Blogging can attract more hotel guests by providing valuable content to readers. Maintaining a regularly updated blog helps with search engine optimization as it increases relevant content and backlinks. It also builds brand loyalty and awareness by sharing insider knowledge about the destination. To be effective, hotel blogs should focus on quality long-form content that answers user questions while promoting the local area. Frequent posting of fresh, original content and photos keeps readers engaged and encourages social sharing.

1. HOW BLOGGING CAN
ATTRACT MORE HOTEL
GUESTS
Mihaela Lica Butler

2. INTRODUCTION
Content marketing takes many forms:
Blogs
Videos (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, etc.)
Live streaming (Facebook “go live”, YouTube, etc.)
Infographics
Content distribution (example: guest blogging)
eBooks and whitepapers
Social media updates
Presentations (example: Slideshare)
Ezines
Newsletters, etc.
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER
In this presentation, we’ll focus on blogs on how
blogging can attract more hotel guests as well as other
long-term advantages of blogging, how to create blog
content that coverts, writing tips, and other aspects
that make blogging such a powerful content marketing
tool.
Businesses using blogs in their content marketing mix
get 67% more leads than those that don’t. (HubSpot)

3. DOES YOUR HOTEL NEED A BLOG?
It depends on your priorities:
Do you want to inspire your guests and trigger interest
about your destination? (Example: eliminate traditional
travel guides through sharing unbiased insider insight.)
Do you want to boost brand loyalty? (The more insider
insight you share about your destination, the more
credible and useful you become for your current and
potential guests.)
Do you want to give back to local communities by
promoting attractions and businesses not related to
yours?
Do you want to boost direct bookings? (Linking your
booking engine from your blog is not mandatory, but it’s
smart – especially with the use of HTTPS and a booking
widget.)
Do you want to improve your SEO?
Do you want to spend less on advertising and PR?
Do you want to improve social media mentions?
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER

4. If you answered yes to any of the previous questions, your hotel needs a
blog.
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER
Over 409 million people view more than 22.2 billion
blog pages each month. (WordPress)
Companies that blog receive 55% more traffic than
companies that don’t. (HubSpot)
Active company blogs generate 67% more leads
than websites without blogs. (HubSpot)
Marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more
likely to see positive ROI. (HubSpot)
Companies with blogs produce 67% more leads per
month than those without. (HubSpot)
Blogging is the third most used type of content
shared on Social media (60%) after video (63%) and
visual images (80%). (Social Media Examiner)
Millennials (72%), Generation X (71%), and Baby
Boomers (61%) prioritize website content – including
blogs – more than any other channel of information
before purchasing online. (Salesforce)
80%
63%
60%
35%
9%
Commonly used type of content
Images 80% Video 63%
Blogs 60% Live video 35%
Podcasts 9%

5. Blogging is so powerful that Airbnb uses the format to share content via Medium
https://medium.com/airbnbmag.
They use a magazine style that works well in print too. In fact, they first launched a
printed edition known as Airbnbmag.
This launched May 23, 2017 in the USA (limited number in London) with a
guaranteed circulation of 350,000, 45 pages of advertising, and a $3.99 cover price.
The rest of the world can access some content via the Airbnbmag blog format on the
Medium online publishing platform.
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER
This content strategy is successful because instead of trying to get readers to book on Airbnb, it offers tips and
features places and experiences in places with Airbnb hosts.
The printed magazine approach makes sense for a hotel chain with multiple locations, however, it can be too
much for a small chain of boutique hotels. It’s all a matter of circulation and revenue.

6. SEO BENEFITS Blogging has significant SEO benefits.
Blogging is responsible for 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links.
(HubSpot)
Blogging is the most critical content marketing tactic for 2018 according to 52% of
respondents of a survey by Content Marketing Institute.
43% of B2B marketers say blogging is their most important type of content. (Social
Marketing Industry Report, 2017)
55% of bloggers report that they get positive results from blogging. 30% of them go as
far as to say they get strong marketing results. (Orbit Media)
72% of marketers consider publishing relevant content as their most effective SEO
strategy. (HubSpot)
62% of marketers have already optimized their blogs for mobile to boost SEO. (Social
Media Examiner)
One in ten blog posts are compounding, meaning organic search increases their traffic
over time. (HubSpot) The opposite of a compounding post is a decaying post. You can “fix”
decaying posts by adding optimized content: update, upgrade, & republish may increase
traffic by 111.37%. (Backlinko)
Although compounding blog posts make up only 10% of all blog posts, they generate
38% of overall traffic. (HubSpot)
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER
Google now processes over 40,000 search
queries every second on average, which
translates to over 3.5 billion searches per
day and 1.2 trillion searches per year
worldwide. (Internet Live Stats)

