SEO for New Website: Dominate Search from Day One
Modern, SEO-optimized websites are designed to rank higher in search engine results, driving increased visibility and traffic. A well-optimized website with regularly updated, high-quality content not only attracts more visitors but also helps convert them into guests.
Below, we’ll highlight some important aspects of basic SEO for new websites. For more in-depth information on each topic, watch the video.
Boost Site Speed and Performance
Site speed is a critical factor in SEO and user experience, particularly for hotel websites. Slow-loading pages can negatively impact search engine rankings and discourage potential guests from staying on your site. Websites built on outdated platforms often struggle with site speed issues due to inefficient code and legacy frameworks
To evaluate your hotel website’s speed, use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, which provide detailed mobile and desktop performance scores along with actionable recommendations
While tricks like optimizing images and using browser caching can help improve site speed, older platforms often have limits that make big improvements hard. In these cases, switching to a modern, SEO-friendly platform is the best way to ensure your website loads quickly and works well on all devices.
Align with Google’s Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are key metrics that go beyond basic site speed, focusing on critical aspects of user experience: loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability. Poor Core Web Vitals can harm your hotel website’s rankings in search engine results, as they signal a less trustworthy and user-friendly experience to both search engines and visitors.
These metrics are often influenced by the underlying development and technical structure of your site. Older websites, built on outdated platforms, may struggle to meet modern performance standards. In such cases, upgrading to a new, SEO-optimized website may be the best solution to achieve strong Core Web Vitals and improve both rankings and user satisfaction.
Optimize On-Site SEO Elements
Incorporating relevant keywords into your hotel website’s structure is essential for strong SEO performance. On-page SEO involves optimizing title tags, headers, meta descriptions, image alt text, and the content itself. For example, a homepage for a Seattle hotel should feature keywords like “Seattle boutique hotel” or phrases tied to local attractions, such as “Space Needle hotel near me.
To identify high-performing local keywords, use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs which offer insights into search volume and competition. After implementing on-page optimizations, platforms like Google Search Console and Google Analytics can track how well your site performs in search results and where to improve.
Most hotel websites can benefit from a focused cleanup, naturally integrating location-based and relevant keywords to align with search intent. This not only enhances your Google rankings but also helps connect your site with guests searching for properties in your area.
Implement a Dynamic Content Strategy
Publishing fresh, relevant content is one of the best ways to stay aligned with search trends and engage potential guests. Regularly updating your site with blog posts on topics like local events, attractions, and hotel updates keeps your content current and appealing. For example, a hotel could create posts about top things to do during spring break or highlight nearby festivals and activities.
Creating a content calendar is key to maintaining consistency. Regular updates signal to Google that your site is active, which can help improve rankings and drive organic traffic. Additionally, encouraging guests to leave reviews and share their experiences on social media using branded hashtags can further boost your online visibility and credibility.
By combining fresh content and guest interaction, your hotel website can strengthen its SEO performance and attract more visitors. This approach ensures your content remains valuable to both search engines and potential guests.
Leverage Structured Data with Schema Markup
Schema markup is a type of structured data that helps search engines understand and display detailed information about your hotel in search results. This includes important details like ratings, number of reviews, amenities, and price ranges, which can make your listing more attractive and visible to potential guests. Properly implemented schema can improve your site’s rankings and help you connect with your target audience more effectively.
Schema requires adding specific code to your website’s backend, making it a technical aspect of SEO. While many modern platforms support schema markup, older or outdated website systems may not have the capability to handle this feature. In such cases, upgrading to a newer, SEO-friendly platform is essential to leverage schema and stay competitive in search rankings.
Stay Ahead with a Modern, SEO-Optimized Website
Optimizing your hotel’s SEO is one of the most effective ways to improve your website’s visibility and attract more direct bookings from your target audience. Start by evaluating your current website’s performance, structure, and technical capabilities to determine whether it can support necessary SEO updates or if transitioning to a modern platform would be more efficient.
For professional guidance, partnering with a specialized hotel SEO agency like O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing can make all the difference. Our team provides customized SEO strategies tailored to your specific needs, whether you’re enhancing an existing website or starting fresh with a new one. With expert support, your hotel can achieve stronger search rankings, reach the right audience, and drive more bookings.
View Transcript
Hi there. Brian Fitzgerald here with overall hospitality marketing. Want to do a quick video today and talk more about why you might need a new website.
