in those two short years mobile visits to the hotel website now represent 25% of the total site visits! That's a full quarter of their traffic that represents over 8,000 visits in that month alone.

If you've made it difficult for these people to book a room or call your hotel by showing them a non-mobile optimized page when they arrive at your site, you've drastically cut your conversion rate for those visitors. You've made it much more difficult for them to navigate your cumbersome, standard website.

In another example, let's compare three months worth of mobile traffic for a cluster of hotels in 2011 (orange) versus the same months in 2012 (blue). Comparing the same 3 months year-over-year we see an astounding 140% growth in mobile traffic to this website. And, as you can clearly see from the chart below, the mobile trend line continues to move upward and onward. In one year this cluster of hotels managed to more than double their mobile traffic (from 22,839 visits last year to 54,748 this year).

What does it mean to have a "mobile optimized" hotel website?

As you probably know, most modern smartphones are able to render mobile-optimized and non-mobile optimized sites without a problem. If you view any website in your mobile browser, chances are your Android, iPhone, or Windows phone will be able to show you the page without a hitch. But just because you can view a webpage on your mobile phone doesn't means it's optimized for that smaller screen size. Consumers interact with websites on mobile devices differently than they would on their standard computers, and because of this, your site should be optimized appropriately to help them accomplish their goals.

Consider these elements when creating a mobile-optimized hotel website:

1. Consider your audience and how they're consuming your content - We want to format our website in a way that makes it easier for consumers to browse our content no matter what device they are on. At the most basic level, this means creating two separate version of your website: one that can be viewed on a normal computer monitor, and one that can be viewed on a mobile device (which includes both smartphones and tablets). In order to send the correct version of the website to the correct visitor, some code is placed on the backend of the site that determines whether the user is viewing with a standard computer or a mobile device.
   
   Some businesses even go as far as to create separate website layouts to address the distinction between smartphones versus tablets within the "mobile devices" category. After all, the behavior of smartphone users is considerably different than that of tablet users. As such, the content should be structured in a way that is most conducive to the usage requirements of each type of visitor.
   
   There's even a new web development technique called responsive web design, which involves a single website that reformats dynamically to the size of the user's viewing screen. This is a great option that entails essentially creating three versions of the website (standard, tablet, smartphone) in one. Regardless of which technique is used--creating different versions of your website or using responsive web design--the goal is the same: present visitors with content that is optimized for viewing on their specific device.
2. Show only the most important content - Mobile users navigate a site differently than their non-mobile counterparts. Things such as directions, contact info, and click-to-call are some of the most important actions a mobile user might want to make on your site. You probably don't need to feature every little niche landing page you've ever created on your mobile site. Those kinds of pages likely aren't at the top of the list of useful content for your mobile visitors, so they probably don't need to be featured on your mobile site.
   
