What is a hotel blog?

A hotel blog is a dedicated section of your website where your hotel can publish articles designed to inform and/or entertain your target audience.

Hotel blogs represent a golden opportunity to attract more guests. By writing about your hotel, your area and general travel topics, you can sell your property and destination to the world.

What’s more, strategic hotel blogging can push your hotel website up the Google rankings for relevant search terms, which can expose your hotel to a far larger audience without you having to pay a cent in advertising!

Turn blogs into bookings with Little Hotelier

Your hotel blog attracts potential guests to your website. The Little Hotelier direct booking engine can then ensure you convert them, by making website bookings simple.

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Why blogs are important for the hotel industry

Blogs are important for the hotel industry for two main reasons. They offer hotels a chance to show potential guests why they should choose your destination and property. And they can grow brand awareness – and ultimately bookings – by pushing your hotel’s website to the top of the search engine results page (SERP).

As a small accommodation provider, it is important that you maximise ways to increase your direct website traffic and generate bookings.

It goes without saying that direct website bookings via your booking engine means you pay no commissions and should therefore be a core focus as part of your marketing strategy.

Blogging is a brilliant way to improve your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or Search Engine Results Page (SERP) rank, and will help you get more direct bookings online for your bed & breakfast, guesthouse, motel, inn or small hotel.

Key things to consider in hotel blogging

From boutique hotel blogs to general hospitality blogs, your blogging can take on a wealth of themes and perspectives. While you’ll need to write what your audience wants to read, it’s also wise to play to your strengths and display your knowledge in your blogs.

Here are a few other key considerations you should make as a hotel blogger:

1. Blogging to boost your SEO

Search engines like Google are always hungry for fresh content to show at the top of their search results. People rarely read past the first three pages displayed on Google when browsing the web, so if you aren’t refreshing the content on your website you could be losing business. 

Posting relevant content one to three times a week, with targeted keywords throughout, will help improve SEO and keep you ahead of the competition.

2. Make your website unforgettable 

A blog makes browsing your site enjoyable and ensures guests remember your brand. Reading about your association with local farmers or browsing photos of your delicious food is far more likely to be recalled by travellers later on when they are ready to book. 

It’s also useful if you give travellers something actionable to take away with them. For example, you might enlighten them about all the nature walks in the area.

3. Grow guest engagement

Sharing blog posts to your social media accounts will allow travellers to keep track of blog updates, interact with your posts and even share them with their contacts.

Tip: Include a link to your blog in your guest communication emails before and after their stay to keep them in contact after check-out.

Hotel blog ideas to get you started

What will the flavour of your hotel blog be? What subjects will you cover? Will you write hotel marketing blogs? Hospitality industry blogs? If you’re in search of hotel blog ideas, here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Explore your speciality

What makes your hotel unique? Do you serve delicious food made from local produce? Post images at the local market, or explain the benefits of purchasing from local farmers.

2. Celebrate your guests

Has a recent customer raved about their stay? Don’t let them disappear without a testimonial on why they enjoyed it so much, you could post this on your homepage or even feature it as a video blog which is sometimes called a ‘vlog’.

3. Celebrate your business

Has your hotel won an award? Have you featured in the local newspaper? A blog is not a space for modesty, celebrate your achievements!

4. Be personal

Don’t be afraid to show customers the personality behind your small hotel. Humanise your business by sharing a nice story about why you opened your B&B or feature some comedic examples of everyday activities.

5. Things to do in the area

Travellers usually decide upon a location before booking accommodation. Attract guests by showing them activities to do in the area such as historic walks or museums.

If you partner with local travel sites and tourism experts ask them to link to your property. This is called backlink building; the more backlinks you have, the more search engines will categorise your website as credible.

Best hotel blogs in the industry

You want to create the best hotel blog you can… but what exactly does the best hotel blog look like? For those in need of some inspiration, here are a couple of blogs that do their job perfectly:

Marriott Bonvoy blog

The Marriott Bonvoy Traveller blog is loaded with travel tips and inspiration focused on all the things that Marriott’s target market cares about. It then subtly and seamlessly hints at and links to Marriott properties that can be found in the locations mentioned throughout the blogs.

Radisson Hotels blog

The Radisson Hotels blog is focused on getting readers excited about travel. It offers up travel guides to the world’s most alluring destinations… which always just happen to have a Radisson hotel nearby.

By Dean Elphick

Dean is the Senior Content Marketing Specialist of Little Hotelier, the all-in-one software solution purpose-built to make the lives of small accommodation providers easier. Dean has made writing and creating content his passion for the entirety of his professional life, which includes more than six years at Little Hotelier. Through content, Dean aims to provide education, inspiration, assistance, and, ultimately, value for small accommodation businesses looking to improve the way they run their operations (and live their life).