As search continues to dominate how your guests find you, ensuring your hotel’s presence for relevant searches is more important than ever.
But how should you find relevant searches for your hotel and location?
You’ll find no dearth of paid and unpaid tools to help you find search trends that are relevant to your business and guest profile. Primary amongst them is Google Trends – a free analytics-measuring tool that allows users to tailor searches for relevant terms and phrases and monitor SEO trends across any set duration of time.
What is Google Trends? How it works?
A Google product, Google Trends culls data from Google searches and allows users to compare the frequency of search terms compared to other similar keywords, different geographic regions, or across language barriers. Trends can be sorted by region and date.
How can you use Google trends?
First, visit https://trends.google.com/trends/
Start by entering what topic you would like to search for – travel, hotels or maybe something more specific to your guests such as spa, luxury, backpacking. Start as broad as you can.
You can search for specific keywords to see how they are performing over time using search terms as a filter. Or if you’re looking for trending topics in a category, search by topic. Searching by topic will show you search keywords that are trending within that topic, so in a sense, a wider way to search for trends.
As you can see in the example above, searches for travel requirements are trending.
This now becomes a lead for you to generate content on and ensure you get in front of your target audience looking for this information.
How to find the right keywords?
While Google Trends provides information on trending topics on Google Search, it doesn’t provide relevant keywords and their volume. The graph your see on Google Trends is based on relative volumes, not exact volumes.
Your next step from Google Trends should be finding a tool that will help you zero in on the right keywords for the trending topic. Typically a combination of tools is used to find the right keywords. Google Prompt (the keywords you see when you enter a search term in the Google Search Bar) are a great start to your keyword search before moving to Google AdWords, another free tool for keyword research. Some other user-friendly tools are Ubersuggest, Moz, Keywordio and SEM Rush.
Keen to understand more on how you can optimise your content to harness the power of organic search and market yourself better? Download our e-Book on Search Engine Optimisation.
Why use Google Trends?
- To know and follow seasonal trends. Unsurprisingly some searches are more popular in some seasons. As a hotelier you will benefit from keeping on top of these, latching on to them early and aligning your offers to make the most of these trends.
- To gain market share. Keeping up with trends means you are targeting the right key keywords for your target audience. If you rank for these keywords, you will have more search impressions or market share, i.e. your brand will be more visible on Google Search.
- Fin interesting and creative content ideas. Not everything being searched is directly related to your hotel. Often, what is being searched just makes for interesting content for the guests you are targeting.
How can you use Google Trends in your marketing?
- Create blogs and other interesting content pieces based on trends
- Leverage in your social media campaigns
- Stay ahead in your SEO
- Find long tail keywords to target for your paid campaigns
- Finding niche topics by region
- Monitor competitor position using term compare
Conclusion
From helping you plan ahead of seasonal trends to finding a rapidly growing niche, Google Trends can give you insights that will make your hotel marketing a success. Apply some of the tips above to your guest acquisition strategy and tell us how it goes at marketing@staah.com.
This article was originally published by STAAH. For more hotelier tips, trends, and news please click here.