7. HOW TO REAP SEO BENEFITS FOR
YOUR HOTEL BLOG
 Write short blog titles with 6-13 words get the most consistent amount of traffic and hits
(HubSpot)
 Write engaging titles (sassy, thought-provoking, click-worthy, shareable). Like odd
numbered lists. Statistics show that odd numbered listicle headlines outperform even
ones by 20% (CMI).
Prioritize long-form content. Longer, in-depth blog posts generate 9x more leads than
short ones. (Curata) Also, although there are many short pages still ranking, t he average
word count of top ranked content in Google is more than 1400 words.
 Promote your content: social media, email (newsletters), ads.
 Make sure your blog is mobile-ready: as of March 2018, Google prioritizes mobile-first
indexing.
 Make sure your blog uses HTPPS by default: as of July 2018, Google Chrome marks all
HTPS sites as “non secure,” usually blocking user access to them.
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER

8.  Page speed is a mobile ranking factor since July 2018: use the PageSpeed report and
tools like LightHouse to measure page speed and make improvements.
 Beef-up your meta descriptions: now Google displays long-form meta descriptions, up to
300 characters, including spaces.
 Use schema.org “article” markup to highlight your cornerstone content (longer than 900
words).
 Include more images and optimize the “alt attributes” (image description) to give them a
plus of relevance and context. The average #1 article has 9 images. (Impact) Blogs with an
image every 75-100 words get the most shares.
Keep your URLs short - URLs ranking #1 have on average 50 characters or less (Impact)
 Organize blog posts with bullet lists: 78% of the time, #1 ranking content has bulleted
lists. (Impact)
 Optimize for semantic search and voice search: understand search intent and contextual
meaning. Google already does it! Write content that answers to “questions.”
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER

9. HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER

10. Comparing the two examples in the previous slide, the opportunity to grab Google RankBrain real
estate is obvious.
 Spend more time to produce quality content that addresses real questions. 49% of bloggers
claim that spending more than 6 hours per post shows bigger payoffs. (Orbit Media)
 “Up to 10% of users’ daily information needs involve learning about a broad topic.” (Google –
hence the upsurge of long-form content, aka highlighting in-depth articles – of 2000 words or
more since 2013).
 The longer the content, the more shares it gets, with 3000-10000 word pieces getting the most
average shares: 8859 total average shares. (BuzzSumo)
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER
Long form content Short form content
Established businesses, professional
bloggers,
Startups, newbies
Storytelling, informational, analytical
content
Entertainment, concise content
Higher Google ranking, trigger
conversations, traffic and shares
Traffic and shares

11. ADVANTAGES FOR HOTELIERS
 Blog posts that convey passion for your destination, knowledge, expertise, and depth
can position your site before the competition in SERPs.
 Professional blog posts spark reader interest, are shareable, and linkable.
 A good blog establishes a voice and identity for your hotel/ chain.
 Blog posts can appeal to new guests and drive bookings (example when paired with
special seasonal offers, rooms for destination events, etc.)
 Good blog posts trigger media interest and attract influencers. This could increase media
and social media mentions for your hotel/ chain.
Include a widget or a link for direct bookings to boost revenue.
 A blog acts like an online concierge for guests. It is often more valuable than traditional
travel guides.
 Hotels can use blogs to promote events, facilities, and amenities.
 Blogging maintains and creates relationships with existing and potential guests.
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER

12. EVEN MORE
ADVANTAGES FOR
PUBLISHERS
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER
Here are even more statistics that support the
need to publish a blog:
90% of consumers find custom content useful,
and 78% believe that organizations providing
custom content are interested in building good
relationships with them (TMG Custom Media)
61% of consumers are influenced by custom
content (Dragon Search Marketing)
61% of consumers say they feel better about, and
are more likely to buy from, a company that
delivers custom content. (Custom Content
Council)
Companies with active blogs receive 97% more
leads. (Content+ 2013)
58% of consumers trust editorial content.
(Nielsen)
60% of consumers feel more positive about a
company after reading custom content on its site.
(Content+)
37% of marketers say blogs are the most valuable
content type for marketing. (Content+)
58% of marketers say that “original written
content” is the most important type of content,
outdoing visuals and videos. (Social Media
Examiner)
36% of Fortune 500 companies have blogs, up
from 23% in 2010. (UMass 2016)
Blogs are the 5th most trustworthy source of
information on the Internet behind news sites,
Facebook, retail sites and YouTube. (Pamorama)
6 out of 10 U.S. online consumers have made a
purchase based on recommendations from a blog.
(HuffPost)