   Consider this: according to an article in USA Today, Vice President of Marriott eMarketing Andrew Kauffmann states that about half of Marriott's mobile bookings are same-day reservations. This means that these mobile guests will be probably be using their smartphones to 1) see photos of the hotel;  2) review accommodation options;  3) call the hotel with questions; 4) book their same-day reservation; or 5) find directions to the hotel. If you don't have elements on your mobile-optimized site that quickly and clearly address these key customer goals, you're making it much more difficult for those mobile users to become heads in your beds.
3. Avoid Adobe Flash - Many mobile phones, notably the ubiquitous iPhone, simply won't display Adobe Flash content. Instead, that Flash content will show up as a nice, big, ugly grey box in the middle of your pretty website. If you think your standard website looks absolutely breathtaking with a nice Flash slideshow of your property on the homepage, keep in mind that most mobile users will never see it. With mobile-friendly HTML5 and jQuery alternatives, there is no reason a hotel should need to rely on Flash for their website slideshow or photo gallery.
4. Make text larger - When mobile browsers render your non-mobile site they often start "zoomed out" to fit the entire webpage width in the screen. Then, for the visitor to read the teeny tiny text on the screen they have to pinch and zoom in order to hone in on the section they want to read. While many users have gotten used to this format, it's far from ideal. For one thing, if you've zoomed into to one part of the screen to read an article, you then need to zoom out in order to reorient yourself within the page and then zoom into the next section of the page you want to read.
5. Beware of small links for fat fingers - Similar to the previous item, small links on mobile devices can cause problems for even normal sized fingers, let alone those with over-sized digits. For instance, many main navigation bars have many links listed close together. If your site isn't optimized for mobile devices it's too easy to accidentally "click" the wrong link with your wide digits. Shoppers tend to get frustrated with having to constantly go back and try again; by utilizing a more ‘mobile-friendly’ template you’ll be able to get your potential guest the info they want more quickly.
6. Improve cumbersome booking widgets - Don't make booking a room at your hotel a chore for your mobile customers. For most mobile users a click-to-call button would easily accomplish the same function as a booking widget, but would require less steps and less input. There are likely many people that don't want to have to manually enter their credit card information into your system to reserve their room. Ideally, you might give the mobile customer a choice: offer a click-to-call button but also offer a "Book Now" button that takes the user into your mobile-optimized reservation system. Regardless of what you offer, simpler is better on the mobile device.
7. Streamline lengthy forms - Although I have some friends who can probably text faster than they can type on a standard keyboard, for most consumers it can be a pain to fill out lengthy forms on mobile devices. These kinds of forms might be okay when viewing the page on your standard computer, but no one wants to fill out 20 fields in a Contact Us form on a mobile device when a well-placed click-to-call phone number would accomplish the same goal much more quickly. Also, I'd venture to say that, based on my own experiences, consumers hate filling out lengthy forms anyway, regardless of whether your site is mobile optimized or not.  Keep 'em short!
8. Give customers the option to return to the non-mobile site - If you have a mobile-optimized version of your website, make sure you at least give your visitors the option to view your standard website. Since many mobile sites only display content that is most pertinent to the mobile user, oftentimes some of the standard website content might be omitted to avoid clutter. While this can be a good tactic, it can be quite frustrating to view a mobile website only to realize that the content you want to view is only available on the standard website.
   
   In fact, many sites now place a link at the bottom of their pages that says "view full website." This ensures that your visitors aren't trapped in mobile view if they'd prefer not to be. As an example, you can view the mobile version of the Hilton Chicago website. Notice that while they do a great job of providing a mobile site with essential information (phone number, address/map, hotel policies, reservation button), the site does not provide a way to go back to the standard website. If I wanted to view this hotel's dining options or special offers I'd have no way to do it from their mobile site. Giving customers this option helps reduce frustration, a key user experience goal for any website.
9. Track and analyze - Make sure you track the actions of your users across both your mobile-optimized and standard websites. You need to understand how mobile users are interacting with your content so you can help improve and refine their path to your desired goal: booking a room. Which mobile pages are most popular? Is there a call to action on those pages? If you find that too many visitors are clicking the "view full site" link then it might mean your mobile site has omitted important content that visitors want. You might even consider purchasing a call-tracking system to determine the conversion rate on your mobile website's click-to-call button. If mobile visitors compose a quarter of your site traffic, it's important to understand the how the conversion rates, booking windows, ADR and conversion funnel differ from that of visitors to your standard website. Chances are those two groups behave very differently, and understanding their actions can help you better guide those users towards their goal.

Optimizing your hotel website for the mobile visitor can have a tremendous impact on your mobile conversion rate. Simply by making it easier for that user to navigate your site on the small screen, you've given a boost to your mobile ROI. As such, the user experience on your website should always be one of your top priorities. Your website might feature great content, amazing photos and perfect calls-to-action, but if it's excruciatingly difficult to navigate and view your site then you've failed to deliver that great content to your potential customers in a way that's convenient for them.

Unless your site was built using responsive design, it is likely not a one-size-fit-all scenario. Yes, there will probably be an additional cost to create a second site targeted to mobile users. Yes, this means you may have to update two different versions of your website. But the alternative, if you don't optimize the website format for this audience, is that you're possibly missing out on a chance to convert a large segment of visitors to your site. Furthermore, with increased data speeds, easier-to-use mobile interfaces and faster smartphone processors, the mobile user base is only going to continue to expand.

