Technology : Websites
Power of attraction
With the bulk of hotel booking done online , catching a consumer ’ s eye is the first hurdle , but social media ’ s rising authority and the hunger for unique content has supplanted traditional advertising .
“ The customer ’ s journey used to be linear ,” says Elizabeth Pizzinato , senior vice president , marketing and communications , Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts . “ You ’ d see an ad , visit a website and then book . Now the journey is circular .
“ We don ’ t do print advertising anymore ,” Pizzinato continues . “ All of our marketing is digital .”
Today , finding a hotel often starts with search . Savvy consumers are adept at intuitively filtering out banner ads and recognizing content that is overloaded with keywords and links created solely to help a website climb in search-engine rankings .
As consumers hunt for trustworthy content , search engines such as Google fine-tune their algorithms to behave more organically , rewarding websites with high-quality content over those engaging in dubious practices such as link baiting or content farming .
That ’ s not to say that traditional website content practices such as paid search , strategic linking and keywords don ’ t still serve a purpose . Well-placed links and keywords — particularly long-tail keywords that mimic a user ’ s search behavior ( think , “ where to stay in Honolulu with kids ” instead of “ Honolulu hotel kids ”) — can boost a site ’ s visibility in search rankings . It ’ s imperative to study metrics and visitor behavior to pinpoint what is working and what isn ’ t .
“ We ’ re keen on metrics analysis and making sure we loop in learning from digital to social ,” says Gary Steffen , global head of Hilton ’ s latest lifestyle brand , Canopy by
www . hotelsmag . com September 2015 HOTELS 55