Website Landing Page Best Practices For Hoteliers 

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In the competitive landscape of the hospitality industry, hotels need to leverage every opportunity to attract and convert potential guests. One essential component is the hotel landing page. These dedicated web pages play a crucial role in guiding users through the guest journey, from initial interest to completing a booking. In this blog post, we will explore the importance of hotel landing pages, their key elements, best practices for design, and integration with digital marketing campaigns. 

What Is a Landing Page?

A landing page is a stand-alone web page specifically designed to capture the attention and prompt action from visitors. It serves as a dedicated entry point for users who click on a specific advertisement, search engine result, or marketing campaign. Unlike a website's homepage, a landing page is focused on a specific goal, such as promoting a hotel offer, package, or event or encouraging visitors to take a particular action, such as booking a room, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form. Landing pages are designed to be concise, persuasive, and highly targeted to maximize conversions and drive designed outcomes.

Understanding the Importance of Hotel Landing Pages

Hotel landing pages serve as the entry point for potential guests and are designed to capture their attention, engage them with persuasive content, and ultimately lead them to take action. They provide a focused and tailored experience, highlighting the unique selling points of the hotel and its offerings. By optimizing landing pages, hotels can maximize conversions, ultimately driving bookings. 

Hotel Landing Page Best Practices 

Best practices for a landing page involve optimizing various elements to enhance its effectiveness in capturing visitors' attention and driving conversions. Here are some key points to consider. 

  1. Call-To-Action

Call to action is one of the most important features of any hotel landing page. Also known as CTAs, they offer actionable direction for the user. Without a clear CTA, users can be confused and as a result, you will see increased bounce rates, shorter sessions, lower conversions, and a less-than-ideal landing page experience. 

  1. Clear and Compelling Headlines 

Headlines are essential components of any landing page. They quickly and easily tell the user what that landing page is about and can convey the value the page can offer them. Headlines also offer SEO benefits to help crawlers understand who the page is created for. 

  1. Social Proof

Humans are social creatures who seek validation from others to make decisions. Visitors will look to others to make important decisions, such as booking a room. Make sure to include your hotel ratings and testimonials when it matters to page visitors the most. 

  1. Captivating Visuals 

Users will look at graphics and pictures to help conclude if your hotel, packages, and amenities are the right fit for them. For most, pictures are more important than copy. So ensure you can tell a visual story alongside captivating and compelling copy.  

  1. Consistent and Compelling Copy 

The text on the page matters. A lot. Unfortunately, we have seen too many hoteliers hire lackluster writers who do not convey the real value of their hotel. When it comes to good copy, it has to be concise, branded, and value-driven. Ask yourself, "Is my website copy true to my brand? Can it quickly convey value?" If you answer "no" to either of those questions, it is time to revisit your copy. 

  1. Intuitive Design

Good design offers easy navigation and puts the right information in front of the user at times when it matters most. Good design will captivate your visitors and compel them to explore other parts of your website. This can establish strong relationships between you and your visitors. Ultimately resulting in lower bounce rates, greater conversion rates, and higher session duration times. 

  1. Don't Forget About Mobile 

Mobile users have consistently been increasing over the last decade. Yet, the mobile user experience is still heavily neglected by hotels. If you are running any sort of social campaign, this is likely the very first user interaction. Make sure it offers a good user experience with these critical points: 

  • Responsive Design Elements 
  • Fast Load Time
  • Intuitive Mobile Navigation Layout

Conclusion

Hotel landing pages are crucial for attracting and covering potential guests in the competitive hospitality industry. These dedicated web pages serve as entry points, capturing visitors' attention and guiding them toward action. By creating well-thought-out landing pages, hotels can maximize conversions and drive bookings. Best practices for effective landing pages include clear CTA's, compelling headlines, persuasive and concise copy, social proof elements, captivating visuals, and straightforward & intuitive design. Following these practices helps hotels create engaging landing pages that drive conversions and achieve success in the hospitality industry. 

How Your Hotel Can Be Found on TikTok Search: TikTok’s New Search Ads Toggle

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As TikTok continues solidifying its position as one of the most popular social media platforms globally, it's no surprise that the company is constantly innovating to provide advertisers with more effective ways to engage their audience. The addition of Search Ads promises to be a game-changer, offering businesses a unique opportunity to tap into the immense potential of TikTok's user base like never before.

