“ Search iS not Something that iS a one-off , and there are no ShortcutS ; constant observation , adjustments and time are needed . It ’ s one of those things that does not give you immediate results , but if you are prepared to weather the storm , it is definitely worth it .”
Technology : Search engine OptimizatiOn , marketing
hotel company working to this end .
“ For the time being , West Africa represents different trends for online searches from other parts of the world ,” says Seraidi Chesney , media marketing executive with Mangalis . “ By the time the user habits are already matured , we would have gained a strong online presence . This will only be possible if we keep optimizing our content and analyzing what the users are doing on-site . We are also able to respond promptly to the constant changes in the different algorithms , thanks to our site ’ s information architecture and the systems we use for updating its contents .”
For the larger brands , the global / local solution is often to combine centralized SEO staff with teams on the ground in various regions , ensuring local nuance and language factors aren ’ t lost in translation . Hilton executives say they ’ re seeing strong results from this method .
“ We ’ ve found that depending on where you are regionally , there may be some heavy influence of local players . For example , the Asian market is quite different than what you see in the U . S . or Europe ,” Hilton ’ s Sloser says . “ While you can try and manage all that centrally , what we ’ ve found is it ’ s a bit of both . We have a centralized team that really helps all of our regional teams with best practice , but all of our regional teams are in-market . They understand the nuances , where people are browsing and what they ’ re doing , so they ’ re our lead indicators of where we need to focus and how best to do it and how to do it in language .”
Another important focus for SEO experts are emerging metasearch sites like WebCrawler , Dogpile and InfoSpace , which harvest results from all the various search engines into one location . There are rapidly expanding metasearch sites that specialize solely in travel searches , like Trivago and Kayak , also changing the landscape .
“ Metasearch engines and their increasing prominence and popularity have been another alternative to garnering traffic , especially internationally with the likes of Trivago and in China with Chu Nar ,” Atkinson says . “ I wouldn ’ t say those are alternatives but complements to our search strategy and our traffic acquisition strategy .”
Here to stay Experts say it ’ s doubtful their companies will scale back SEO efforts any time soon , especially since it ’ s still a relatively low-risk , high-reward proposition . Even though tracking the ROI from SEO efforts can be just as multifaceted as the process itself , hotel companies performing the analysis are finding the returns clearly justify the cost . While hotel marketers couldn ’ t offer hard numbers on SEO ’ s ROI , executives at companies like Meliá Hotels International in Spain say SEO actually works out to be a comparatively lower spend than other digital
“ Search iS not Something that iS a one-off , and there are no ShortcutS ; constant observation , adjustments and time are needed . It ’ s one of those things that does not give you immediate results , but if you are prepared to weather the storm , it is definitely worth it .”
– AnchAlikA kijkAnAkorn
promotion efforts .
“ Talking about SEO itself , we measure ROI by traditional means , but we also look at cost per acquisition [ CPA ] value ,” says Jorge Simon , SEO manager for Meliá . “ This CPA is quite important to us ; part of all our efforts focus on this variable , and SEO has the lowest CPA compared with other channels . Bearing in mind that in CPC [ cost per click ] channels , for example , this CPA increases year after year .”
That , combined with search engines still serving up as much as 50 % of online bookings for many companies , means SEO will continue to play a major role in e-marketing efforts in the years ahead . Although the algorithms , devices and even the search engines themselves may change over time , SEO experts will most likely be there in the background , playing along with the game as it perpetually shifts .
“ We still generate a great deal of traffic and revenue as a result of our SEO efforts ,” Atkinson says . “ It has been a very consistent revenue driver for us for many , many years . It ’ s incredibly important for us , and we don ’ t see that declining this year , or next .”
54 HOTELS March 2015 www . hotelsmag . com