There are a lot of considerations in this video. We’re going to talk about SEO search engine optimization and the considerations that you might want to look at there to help determine if you need a new website.
Uh, if, if any of these apply to you, then that might lead you down the path of saying that you do need a new site.
Uh, the first thing we’ll look at is, is speed site speed and performance. Uh, this is, uh, on the screen here, the Google page speed tool.
You, you can find this site plugging any URL and it will give you results. Uh, here, this is a desktop result.
Uh, this property is a 17 out of a hundred. Uh, there’s a mobile score as well, 14 out of a hundred.
Um, those are, those are not good. Um, so there are things that you can do from a development standpoint to potentially improve that.
Uh, however, if depending on the age of your site, there, there may be limitations as far as how much improvement, uh, you can, you can gain.
And so that might lead you towards a new site, being a platform, that’ll get you a better speed and performance.
This is something that Google and other search engines are looking at. Uh, very strongly is a big, it’s a big, big component of their search results and determining who should show up.
So site speed and performance. Um, the other, uh, piece that’s related to this is, is what are called core web vitals.
Uh, Google is, uh, is launching a new algorithm update very soon where they are going to be looking at some of these specific things.
First Contentful paint, largest content will paint first input, delay, and cumulative layout shift. Again, these are more technical things that, uh, as marketers, we, we maybe can’t impact it’s more of a development standpoint, but if you, again, your website technology, the foundation of it is not equipped to, um, achieve some of these metrics just based simply on its age.
That might be another reason why you need to look at, at upgrading. So core, core web vitals, and just generally keeping up with Google algorithm updates is another area of SEO, uh, that might, uh, might dictate you needing a new, a new website.
Uh, the next thing is, uh, a traditional on-site SEO. You know, I just, this is a, a random example. This hotel, the title tag is just hotel civic, Seattle.
Uh, there’s a missed opportunity here. Uh, this could have a Seattle boutique hotel, uh, Seattle hotel near the space needle.
Um, there’s a missed opportunity here, again, depending on how deep you’re lacking in this regard, it might be something that you can clean up with your existing site, but it might be another, um, another element that leads you towards the path of, of needing a new site.
Uh, the next thing is around content creation. So Google and other search engines have been very vocal over many years about wanting to see sites that, uh, are fresh, have fresh content, creating new, relevant, interesting content on an ongoing basis.
A great way to do that is through a blog. These are some examples here of, uh, relevant, useful content that this hotel is producing w that also has a keyword twist to it, right?
So Memorial day in Dallas. So if somebody is searching for that, potentially looking to make a trip to Dallas, this property now has content that’s catered to that, uh, you know, best mother’s day spa, retreats, festivals, and events near Dallas.
So this type of content can go a long way towards keeping you fresh. Uh, it’s a signal that, that, that Google likes to see.
So having a blog is, uh, is a very important piece of that overall SEO puzzle. If your current website doesn’t have this again, it might be a new site that helps enable this for you and, and cover that.
Um, the last thing is a bit more technical it’s, it’s what I would call schema or structured data. Um, there’s many, many pages of, of this, uh, on Google’s help section, uh, anytime you see star ratings or reviews or a time like this, or the number of in this case for recipes and number of calories.
Anytime you see this for hotels where there’s a rating number of reviews, price ranges, uh, this is, this is structured data.
That’s being provided to Google in a format that they know what to do with it. Um, and, uh, this is more behind the scenes, but again, going back to your current website, if your current website platform is not built in a way to enable this type of information or provide this type of information, it could be another gap within your, within your overall SEO strategy.
It is more technical. Uh, it comes, comes down to this information that’s in your code, but again, it’s structured in a way that Google understands it and knows what to do with it.
And if all other things are equal between you or you and your comp set, and you’re doing this, and they’re not, that could be that one simple leg up that you have to get some additional visibility for the keywords that you’re competing for.
So again, we’re thinking about, you know, do you need a new website? Is it time to redo your website? SEO is a big angle that you should be thinking about and looking at, and as we’ve covered here, there’s, there’s a good four or five different things to look at.
And if you find yourself deficient in all of those areas, then a new website is probably definitely the way to go.
Uh, if you’re thinking about that or would like some help in trying to evaluate this, please do get in touch.
We’d be happy to help you out.