Top 10 tips for maximising online presence

The Brand Union Middle East digital director Toby Mills provides 10 top tips for maximising your hotel’s online presence and driving traffic to your website, which ultimately should result in increased bookings and the bolstering of your property’s reputation

The twenty-first century will be remembered as the time when the digital marketplace came of age and people turned in their millions to spend their billions online. Leading the way in this massive expanse of spending has been travel and leisure consumers who are utilising this relatively new open source of information to research their chosen destinations, drawing from a wealth of information provided by friends, families and strangers alike.

Many hoteliers have already realised the benefits that an online presence can bring their brand and either created their own websites or forged partnerships with online travel agents to capture sales.

Increasingly, people are turning to social networking and online advice to guide them in their decision on where to go and where to stay. In this current climate, it is vital for hotel brands to capitalise on all lead generation opportunities using the available online channels.

At The Brand Union, we partner with our clients to grow, direct and protect their brands. The digital world plays a vital role in a brand’s brand world, defined as being more than the sum of a number of touch points; it is the way in which we imprint the force of an idea in the mind of the consumer.

The digital medium presents enormous opportunity for brands to grow their reach to more people, more often and more efficiently to build and maintain strong reputation. Brands are required to redirect the way they have traditionally communicated.

Through proactive use of the digital world, brands have the opportunity to also engage directly with their audiences and in doing so, build a strong relationship that provides clear direction for the brand, now and into the future.

Strong dialogue directly with consumers enables the brand to build loyal advocates who feel connected to it. A well-managed digital dialogue is also a cost effective means by which the brand can respond quickly and efficiently to any attacks and protect its values.

Ultimately people will only choose your hotel if it is represented well, be that online or offline. Protect your brands, monitor their reputation and ensure they are being represented in the best possible light. In the digital world it is easier to track and monitor this, however, you must ensure your reaction is planned and measured to capitalise on the opportunities.

In order to achieve this, we have put together the following 10 key points to help hoteliers to maximise their online brand presence and increase the traffic generated to their website, ultimately leading to increased bookings and growth, development and protection.

1 Content is king

Ensure your website has all the latest, most relevant and accurate information on your hotels and their surrounding areas. Accuracy is key to ensure customers are not misled, otherwise it will have a negative impact on their brand experience, which will then be shared with others. Content will ensure your customers needn’t look elsewhere for information and may even turn your site into a central reference point.

2 United you stand, divided you fall

Look to make partnerships with content providers to bolster your site’s information and stop customers from seeking information elsewhere. The longer they stay on the site, the greater the chance they will book.

Working with well-known companies can bolster your brand value proposition and provide new valuable content for your site.

3 If you can’t beat them, join them

Social networking is not the enemy and if used effectively, it can drive traffic to your site and improve brand awareness. People are more likely to trust other consumers’ recommendations than an advert or corporate communications.

TripAdvisor recently capitalised on social networking by creating a Facebook gadget called “Cities I’ve visited”, allowing people to virtually enter cities around the world that they have been to and add photos, feedback and advice on different hotel brands and destinations, which is then shared.

By embracing the power of social networking, you can increase your brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.

Make sure that finding information and booking your hotels online is fast and easy. Web analytics provides an easy way to evaluate your site’s performance, allowing you to optimise your customer journey. Conversely a slow and frustrating experience will have a negative impact on your brand and act as a barrier to any future interactions.

5 Don’t rest on your laurels

The most successful sites are constantly looking at how they can improve and develop their customers’ online experience. Use web analytics to help you identify areas of improvement.

6 Make yourself visible

The first places most people will go to find a brand’s website or destination information are search engines. It is vital that brands dominate the top results for specific terms, especially when searching on brand names. Although more people are searching using brand names they are not always ending up at the brand sites. Employ paid for adverts (PPC) on search engines to capture people’s attention.

7 Spread your wings

Look to increase awareness and accessibility of your site by increasing the number of other sites that talk about your hotels, your brand and link to your website. Ensure any literature, advert, review, news article and press release both off and online includes a link to your website. Not only will this increase awareness of your site and enable people to easily access it, but it will also improve your listing in search engines.

8 Stop

Don’t rush in where fools fear to tread. Just because there is a new online trend, it does not mean it’s suitable for you and your brand or that you are ready for it. Evaluate the service first and plan how you will use it in the short and long term. Importantly, make sure that you have the resource and the content to be able to make the best use of the medium into the future.

9 Look

Look at how your customers are using the internet and how they are finding your site and interacting with your brand online; don’t be afraid to engage them on their own ground.

10 Listen, respond and engage

The web has become the new world of mouth; amplified, more infectious and faster than ever. Customers are using social networks to have their say and they can provide a free and valuable sense check — a source of consumer information and feedback. Are you listening, and more importantly, are you prepared to react to what they have to say? You may find customers are twittering or blogging about their stay while they are with you. By monitoring this real-time, you can address their problems immediately and turn a possible PR disaster into a positive brand experience. We believe that brand is equal to reputation, therefore, make sure that your reputation lives up to your consumers’ standards.