About SEO
SEO stands for search engine optimisation and is the process or activities used to increase the visibility of a website in organic web searches.
Search engines, like Google, use a complex algorithm to determine how high (or low) a website will rank for a search phrase or keyword. The point of SEO is that you’ll receive more bookings as you earn higher rankings because most people will not scroll past the top results.
Below is a checklist to help you address your SEO strategy and increase your website's visibility on the internet.
SEO checklist
SEO is critical to your overall online presence. With the best SEO practices, you can increase your ranking on the search engine results page. By following this checklist, you’ll be an SEO expert in no time.
1. Create a simple and modern website
The website created by the Website Builder has a clean structure that makes it easy for users to find the information they need and book with you directly. It also loads quickly, which assists to improve your ranking.
2. Insert relevant keywords
Think about how people would search for your products and services, make a list of these keywords, and check the estimated traffic for each term with a tool like . Whittle your list down to the highest-trafficked, most relevant terms.
You’ll want to include keywords that are unique to your property, such as your property’s location. Keywords should be scattered throughout the content in a natural way, and should always be included in the metadata.
See the section below on how to update metadata in the Website Builder
3. Make visual content
High-resolution photos and videos are the type of visual content that search engines want to see in your page.
In some cases, though, visual content can negatively impact your ranking. For example, you will want to avoid podcasts and flash pages.
4. Earn inbound links for your page
The more inbound links you earn across the web, the more credible your website will seem to the search engines. Try to partner with local travel sites and tourism experts and encourage them to link to your property, as industry links will be more valuable than random irrelevant links.
5. Post fresh and useful content frequently
Your search engine rankings will continually improve if your content is always fresh and new, as this ensures that your website is most useful to your target.
6. Generate positive online reviews for your brand
Through online reviews, you earn the trust of your customers and you also may gain valuable links that help you achieve higher rankings. Make sure that your Social Media accounts are visible on your website.
Add or update the meta description of your website pages
A meta description is a short paragraph that describe a page to let search engines know whether the given page contains the information they're looking for.
To add/update the meta descriptions in the website builder:
Click Website pages at the top
In the menu on the left, select the page you want to update
Click on the Page Settings and SEO tab
Enter or update the Meta description
Click Save
If your website is already live, click Publish Changes to push the updates to your website
Add alt tags to images
An alt tag or Alternative tag provides descriptive information about an image. The alt tag should describe what 's depicted on the image, for example "A double room with ensuite and a lake view".
For an optimal SEO, it is recommended to add alt tags to as many images as possible.
Alt tags are important for several reasons:
They provide search engines with useful information about the subject matter of the image. The search engine uses this information to help determine the best image to return for a user's query
They help search engines understand that not only your textual content, but also your image content is relevant to your business. This will help your website appear higher in the search engine results
They are useful for users viewing a webpage on screen readers or browsers that can't process images
They allow computer screen reader tools to read out loud the description of the image, increasing the accessibility of the website for website visitors with disabilities. See section on Web Accessibility in
How to add alt tags to photos in the website builder:
Click Photos and videos. This will take you to Photos by default.
Click the blue button Edit alt tags
Enter your alt tags. We recommend a maximum of 70 characters, spaces included.
Click the Save (Floppy disk) icon for the individual picture you are editing
Click the blue Save and Close button when you are done adding alt tags altogether
If your website is already live, click Publish Changes to push the updates to your website
Add global keywords
Global keywords are keywords that appear on every page of your website, helping your website to have a better SEO ranking. You can enter up to 255 characters for your website.
Tip: Think about how people would search for your hotel and make a list of these keywords. You will want to use specific keywords that are unique to your property, including your property's location.
Check the highest-trafficked, most relevant keywords with a keyword planner. You can use the free if you have an Google Ads account, or look on the internet for other free keyword planners.
To add keywords throughout your website in the website builder:
Click Advanced Settings
Click Global Keywords in the menu to the left
In the the box provided, enter your keywords separated by a comma, e.g. Bed and breakfast, cheap accommodation, Sydney
Click Save
If your website is already live, click Publish Changes to push the updates to your website
Changing domains and its impact on SEO
Changing your domain can impact your SEO, which is responsible for how easily your customers can find your property on Google or other search engines.
When you get a new website URL (for example, domain address www.myhotel.com), this may affect the Search Engine score you had under the previous domain address.
Running a Website Builder domain and a custom domain at the same time
If you have both a domain provided by the Website Builder and your own custom domain running at the same time, both websites will be competing for the same rankings in Google or other search engines.
If they share the same content then the search engine will often decide to show only one of the websites in search results.
Google's recommended method is to redirect all pages from the old website to the new website. For more details, read the Domain Forwarding section in Website Builder - Configuring your domain and publishing your website
If you already have your own domain, but you want to use the Website Builder 's free domain for your new website, the same principle applies. Please set up Domain Forwarding (301 redirects) to avoid having duplicate sites on the web.
Switching from the Website Builder domain to a custom domain
When you decide to switch from the Website Builder's supplied domain to your own, we automatically forward your SiteMinder domain to your new custom domain once we have authenticated its SSL certificate.