Why Google My Business Is Important for My Hotel
A Google My Business profile is an important link to the relationship established between hotel, traveler and Google.
When searching for your brand.com website potential travelers and guests play a very significant role in your hotel’s ranking. Google My Business profiles are continuously providing richer content. Users consider this information highly relevant and meaningful, and can directly influence whether a guest books at your hotel.
Why is it so important to have this information updated?
According to Netaffinity, 73% of all direct bookings can be traced back to Google profiles. This is why it’s essential to update your hotel’s information in Google My Business. What seems like basic information, such as your hotel’s location, influences your rank position in search results. A study done by Nielsen Norman Group reinforces this theory. Include a small selection of photos displaying your hotel’s main features, reviews, address and phone number, integrated distribution platforms, and your hotel’s website.
Here we show you an example of the Dublin Skylon Hotel, both in terms of results in desktop and responsive version on mobile phones, with their respective information. Here you can clearly appreciate the importance of filling in the information of your establishment with quality content, enhancing opinions and identifying which channels are integrated to distribute. As we have already mentioned, it is important that our Channel Manager facilitates distribution through this channel.
How do I create my Google My Business profile?
Once you verify your Google My Business account, you can modify your hotel’s information. Your Google My Business profile directly influences the booking process and not updating your hotel’s information can have a negative impact on your hotel’s competitiveness. If you neglect your account, you risk Google pulling information about your hotel that may or may not be representative of your property. Creating a Google My Business profile is easy and free, here are the 5 steps for creating your account:
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Go to’Google My Business’ through this link:
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Click Start Now.
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Add your hotel, including its name, location details, main phone number and type of business. They even include a range of different types of hotels so you have the option to personalize this information.
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Verify your property through your choice of phone, email or official email.
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Start using it!
Key features and benefits:
One of the most important aspects of Google My Business is the ability to modify and update the information Google has about your hotel. Your hotel will appear directly in Google Search results and in Google Maps.
Even if you don’t have an official website or you’re doing site maintenance, it’s still helpful to have a Google my Business account so that users can easily find you and contact you. It is also useful for such simple details as changing opening hours during the holidays and keeping travellers informed.
Learn about Google My Business Insights
Information about the relationship of your accommodation profile with the traveller and the way in which guests arrive at your website. This information is very important to obtain a report on the type of navigation of the traveler and what user experience they are having. Insights lets you review clicks, calls, ad views, and more. By monitoring the data over a specified period of time, it is possible to detect trends about booked and unbooked travellers. The system allows you to compare the rates of your hotel with similar hotels in your same location.
Duplicate accounts and claiming ownership of an existing account
This is very important because if you add a property and there is a verified Google business page for the same address, the business listing
will not appear on Google Maps. Instead, it will show as a “duplicate location.” To claim an existing account, you can:
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Send an email directly to the current owner of the account and request a transfer of ownership. You can find the details on how to do this here. These requests are often ignored or forgotten by the account owner.
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Request ownership of a Google Business page directly from Google. This may take a few weeks. To start the process, you’ll need this form.