Back in November 2008, we published a list of steps to increase your success with online marketing. There’s been so many new developments, we thought it was time to update this advice. If you are striving to enhance your online presence as a hotel, hostel or bed & breakfast, the following tips will help you maximize your success.
Tips for maximizing reservation potential as well as saving money and time with Instant World Booking:
- Ensure your listing is up to date and accurate. Include as much information as possible, not only about your property, but also about local attractions, restaurants, etc.
- Make sure to spell-check your listing. Incorrect spelling signals to guests that the property is not professionally maintained. Incorrect spelling also prevents proper translation of your listing information (we translate your content to 15+ world languages, with a separate page for your listing in each language).
- Add photos. Listings with photos gain at least 4x more traffic than those without photos. Make sure your photos are large and complement your property and location. Select an appropriate primary photo (the 1st photo in your list appears as a thumbnail in our index).
- Add a complete calendar of availability. Your calendar is important, since guests prefer instant booking over online requests. Make sure you have complete availability online, and at least 6-9 months of availability.
- Don’t waste time managing your calendar manually. We feature an XML feed that can import and export your availability to your calendar management or front desk system. Tell your software or service provider that you want them to integrate with Instant World Booking. Send them this URL: http://www.instantworldbooking.com/blog_iw/category/xml-feeds/
- Update your location using our new geo-coded location system. This new system will enhance search functionality on our service, making it easier for guests to find you. Sign in to your listing and proceed to MANAGE LISTING to update your location. Include an accurate street address on your listing, as well as your GPS coordinates if available. Guests will not book properties that they can’t easily find.
- Use Instant World Booking’s Booking Engine for your own website. Our Booking Engine is a superior solution priced much lower than all competing providers. We guarantee better economics for your website, so begin saving now by trying our booking engine. Read more at http://www.instantworldbooking.com/booking-engine.php
- Add your website URL to your listing. We provide free links to your homepage from many of our 100+ websites. A typical property will have viewable links to your homepage on at least a dozen or more of our domains. For better exposure, upgrade your links to Premium Paid Links. For more information, log in to your listing, and proceed to the OPPORTUNITIES page.
- If you already work with us, link to us. Cross-linking between domains helps to build search engine rankings. Read more at: http://www.instantworldbooking.com/link-to-us.php
- If you have videos of your property, post them to one of our blogs. For more information on posting videos see:
- Check the Alerts and Opportunities tabs when you log in at our website. These tabs provide information on improving your success with online marketing.
- For more ways on how to work with us, check out: http://www.instantworldbooking.com/work-with-us.php
Remember, it can take several weeks to several months for Google and other leading search engines to effectively index your page on our network of sites. Instant World Booking has proven to be very successful in gaining top search engine rankings for its listed lodging partners. One last reason it is very important to use the instant booking method is that we use pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to market your property on Google and other sites. Use of a PPC campaign can cost you hundreds of US dollars. However, for our partners who use instant booking, we advertise your property in PPC campaigns for free.
Additionally, only Instant World Booking gives you up to 15+ specialized pages just for your property, with each page translating your property information into a different language. This is something you probably don’t even have on your own website. Again this service comes at no cost to you.
One last note, persistence and patience is the key to success. Online marketing is “collective”. This means it is more effective to advertise your property on 2 services than 1. Persistent online presence is necessary to achieve online name (brand) recognition, and to gain higher search rankings for pages containing your property’s name. Advertising with Instant World Booking is an extremely valuable, and free, method of increasing your online presence.
