This webinar covers the basis of a successful hotel paid search campaign including how much of your marketing budget to allocate to paid search, which platforms and channels to focus on, and what you need to know and ask your paid search agency.
Search engines are branching their focus out of just using keywords to provide the best search experience to their users. However, this doesn't mean that keyword strategy for SEO is no longer important and should be forgotten. Rather, expand your hotel search engine optimization efforts to include other key hotel Internet marketing strategies to further enhance your search ranking.
Search engines are increasingly filling a key role in meeting consumer information needs. According to a November 2014 study by Eldman.com, search engines have surpassed the traditional media (TV, Newspapers, etc) as the most trusted source worldwide by consumers with 64% of Internet users trusting search engines the most for gathering information. In addition, nearly half of the study said that they trust social media for news and information – a gain from 45% the previous year.
Milestone is excited to announce the topic for its February webinar, "Clicks, Channels, and Customers: PPC for Hotels". In this session, Milestone is joined by Bill Carroll, Clinical Professor of Marketing at Cornell University as a guest panelist and will provide insights on the current state of paid search marketing for the hospitality industry.
From social synergy to the impact of mobile search, digital marketing in 2015 is a new landscape of creative engagement, seamless integration and the customer journey. With our eyes on every algorithm launch and search trend, Milestone has designed innovative strategies for online visibility, content engagement, conversion, ROI tracking and the user experience. Inspire your hotel marketing strategy by looking at these driving forces in digital marketing 2015.
Humphreys is succeeding Dania Duke who will be transferring to the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine as General Manager. Most recently General Manager of the Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf, Humphreys has a long history with Hyatt Hotels. Prior to his position at Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf, he was the Senior Executive Assistant Manager of Rooms at Grand Hyatt San Francisco. Humphreys’ began his career with Hyatt in 1993 as a bellman at the Hyatt in Beaver Creek, Colorado. Humphreys gained management experience in other Hyatt hotels in such locales as South Carolina, Southern California, Washington State and Hawaii.
In 2014, search engines made significant changes to their algorithms to improve search and mobile experience for searchers. Some key changes in search include Panda 4.1, Penguin 3.0, and several mobile search features. In 2015, we anticipate that social outreach, conversational intent, site authority, content quality, and having a robust mobile strategy will continue to have significant impact to how websites will perform in search.
We had a great time presenting our December webinar on digital marketing strategies that hotels should implement and budget for in 2015 for continued online success. We covered topics from hotel website design and search engine optimization, to ongoing Internet marketing initiatives such as local, paid, and social media marketing. Here are the key highlights:
There are multiple reasons why hotels and local businesses should have a well-optimized Google+ Business Page. For one, the social media platform is an SEO goldmine as it helps hotels gain brand awareness, social signals, and search ranking. It is also a great platform to reach new audience and build credibility for the business's website.
Google's efforts to make mobile search much easier! Did you know that 3 out of 5 searches are conducted on a mobile device, including smart phones and tablets? Additionally, 50% of travel or restaurant mobile searches result in a purchase1. With these stats, it is no wonder Google has been pushing features to make searching easier for mobile users. But the real question is, does your hotel or business have a mobile strategy in place?
IThis past September, Google pushed the last Panda update, which Search Engine Land has dubbed "Panda 4.1" due to it being a "small" iteration vs. a major update. The announcement was originally broadcast by Google's Webmaster Trends Analyst, Pierre Far via Google+ post. Four months in, and the search engine giant is still rolling out the update. It's a slow process and sites that weren't affected in it's initial roll out, will start to see its effect soon. With this new update, 2 things come to mind: (1) How does this affect the hospitality industry; (2) How can hotels reap the benefits from this update?
For most people, the holiday season is filled with shopping, eating great home-cooked meals, planning vacations, and sipping on the latest holiday drinks while catching up with friends and family. However, for hotels, life is a bit different during the holiday season. Between finalizing budgets, setting end of year meetings, and completing your normal day's work, hoteliers are trying to think of creative ways to fill the property during the holiday season. In this whitepaper, Milestone lists 10 tips hotels can implement to capitalize on the holiday season.
'Tis the season to be social! The holiday season is the perfect time to ramp up your hotel's social media marketing to capitalize on the holiday buying frenzy to drive website traffic and boost online direct bookings. Below are a few tips our team has compiled to help with your holiday social media strategy.
According to Google, mobile search is set to exceed desktop search this year. Is your hotel ready to capitalize on this increase in mobile traffic? In this session, we will cover how to craft a hotel website and mobile strategy to make sure your hotel is capturing the maximum revenue online. Milestone will walk through the different types of mobile websites and how to determine what is best for your property to continue to stay ahead.
In this session, we'll discuss how to structure your hotel's Internet marketing budget and how to plan for the new year. Our panel of experts will cover: 1.Tips and tricks for boosting effectiveness of your marketing spend – some quick/easy-to-implement ideas for little wins. 2.Look at industry benchmarks and guidelines, including organic, local, paid, and social. 3.Where should hotels be spending their Internet marketing dollars 4.We'll also provide a practical digital marketing checklist and bonus whitepaper "How to Optimize Your Hotel's Google+ Business Page" for attendees.
Dropping the Google Carousel - By now many people are very familiar with the Google Carousel. The Carousel highlights local hotels and businesses near a particular geographic area mentioned in the search query, i.e. search for 'hotels in new york city' and you will something like this below.
For most people, the holiday season is filled with shopping, eating great home-cooked meals, planning vacations, and sipping on the latest holiday drinks while catching up with friends and family. However, for hotels, life is a bit different during the holiday season. Between finalizing budgets, setting end of year meetings, and completing your normal day's work, hoteliers are trying to think of creative ways to fill the property during the holiday season.
The holiday season presents many opportunities that can deliver significant ROI in terms of enhanced online visibility, website traffic, and direct online bookings! Join Milestone as we share our top 10 ideas and hotel Internet marketing trends to capitalize on the holiday season. Below are some digital marketing strategies that we will cover during this webisode...
Wondering how to leverage the recent updates in search to help improve your hotel's local presence? Search is an ever-changing environment and your hotel's Internet marketing strategy should stay up-to-date with the most recent changes. In this educational session, Milestone's founder will discuss the latest trends and updates in the search world, and how to optimize your hotel's local listings to improve search visibility.
Milestone Internet Marketing is proud to announce that out of the 3,500 nominations worldwide from organizations of all sizes, it has won a Best New Product Award from the 2014 Stevie IBA Awards for its Galexi CMS 6.0 Internet marketing software for hotels. Designed for the hospitality and travel industry, this next generation SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform is designed with search engine trends, mobile, social media, and conversion in mind.