Do you understand pay-per-click marketing? According to a recent survey by the European Tour Operator's Association (ETOA) Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing generally was the biggest challenge to its members.
For hotels and guesthouses pay-per-click marketing should be seen as an opportunity - not a challenge. Depending on your location, clicks - which you bid for - can often be as low as 10-20 pence per click. Because you only pay for those who click, the costs can be tracked and managed efficiently and within budget.
So how does pay-per-click work? You initially choose a keyword or keyword phrase such as 'hotel in yourtown'. Using the Overture tool described in 'Who's Looking For Your Hotel' you can find out how many searches in the previous month were carried out for that term - say 2000 for example.
Once you know that last month yielded 2000 searches you may choose to bid 10 pence per click (its up to you and it depends on the competition). You can expect to achieve about a 10-15% click through rate (people who click on your advertisment) resulting in about 200-300 visitors at a cost of £20-30 per month. If you get just one booking from these visitors you have covered your costs - you do the sums!
For hotels, this can be a cost effective way of obtaining bookings from potential guests who are searching for accommodation in your town or area.
Of course you must allow your guests to easily turn their visit into a booking. By adding EUBookings - at just £99 per year - to your web site you allow customers to book your hotel 24 hours per day - even whilst you sleep! We have found that hotels using EUBookings recoup their annual fee within days!
If you would like any more information visit our website to get more information http://www.hotel-pro.co.uk
About the Author
David Carruthers is a director of Hotel-Pro (http://www.hotel-pro.co.uk) who specialise in helping small and medium sized independent hotels and guesthouses with Internet solutions.