We dove into the exciting world of TikTok's new Search Ads feature, exploring its potential impact on the advertising landscape, how it works, and why brands should be eager to incorporate it into their marketing strategies.

What Is TikTok?

TikTok is a social media platform that skyrocketed in popularity by offering a unique space where users share short-form video formats and engage with bite-sized, entertaining content. What sets TikTok apart is its unparalleled ability to capture users' attention through engaging, user-generated videos and creative challenges.

Why Should Hotels Use TikTok?

This platform's viral nature enables brands to tap into a massive and highly engaged global community, making it an exceptional avenue for advertising. By harnessing the power of TikTok's immersive content and innovative ad formats, businesses can reach a broad audience and foster authentic connections, driving brand awareness and pushing engagement to new heights.

For more information on getting started on TikTok, check out our [E-Book] A Crash Course To TikTok Ads.

What Is the TikTok Search Ads Toggle and How Does It Work?

TikTok has announced a new feature to their advertising offers. The new Search Ads Toggle allows a brand's ads to be shown on the search results page in the app. It utilizes the creative content from advertisers' existing In-Feed Ads, enabling them to display their ads in conjunction with organic search results that align with user queries. 

Once the Search Ad Toggle is activated, it triggers the automatic generation of ads using the advertiser's pre-existing ad content. These ads are then displayed alongside organic search results that match users' queries. Identified as "Sponsored" content, they occupy different positions on the results page, determined by factors such as relevance, user intent, and insights drawn from broader user interactions.

Why You Should Consider Using the Search Ads Toggle

The introduction of the Search Ads Toggle presents a distinctive avenue to deliver valuable, contextually appropriate information and engagements to TikTok’s user base. TikTok users frequently employ the search feature for various purposes, including discovering fresh content, rediscovering past posts, and exploring the latest trending topics and concepts. The Search Ads Toggle represents an innovative means for advertisers to contribute to and elevate this user experience.

Furthermore, its impact is quantifiable. TikTok's internal research indicates that enabling the Search Ads Toggle leads to enhanced performance for approximately 70% of ad groups, resulting in more efficient conversions originating from search ads.

How to Get Started Using the TikTok Search Ads Toggle

When setting up an In-Feed Ads campaign on the platform, navigate to the Edit section of the ad group under "select placements" (specifically the TikTok section). The Search Ads Toggle is automatically set to "on". When the toggle is set to "on," search result ads are generated automatically, utilizing the advertiser's existing In-Feed Ad content and targeting criteria. These ads are then displayed alongside organic video results, aligning with relevant user queries. Advertisers have the flexibility to activate the Search Ads Toggle either during campaign setup or while a campaign is already running. 

If needed, advertisers can opt-out by switching it "off" during campaign creation. It's important to note that activating the Search Ads Toggle midway through a campaign will not restart the learning phase for that campaign. The Search Ads Toggle also cannot be added to an existing ad group, so advertisers would need to create a new ad group or duplicate an existing ad group in order to begin using this feature.

Final Takeaways on TikTok's Search Ads Toggle 

Thanks to the Search Ads Toggle, brands have the opportunity to appear alongside content that aligns with their business, product, or service, all while delivering users a tailor-made advertising encounter.

Let the experts at GCommerce help get you started on TikTok! Connect with us today for more information!

Flywheel News | August 2023 Hotel Digital Marketing News | GCommerce

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  1. Google Sending Out Alerts Re: UA Data Processing

Months after what was expected to be the official deadline of when Google UA would top processing data, account owners are getting alerts that their UA accounts have officially stopped processing new data. Have you noticed this in your Google UA accounts yet?

  1. TikTok Officially Announces Search Ads

According to TikTok, 58% of users discover new brands or products on the platform. Now, advertisers can capitalize on this even more with the introduction of the search ads toggle. This feature is automatically enabled with the creation of an in-feed campaign but can be disabled if desired. Learn more about this new feature and where it appears on the platform here.

