A hotel ecommerce professional shares his take on the art and science of Web Page Optimization, a key for any hotel or business website aiming for high visibility and traffic on the Web.

Web Page Optimization at Sheraton Doha: As it is a known fact that while eCommunications evolve, internet has become a mainstream media outlet used frequently throughout the day. Studies show that the web is the leading medium at work and second leading medium at home behind the television. The ease of communicating being provided by the internet is embraced by different sectors particularly the hospitality industry.

In the Middle East, as the number of hotels grows, the competitions are becoming so aggressive in marketing specially the hotel’s presence in the virtual world. Ergo, the eCommerce initiatives of hotels top with the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which plays a vital role in hotel’s eExposure.

Can we optimize search engines? In my point of view, we cannot do this. Rather, we can optimize our web pages making it Web Page Optimization (WPO) instead of SEO.

In Sheraton Doha Resort & Convention Hotel, WPO plays an important role in the eCommerce program of activities. We believe that we can optimize our web pages to get higher search engine rankings.

A great percentage of the traffic on hotel websites comes from search engines. This is so because internet users have used search engines and used them frequently. Searchers use three major search engines – Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. The trend now is that local search is growing. Searchers use search engines to find local information and content and consequently they act upon the listing they find in the local search.

Business travelers now turn to search for travel research. They now consider search engines as a primary source to find travel and destination information as well as deals.

And what can we find in search engines? There are two kinds of search results in search engines. The first one is the ‘natural search result’ and then the ‘paid search result’. In the former, search engines use robots (spiders) to crawl the web and pick-up web pages. So, if you have optimized your web pages, you have a greater chance to be crawled by the robots. The latter, is an ad purchased via a ‘cost-per-click’ online auction.

Optimizing a web page is an art that aims to be ‘eNoticed’ by the science of increasing website visibility through SEO. May it be in a ‘natural search results’ or the ‘paid search results’.

The reality of WPO and SEO is that search is an on-going process. Ranking is purely merit-based. As you optimize your web page, as it is to be eNoticed by the search engines.

We know that natural search visibility takes time to achieve but there are things we can do to directly impact the natural search engine rankings. The first one is the quality and quantity of external links pointing to your web page. Then, the directory listings followed by the keywords in metadata page titles and descriptions. And the fourth one is the keywords in the body copy.

Remember that the foundation of all WPO initiatives is choosing the right keywords used by the target audience. This is the hardest part but the rest would be easier. Though, the hardest part, still there are ways to select the right keywords. Think about keyword phrases, not just words. You will gain benefit from root terms as well as the whole phrase. Always bear in mind that destination-specific phrases work best for the hotel WPO.

In selecting keywords for a hotel, you can successfully target 1 – 2 keyword phrases per page. Any more would dilute the effectiveness of your efforts. Think of creating a theme for your web pages that will help search engines understand what your page is all about.

In creating relevant content for a page you need to have the following in mind:

1. Begin incorporating your keyword phrases into various page elements that help to build the ‘theme’ for that page

2. Update and add keywords in metadata and alt tags

3. Update the long property description, the hotel highlights, and guest rooms in details information in your system.

Another way to optimize your web page is the so-called Link Popularity. Link popularity refers to the quality and quantity of incoming links pointing to your website. Since building link popularity is one of the most difficult and time-consuming aspects of WPO, search engines have given it a great amount of weight when determining a relevance of a site. The two primary ways to generate link popularity to your site are to obtain links within reputable partner sites or directories and to purchase links. And this can also be done cost-effectively through press releases that contribute to more search traffic. Do not forget to submit your site to online directories. This is one of the most cost-effective ways to optimization. Search engines also use directories and to determine rankings of search results.

Again, remember search engines continue to ‘pre-empt’ natural results with additional content. There is a growing need for search sites to obtain additional depth of attributes from the source, i.e., your web pages. All the information will be based on keyword relevance. This is the way it is. It is not the search engine that you optimize but rather it is your web page to be optimized.

In Sheraton Doha Resort & Convention Hotel, we optimize our web page with high hopes of having high ranking in search engines and consequently be easier to be found by guests virtually to provide them delightful satisfaction. It’s WPO to make a difference.

Luis L. Zapanta
eCommerce Executive
Sheraton Doha Resort & Convention Hotel
Doha, Qatar
February 2008

tags: wpo, seo, web-page-optimization, search-engine-optimization, websites, hotels, hospitality, ecommerce, ebusiness, emarketing, sem