Time for a little exercise: Take out your mobile phone and access your hotel's website. So, how does it look? Will your mobile visitors be converting to paying guests?

One of the most important tactics in optimizing your website for search engines actually takes place off-site.  Link building is the on-going and at times daunting task of connecting with other relevant, quality websites to add a link back to your web property.  The benefit is twofold: not only can you tap into new traffic sources from these link partners, but increasing your link equity actually has a tremendous impact on your site's ability to rank in the search engines.  Every good link increases your site’s SEO relevance, ultimately causing it rank higher on search engine result pages.  We search marketers refer to it as "link juice." It signals to engines like Google and Bing that your site is a credible and useful page for searchers.  As you learn to link build you will be better able to determine which sites are more valuable link partners and which sites can actually detract from your SEO power.

One of the first steps you will want to take is to research the different industries relative to your hotel that you would want to link back to your hotel website.  Think about what services your hotel offers and what current industries already drive business to your hotel.  Then begin searching online for these types of sites that can link back to your website and ultimately drive these searchers to book their stay with you.

Suggestions for relevant link partners in other industries:

• Attractions – Start by contacting larger local attractions like museums, zoos, theme parks and sports teams that attract the most visitors to your hotel’s local area.  Then think on a smaller scale of the local businesses that bring out-of-towners to the area.  It can be beneficial to team up with attractions such as a local golf course, mall, garden, winery or state park and request to have a link to your site added on their website.
• Schools - Top level domains such as .edu are some of the most valuable sites in terms of link juice.  That is because .edu, much like .gov, .mil and to some extent, .org, are usually domains reserved for well-known, established institutions--a highly desirable link partner.  To connect with .edu sites, search local universities for accommodation pages for campus visitors, parents and alumni.  Special events like homecoming, parents’ weekend or graduation often have their own landing page and can be a great place to add your hotel as a nearby lodging option.
• Local Events – Nothing brings people to an area quite like a popular event.  Know an annual event that happens in your area? Find the event website and request to have your hotel added as a nearby place to stay for people traveling into town for the big event.  Think beyond events happening directly in your town.  Often times events taking place in the second town over will have an overflow of visitors needing to find a hotel outside of the event’s immediate location.
• Restaurant – Building links to promote other products and services your hotel offers is a great strategy to bring in additional revenue at the hotel beyond room nights.  If your hotel has an on-site restaurant, look for websites supporting local area restaurants and request to have your hotel restaurant added.  Follow these restaurant link building tips to get started for your hotel.
• Event Space – Similar to link building for the hotel restaurant, you can establish links that feature the hotel’s event space.  Search for websites about local meeting rooms, banquet halls and conference space as appropriate to have your hotel facilities included.  Start with wedding sites like theknot.com and mywedding.com to add a listing for your hotel.  Also connect with Convention and Visitors Bureau websites to ensure your hotel is not only mentioned as nearby lodging, but also lists the hotel event space available for business conferences and conventions.
• Pet-Friendly – Are pets welcome at your hotel? Be in front of people searching for pet-friendly hotels on sites such as TakeYourPet.com and BringFido.com.  Ranking organically for pet-friendly hotel keywords may be difficult, but being present on pet-friendly hotel directories is an excellent plan to be found for pet owners looking for hotels where their furry friends are welcome.
• Blogs – Another smart way to build links is to connect with local bloggers and travel bloggers.  Reach out to bloggers who write about the local area and ask to have an article written about the hotel.  There are many bloggers who write about travel experiences, who will offer to write about your hotel and the nearby things to do.  Being featured in a blog is great exposure and can even go viral when shared across social media channels.

Pursuing these industries is a great starting point for your hotel’s link building efforts.  Acquiring new links to your hotel website is a never-ending task, and searching for industry-relevant sites is just one tactic you can take.  Create a strategic link building plan for your hotel and see your hard work pay off in the form of higher search rankings and increased site traffic.