13. FRESHNESS: HOW
OFTEN SHOULD
YOU PUBLISH A
BLOG POST
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER
o According to data from HubSpot, companies that
publish 16+ blog posts per month get almost 3.5X
more traffic than companies that publish between
0 - 4 monthly posts.
o But: do not sacrifice quality for volume!
o “Cornerstone” content – posts longer than 900
words – performs better than short blog posts
(500 words or less).
o Publish as often as you can with your resources.
o The only reason to post daily is to report news.
o Two or three posts per week is the ideal tempo.
o One post per week works for lower budgets.
EXAMPLES OF
HOSPITALITY
BLOGS THAT GET
IT RIGHT
WordSmith blog by Mr. & Mrs. Smith:
https://blog.mrandmrssmith.com/.
Journey into the Ritz-Carlton:
https://www.journey.ritzcarlton.com/
The Waldorf Blog (Park City):
http://www.waldorfastoriaparkcity.com/discover/
blog/
IHG travel blog: https://blog.ihg.com/
Hilton Suggests Travel Blog:
https://hiltonsuggests.hilton.com/blog/
Life Is a Suite by Kimpton:
https://www.kimptonhotels.com/blog/
The Standard by Standard Hotels:
http://www.standardhotels.com/

14. TIPS FOR WRITING GOOD QUALITY CONTENT
ON HOTEL BLOGS
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER
o Keep a proper publishing schedule/ editorial calendar.
o Use original photography as often as possible. Stock imagery is overused. Originals are unique to you, even when they are
not “professional.” They are honest. Guests like honest.
o Spend time of your titles. Keep them short, keyword-focused, original, and appealing. Whenever possible, include the
destination you are writing about in the title. Example: 27 Things You Must Know Before Visiting Herzliya (this also helps
your local SEO)
o Aim to produce long-form content (1500 words of more) or cornerstone content (900 words or more) full of original
images. Smartphone images are OK, but remember the orientation: horizontal for blog posts and Facebook, vertical for
Instagram and Pinterest.
o Make your texts readable: use headlines and bullet lists. Include destination tips and insight.
o Create content that answers a concrete need or question: this will help your blog posts rank well in voice search. For
example: Where in Herzliya Can I Eat Ethnic Food?
o Write original meta descriptions: don’t just copy/paste a paragraph from the body of the article. Meta descriptions should
summarize clearly the content, but also to inspire searchers to click on your link to read more. Remember to use the
destination name.

15. HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER
o Make it share-worthy: use a beautiful – highly relevant cover image (also known as blog title image) to capture attention
on social media and to inspire re-sharing.
o Keep self-serving promotional content to a minimum: 1 in 4-5 posts should be strictly about the hotel, rooms, offers, or
similar features. Promote the destination, local attractions, businesses, and people (artists, musicians, etc.)
o Writing about the hotel itself should include: reasons why it is a good choice (no marketing lingo, just honest, down-to-
earth, “here’s what’s in for you when you are our guests” (we listen, we care, we are proud of our destination, we help you
get around, we recommend places to suit your budget needs, -etc.)
o Don’t duplicate content already existing on your website. You have room to play with metaphors and user-generated
content on a blog. You can quote TripAdvisor reviews, you can embed Instagram pictures with hundreds of likes, Facebook
and Twitter posts.
o Depending on how often you publish new articles, you can easily transform a travel/hotel blog into a magazine, or even a
Google News Indexed site.

16. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Travel brands have to be more active with online blogs to promote their
product, but many are not doing it well. They’re often afterthoughts
relegated to pages buried deep in the website, poorly written with
subpar photography and/or too infrequently updated. (Skift)
Your blog is the backbone of your online content marketing strategy.
(Forbes)
The more frequently you publish to your blog, the more likely you'll
generate customers from it. (HubSpot) 92% of the most successful blogs
are updated several times a day with high quality content.
No time? Go for weekly updates with lengthy, in-depth content. See
“Your First Book of Travel Writing Prompts” by Mihaela Lica Butler for
ideas.
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER

17. THANK YOU
Thank you for attending this
presentation.
For questions, please email me
mig@mihaelalica.com
or call me
+30 6955140313
HOW BLOGGING CAN ATTRACT MORE HOTEL GUESTS | MIHAELA LICA BUTLER