  1. Instagram Launches Multi-Advertiser Placements, to the Display of Advertisers (And Users)

If you’ve scrolled through Instagram recently, you’ve probably noticed a new cluster of 4 ads lumped together in what is officially called the Multi-Advertiser placement. Although CPMs with this placement might be less expensive, the fear is that users will quickly start skipping over them, and they’ll provide little value to advertisers. Learn more about this new feature and how to opt out here.   

  1. Metasearch Products for Any Property in Any Market

As metasearch continues to expand into one of your most important channels for direct revenue, it’s essential to understand your choices in terms of pricing models. Metadesk offers a variety of products and pricing models designed to fit any property’s unique situation and market conditions. Learn more here.

  1. Google Business Profile Rolling Out Social Links 

Up until now, companies haven’t been able to manage or edit social links shown in Google Business Profile listings. Google is now adding this functionality as an attribute in Google Business Profiles, and it’s rolling out now. Learn more.

  1. Learn Why GA4 Data Might Not Be Matching Up in Different Reporting

A common question and source of confusion that GA4 presents is when data doesn’t quite add up the same when drilling down into different areas of the UI or even with the API data from the platform. We found this blog to offer a lot of great common reasons why you’re seeing different metric counts when viewing the data in different areas of the UI.

  1. Google Announces Changes to Visibility of HowTo and FAQ Markup

Google has announced changes to HowTo and FAQ markup visibility in the SERP. FAQ will only be shown for well-known government and health workshops while HowTo will only be shown for desktop users. This could significantly impact sites, including travel-related ones, that have capitalized on FAQ-rich snippet visibility over the years. Learn more about these changes here.

  1. Google Search Generative Experience OFFICIALLY Rolling Out Links to Sources

This is a big, long-awaited change for SEOs and search marketers. Up until now, Google’s Search Generative experience has failed to feature links to sources and drive well-deserved traffic to the source sites. As of August 30th, when you see an arrow next to information in the experience, you can click it to see relevant sources and easily visit those pages. Learn more here.

What Are The Differences Between Google Universal Analytics and GA4?

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In the realm of digital analytics, Google Analytics (GA) has long been a cornerstone for businesses to gain valuable insights into their online presence. However, with the introduction of GA4, a new iteration of Google Analytics, marketers and analysts find themselves faced with a significant shift in the landscape. In this blog, we will delve into the key differences between GA4 and its predecessor, Universal Analytics (UA), shedding light on the benefits and challenges of GA4.

Google UA vs GA4 Data Collection Model

One of the fundamental differences between GA4 and UA lies in their data collection models. UA operates on a pageview-based model, where each interaction triggers a new pageview, making it easier to track and analyze website behavior. In contrast, GA4 utilizes an event-based model, focusing on user interactions and events across different platforms and devices. This shift allows for a more holistic view of user behavior beyond traditional website visits, enabling businesses to track app usage, video engagement, and more.

Google UA vs GA4 Enhanced Cross-Platform Tracking

GA4 places a strong emphasis on cross-platform tracking, enabling businesses to gain deeper insights into user journeys across multiple devices and channels. By leveraging machine learning algorithms and advanced modeling techniques, GA4 provides a more comprehensive understanding of how users engage with a brand across touchpoints. This feature is especially valuable in today's multi-device and multi-channel world, where customers often interact with brands through various avenues.

Google UA vs GA4 User-Centric Approach

Another significant departure from UA is the user-centric approach adopted by GA4. UA primarily focuses on sessions and cookies to track user behavior, making it difficult to follow individual users across multiple devices or over extended periods. GA4, on the other hand, introduces the concept of the "User ID," which allows businesses to stitch together user interactions and activities across devices, ultimately providing a more accurate representation of individual user behavior. This enhanced user-centric perspective helps businesses better understand customer journeys and tailor their marketing efforts accordingly.

Google UA vs GA4 Machine Learning Capabilities

GA4 integrates machine learning and artificial intelligence more extensively than its predecessor. By leveraging these technologies, GA4 offers enhanced predictive insights, smarter analytics, and automated features. For instance, GA4's predictive metrics can estimate potential revenue and churn rates, empowering businesses to make data-driven decisions. The inclusion of machine learning also facilitates the automatic categorization of events, simplifying the analysis process and reducing manual effort.

