Web Equity — Photo by Milestone Internet Marketing, Inc.

The ever-changing social media landscape can be an overwhelming realm to dive into. However, as search engines continue make changes to their algorithm to make search more social and personal, it is critical for hotels to not only have presence in these channels, but be active and engaging as well. This article explains the changes in search and why being a social hotel is more important than ever.

The evolution of social media and how it is impacting search.

Why social media?
Social media has greatly impacted the way brands and customers communicate with each other. What previously was a one-way communication with the brand throwing messages towards its target market, has now evolved into a two-way conversation with customers and leads. The importance of integrating social media into your hotel's overall internet marketing mix can no longer be ignored as social networking is proven to be the most popular activity online, reaching 82 percent of the world's online population and accounting for 1 of every 5 minutes spent online1. In October 2011, Facebook reached nearly 55% of the world's global audience and accounts for three-fourths of the total time spent on social media sites1. Micro-blogging has also become a worldwide content-sharing phenomenon with sites such as Twitter, which reached 1 in 10 internet users worldwide and saw a growth rate of 59 percent in 2011.

Furthermore, as search engines take notice of this online trend and realizing that more users turn to social networks for answers, they now work hard to incorporate social signals/activities into their ranking algorithm, making online search results more social and personalized in nature. For example, Google's recent release of Search, plus Your World allows users (while logged in to their Google accounts) to find the most relevant content on the web based on the user's social activity, including their friends' recommendations, posts, images, etc. alongside results from the web. The Changing Landscape of Hotel Search Engine Marketing is a great article that explains the changes in the way search engines provide content to consumers and how hotels can stay ahead of the competition.

Using social media to enhance your online web equity
As any knowledgeable internet marketer would tell you, having a presence in social channels alone does not convert fans into bookings. Nor can it drive the best possible outcome for the hotel in terms of online traffic and revenue. Getting the best online results really lies in the hotel's total web equity.

A hotel's web equity is based on its overall presence on the Internet – including web, local, and social channels – and effectively cross-marketing these channels to enhance the hotel's overall internet presence and maximizing return on investments. By taking a global approach to social media and leveraging marketing efforts from different areas – such as organic, local, mobile, paid, etc. – hotels can focus on directing interactions towards both users and search engines to ensure that its messages have the maximum potential reach so customers can find the hotel on channels they frequently use. Without proper cross-channel marketing and optimization it would be hard for hotels to convert fans into reservations.

Get the full story at Milestone Insights.

About Milestone Inc

Milestone drives online discovery and customer acquisition with our digital presence platform and performance marketing services. Over 2,000 companies in Hospitality, Retail, Financial Services and Automotive industries use Milestone to drive online growth. Our customers include global brands in hospitality, banking, retail, automotive, including Marriott, US Bank, One Nevada Credit Union, VMWare, Nissan, Motel6, Preferred Hotels, Sun Outdoors, mid-market companies, and SMBs.

Milestone platform includes Website CMS, Schema Manager, Local listings, Reviews management, FAQ Manager, and Analytics. In addition, Milestone offers Performance Marketing Services - Content, Design, SEO, Paid Marketing, and Analytics to our clients. Annually, over 300 million visitors use websites developed on Milestone CMS, 540M consumers click on content powered by Milestone Schemas, and 3.7B consumers search for businesses powered by Milestone Local. Milestone platform is amongst the highest-rated Martech platforms with awards and recognition from Forrester, G2, Adrian Awards, US Search Awards, Search Engine Land, CMS Wire and many more organizations.

View source