Many travelers, when planning a trip, no longer feel like calling facilities around the world. A large number of people prefer to book online, where it is quick, easy and allows them to compare multiple offers in a short period of time. One of the popular portals is Booking.com, so if you’re in the tourism business, it’s worth fighting for more visibility on this site. If you’d like me to help you reach new guests and promote your property, call or write! From the perspective of the owner of the facility, Booking positioning gives it the opportunity to promote itself, but also to fight a lot of competition.
SEO Booking: what does visibility depend on?
Booking.com is part of Booking Holdings Inc a world leader in the online travel industry. How high your property displays among competitors meeting the criteria set by users depends on several factors. Like other sites, Booking has its own algorithm. The main factors taken into account are:
- Accessibility and attractiveness: this is rather obvious, but it is important to present well the advantages of the place, amenities, attractions, put attractive high-resolution photos. The more information, the better – guests want to know if the facility, for example, has wi-fi, parking, a playground. If you put little data, your listing may display lower.
- Date selection: Booking recommends adding rooms or lodging options at least a year in advance to attract travelers who plan their trips over an extended period of time. Rates for the next year can be added via Booking’s extranet to keep your pricing strategy flexible without losing potential bookings made in advance. Availability is a key factor in how high your property ranks.
- Competitive offers: using Booking‘s Extranet, you can also preview the Price Comparison Panel to see how your offer looks against the answers. Booking recommends, for example, adding different packages at different prices (e.g., with food, with breakfast, without food) to target different types of customers who visit the site.
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Remember that the customer has access to dowie many offers: the stronger your brand, the better. It’s worth ensuring good practices, as guests’ opinions begin to form before they even arrive at the property. Writing a personalized welcome message or quickly answering their questions is not only a way to keep customers happy, but also to build a positive image of your facility. Using message templates can make it easier for you to manage your communications and save valuable time that can be spent on other aspects of running your business.
In the long term, attention to good communication and effective management of guest expectations will contribute to collecting better and better reviews. Positive reviews are key to attracting new customers, as many travelers are guided by them when reviewing offers on booking portals. Also remember to take a personal approach to responding to guest reviews, regardless of their nature. This is an important part of building trust and customer relationships.
Increasing visibility = more bookings
You can even promote your property through Booking’s internal tool: it’s a visibility tool. It helps maximize earning on Booking, especially during strategic periods such as tourist season or local events. You can also use the tool during months when fewer tourists choose to stay to avoid downtime.
In addition, the tool allows you to increase your visibility in specific countries, which is especially useful if you want to attract more guests from outside your target market to book, as the portal is not only available in Poland. You can customize your offerings to meet the specific needs and preferences of travelers from different regions, which can increase your hotel’s appeal in the international arena.
An important feature of the tool is also the ability to adjust the amount of commission depending on the selected date and country. You can adjust your pricing strategy to different target groups and market situations, allowing you to achieve better financial results.
It is also worth noting that the visibility tool is an effective way to deal with situations such as cancellations. By quickly increasing your property’s visibility, you can attract new guests and minimize your losses when a vacancy occurs at your property.
Positioning Booking: a program for Preferred Partners
The visibility tool is geared more toward short-term, ad hoc efforts. In the long term, you can join the Preferred Partner Program. As Booking declares, this provides up to 65% more page impressions and 20% more bookings on average. Naturally, however, this comes at a price: the portal then charges a higher commission. In return, you gain more visibility, and your property is marked with a special thumb icon, signifying that it’s a Booking-verified offer. Preferred partners also get more detailed performance analysis on the Extranet and the property’s caretaker.
To take advantage of these opportunities, several conditions must be met. These include:
- Performance Indicator: make sure your facility is achieving a score of at least 70% of expected annual bookings relative to traveler demand for your offering. Monitor current bookings and adjust your marketing strategy to ensure maximum visibility and appeal for your property.
- Guest satisfaction rating: regularly collect feedback from your guests after they check out. Make sure your rating of the property on the platform is at least 7 out of 10 points. Work to provide an excellent experience for every guest by ensuring cleanliness, comfort and professional service. This not only builds reputation, but also increases the chance of another stay.
- Competitive pricing: regularly analyze your prices compared to other properties on the platform. To join the program, your prices on Booking must be considered competitive with those offered on other websites. Adjust your prices based on season, demand and market trends to attract more guests and maximize your revenue.
If you want to check your eligibility for this program, you can do so on the Extranet under the Your Opportunities tab. The portal performs a facility assessment every 90 days. Joining the Preferred Partner Program is not final: you can always opt out of it, in which case the commission will drop again. However, it is worth remembering that you will no longer add your facility to it if it does not meet the requirements.
More chances for your next stay: the Preferred Partners Plus program
This is another example of how you can increase your visibility and how to earn more from Booking com. You can expect to be invited to this program if you are among just the top 10% of preferred partners. Also, it comes with a higher commission, but it allows you to achieve the highest visibility on the portal. According to Booking’s data, the Plus program increases visibility by up to 60%, which can yield up to 30% more bookings compared to standard Preferred Partners. The portal further incentivizes users because they get funds for booking at a Plus Program member property, which they can use for future trips.
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The top 10% of partners are also selected based on specific performance. The combination of expected annual bookings and traveler demand for your property must be rated at least 80%. Upon check-out, guests must also rate the property highly (8/10 and above). The Plus program can be used at will, depending on the current situation of your business. You can join and leave it – but of course you must meet the criteria each time you join.
If you reliably and clearly complete the information about your facility, keep your offerings up to date and maintain a high standard of guest service, you stand a good chance of standing out from the competition. If you are looking for additional support in promoting your offer, feel free to contact me!