Google UA vs GA4 Report Structure and Analysis

The reporting interface in GA4 differs significantly from UA. It now includes a robust set of analysis tools, such as the ability to segment users based on various parameters and build custom funnels, which can help uncover valuable insights and optimize marketing strategies. This reporting feature is very beneficial to making changes to strategy. This will help you make custom reports. 

The benefits offered by GA4 make it a worthy investment for businesses seeking to leverage advanced analytics and gain a competitive edge in the digital landscape. GCommerce has created a custom GA4 report, utilized to highlight the most important metrics to your property. 

As digital analytics continues to evolve, the transition from Universal Analytics to GA4 represents a significant leap forward. GA4's event-based data collection, cross-platform tracking, user-centric approach, machine learning capabilities, and flexible reporting interface provide businesses with a more comprehensive understanding of their customers and insights to drive growth. 

For a deeper comparison of metrics, check out this full breakdown by Google, or let the GA4 experts at GCommerce Solutions help. 

Metasearch Pricing Models Explained

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As metasearch continues to expand into one of your most important channels for direct revenue, it’s important to understand your choices in terms of pricing models. 

At Metadesk, we talk to hoteliers every day and have encountered a wide variety of various pricing models for metasearch advertising. Here’s a handy breakdown of pricing models you might consider, or in some cases, be stuck with. 

A Media Placement Fee

We mostly see this pricing model offered by booking engine providers, and if you’re like most hoteliers, your metasearch presence is facilitated by your booking engine. 

Most booking engines charge you a percentage of what you allocate as your metasearch media budget, usually between 10% - 15% applied to a media budget ranging from $1,000 - $3,000 per month.

Booking engine providers love this because it’s a low labor source of revenue - they simply need to maintain a tech connection that publishes a live feed of your rates and availability to metasearch channels and collect a tidy fee.

If the percentage you pay in media fees + your metasearch advertising budget is lower than your OTA commissions, this model can be a win. But a problem we see more and more is that OTA’s are spending huge amounts of advertising dollars to dominate metasearch. And if your booking engine doesn’t allow for any media strategy whatsoever, you’re at a huge disadvantage.

Best for:

This pricing model works well for advantaged hotels that tend to fill up based on their location or surplus demand in their market.

One main drawback is if you want to use metasearch for more, like targeting need dates or a certain type of traveler, forget it. Your booking engine isn’t capable of incorporating any type of strategic targeting on your behalf. 


Flat Fee + Media Budget


The second-most common pricing model we see at Metadesk in the industry is a flat fee + media budget. We commonly see a range of advertising budgets of around $1,000 - $1,500 with the management fee ranging from $400 - $75 on the low end ($75!!).

At first glance, this seems like a great deal for hoteliers, especially with macro-economic factors like rising marketing costs and operational overhead.

But what we find is that for a management fee so low, the metasearch provider must work hard to limit their labor cost; the aim is to avoid providing support, and typically nobody is actively managing your advertising campaigns.

Instead, these providers try to manage your strategy with algorithmic and programmatic functions alone, which can be problematic without oversight provided by humans. One common problem we see is your rate strategy being compromised by automated price-matching to meet or beat the unscrupulous practice of big OTA undercutting your rates in auction.

In regards to budget, the issue here is two-fold: Many properties would prefer not to pony up even that small amount of cash each month if it can be avoided, and on top of that, the budget can oftentimes be too small to really compete with big OTA.

Best for:A flat fee + media budget is best for small to mid-sized hotels, with mid-range annualized ADR, in low to non-competitive markets.


Pay-Per-Stay Commission Model


A performance-based model that charges a commission for only stays that take place, this model works well for hoteliers that need more from metasearch and who have decided to prioritize ways to increase direct bookings.

Hoteliers like this model because it aligns their interests with that of their metasearch partner. They’re only billed for stays that take place; typically cancellations, and even reservations created by your loyalty members, are excluded from billing.

Another big advantage of this model is the fact that the 3rd party provider assumes all of the financial risk and funds your advertising budget.

It also means that, in theory, your budget is uncapped and only limited by the travel demand in your market. Your metasearch partner will keep spending as long as they’re generating reservations. This means that instead of your cash flow that determines your advertising budget, which can be arbitrary and restrictive, it’s market demand.

Best for:

This pricing model works well for properties in a competitive market that need to utilize metasearch as a strategic advertising channel to help address need periods (like mid-week vs weekend, on vs off-season, etc.) and target individual travel segments.

One huge plus is that properties using this model don’t have to come out of pocket for their metasearch advertising budget.  

Organic Only Flat Fee

If you’ve never heard of this pricing model, it’s because we just invented it 😎 And as we write this piece, this model isn’t available anywhere else.

Despite a flat fee + media budget model being very low cost in nature, some hotels simply don’t have enough inventory to make the math make sense. They may struggle to see a return on even a low budget amount of $1,000 per month, and giving away a percentage of the channel is not a great idea when your total monthly profit is low figures.

That’s why we’ve developed a low-cost way for hoteliers to display an organic listing only. And with a strategic rate strategy (sSuch as a loyalty or member rate channeled to meta) your official site will still be there at the moment of booking, alongside OTA channels with a higher rate.

Best for:

Small hotels, or those with a low ADR, where traditional metasearch pricing models just don’t work.



We hope you found this breakdown useful and informative. At Metadesk, we offer a range of metasearch products to best serve your unique needs.

Please reach out if you’d like to discuss your metasearch advertising strategy and which model might work best for your property’s unique needs.

The Importance Of Hotel Metasearch

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Hotel metasearch engines work as aggregators, pulling data from various sources to create a list of available room rates for a potential guest to choose from. They improve the booking experience for your guests, making it easier to reserve rooms and compare rates.

On the surface, hotel metasearch may seem like yet another distribution channel, but it's vital to any successful hotel marketing strategy. Metasearch can improve the guest experience, help you beat online travel agencies (OTAs) to recapture direct bookings, and effectively target "bottom of the funnel" guests. You should consider using hotel metasearch to take advantage of a significant marketing opportunity.

Improved Guest Experience

Gone are the days of browsing multiple websites for rates before booking a hotel room. Hotel metasearch engines will do the work of research and organization for your guests, removing the hard part of making a reservation. The guest experience starts long before they set foot on your property, and the ease of booking through a metasearch engine will create a positive association between you and your guests. 

This easy booking process can also increase the chances of a guest visiting at all. Because so many hotels already use metasearch, manual rate shopping needs to be updated. If guests can not easily find your official rates on a metasearch engine, they may be discouraged from booking. And if your competition is the one skipping metasearch, that same discouragement could lead a potential guest to your hotel instead.

Beating Online Travel Agencies

OTAs have been using hotel metasearch for years and will continue to do so for many more to come. If you want to maintain a competitive edge, it’s vital that you throw your hat into the ring as well.  

OTAs have large marketing budgets that can easily outshine your own marketing efforts, so you need to do everything you can to beat them out and capture direct bookings. If you're absent on hotel metasearch, this is an automatic win for the OTAs. Guests can't book direct if there's no direct listing available!

If you are present on hotel metasearch, your official rates can easily win out. Since hotel metasearch engines display booking options side-by-side, it's effortless for guests to compare. If your official rates are equal to or lower than those of OTAs, guests are more likely to book direct. And more direct bookings means more money in your own pocket.

Hotel metasearch engines can even update automatically with discounted rates, and this is a great way to stand out above OTAs. “Book Direct” offers and other exclusive packages will be reflected in the hotel metasearch feed, lowering your rates and making a direct booking even more appealing. 

Targeting “Bottom Of The Funnel” Guests

Hotel metasearch is about as “bottom of the funnel” as you can get. This is the final step between your guest and their reservation, and it shouldn’t be overlooked. 

If you’re not nailing the bottom of the funnel, you’re sacrificing the effectiveness of all your other marketing efforts. Even if you convince a guest to stay with you over your competition, that stay loses some of its value if the final booking goes to an OTA. You work hard with your marketing, so you should maintain a strong presence to the final moments. OTAs will use metasearch with or without you, so don’t skip out on your opportunity to compete. 

Getting Started With Hotel Metasearch

To get the most out of hotel metasearch, you need to connect with a metasearch partner. They can ensure your official rates are displayed in the lists created by hotel metasearch engines, allowing you to stay competitive on these channels. 


If you’re ready to get started with hotel metasearch, check out our post on metasearch basics or contact Metadesk.

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