Hospitality & travel

Hotel and travel SEO for guests who book direct.

Guests compare you on Booking.com, Expedia and Google’s hotel results before they reach your site. We make your own site the easiest place to check dates and book, with a complete Business Profile, pages in your guests’ languages and prices that show the full cost.

Who we work with

  • Independent hotels
  • Boutique hotels
  • Hotel groups
  • Holiday lets
  • B&Bs and guest houses
  • Tour operators
  • Travel agencies

How your clients search

The searches behind a typical decision, stage by stage. The queries are examples, not search volumes.

  1. 01

    Inspiration

    Trips start with a place, a season or an occasion. Destination guides, events and itineraries earn early visits and links, long before dates are fixed.

    • things to do in bath in december
    • best weekend breaks from london
    • where to stay in the cotswolds
  2. 02

    Where to stay

    Then guests choose an area and a type of stay. Maps, listings and Google’s hotel results often fill the page, so your Business Profile and rates need to be there.

    • boutique hotel bath
    • dog friendly hotel lake district
    • hotels near the roman baths
  3. 03

    Compare and check

    Guests compare prices across OTAs and metasearch, read reviews on Google and Tripadvisor, and look closely at photos and location.

    • [hotel name] reviews
    • [hotel name] parking
    • [hotel name] vs [hotel name]
  4. 04

    Book direct, or not

    Some guests look for the official site before they pay. A fast booking engine, a clear total price and a reason to book direct decide whether that booking is yours or an OTA’s.

    • [hotel name] official site
    • [hotel name] book direct
    • [hotel name] cancellation policy

What makes SEO different here

01

OTAs and metasearch

Booking.com, Expedia and Google’s hotel results often sit above hotel sites for broad searches. We focus where direct booking is realistic: your brand, your area and niche searches, plus Google’s free booking links, which can show your own rate beside the OTAs at no cost.

02

Seasonality

Demand rises and falls with seasons and events, and many guests book weeks or months ahead. Seasonal pages need to be live and indexed before the booking window opens, not when the season starts.

03

Guests in other languages

International guests search in their own language and expect their currency, terms and payment options. Real language versions with reciprocal hreflang beat machine translation and redirects by IP.

04

Hotel data Google can read

A complete Business Profile with amenities, photos and sustainability details, LocalBusiness markup using the Hotel type that matches the page, and the same details on every OTA. Google sets the hotel class shown in its results itself.

05

The booking engine

In audits we often find the booking engine on a separate domain, slow on mobile and missing from analytics. We measure it like any key page, with Core Web Vitals and funnel tracking, so direct bookings are credited to search.

06

Reviews

Guests read Google and Tripadvisor before they book. Ask every guest in the same way and reply to the critical reviews. Google’s policies forbid incentivised or selectively requested reviews, and UK and US law now ban fake reviews and hiding negative ones.

Rules that shape your website

A planning summary, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the current guidance from your regulator before you publish.

UKUnited Kingdom

  • Since 6 April 2025 the DMCC Act 2024 has banned drip pricing. From the first ad onwards, prices must include mandatory fees, charges and taxes, such as resort fees and local taxes, where they can reasonably be calculated; if not, say just as prominently how they’re worked out.
  • If part of the price is paid at the property, the CMA expects “pay now” and “pay locally” amounts to be shown alongside the total.
  • Fake reviews, reviews that hide an incentive and showing only positive reviews are banned practices. If you publish reviews, you must take reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent and remove fake ones.
  • In Scotland, short-term lets such as self-catering holiday lets need a licence from the local council, and every listing or advert must show the licence number.

USUnited States

  • Since 12 May 2025 the FTC’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees has required hotels and short-term rentals to show the total price, including mandatory fees such as resort or cleaning fees, more prominently than other pricing. Taxes can be left out of that total but must be disclosed before payment.
  • The rule also covers OTAs and other third parties that display your rates, so they need accurate fee information from you. Some states go further: California’s law on hidden fees, in force since 1 July 2024, covers most consumer goods and services.
  • ADA: whether guests book online, by phone or through a third party, they must be able to reserve accessible rooms in the same way as others, and accessible features must be described in enough detail for them to judge whether a room meets their needs.
  • The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews, in force since 21 October 2024, bans fake reviews, paying for reviews of a set sentiment and suppressing negative ones.

TRTürkiye

  • Accommodation businesses licensed by the local authority must obtain a tourism operation certificate (turizm işletmesi belgesi) from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism within six months (Law No. 2634, art. 5). Promoting or selling uncertified accommodation online is banned.
  • Since December 2025, online ads and listings for accommodation, including those placed by travel agencies and OTAs, must show the certificate number verified in the Ministry’s database where it is easy to see. Listings without it can be fined per listing.
  • Presenting your property’s type or class, such as boutique hotel or its star rating, in a misleading way on your site, in ads or in brochures can lead to a Ministry warning and then a fine (Law No. 2634, arts. 32–33).
  • Renting out a home to tourists for up to 100 days at a time needs a Ministry permit before any booking (Law No. 7464, in force since 1 January 2024), and listings must show the permit number.

How we approach it

  1. 1

    Complete your Google presence

    Business Profile categories, amenities, photos and sustainability details; free booking links switched on through Hotel Center or your booking engine; the same details on every OTA.

    Local SEO
  2. 2

    Make booking direct the easy option

    A fast, mobile-first site and a clean handover to the booking engine, with the total price shown the way each market requires and tracking that survives the jump between domains.

    SEO-led Web Design & Development
  3. 3

    Plan content to the booking window

    Room, area, event and offer pages published and indexed before each season’s booking window opens, written for the searches guests actually make.

    Content Strategy & On-page SEO
  4. 4

    Speak your guests’ languages

    Language and country versions for your main source markets, with reciprocal hreflang, local currency and terms, and no redirects by IP.

    International SEO
  5. 5

    Structured data and measurement

    Hotel markup that matches each page, Core Web Vitals fixed at template level, and direct bookings and revenue tracked through the booking engine, reported monthly against OTA share.

    Technical SEO

Your first 90 days

What we measure

  • Direct bookings and revenue from organic search
  • Direct share of bookings against OTAs
  • Booking engine conversion rate
  • Business Profile calls, website clicks and directions
  • Visibility for area and niche searches
  • Bookings by guest country

Reports lead with enquiries and revenue, then explain the rankings and traffic behind them.

In practice

Taking a Turkish brand into UK search

For Turkish manufacturers and retailers selling abroad: an international structure, real localisation and UK authority, without hurting the Turkish site.

Client work stays confidential. On a call, we share relevant examples and, with permission, introduce you to references.

Taking a Turkish brand into UK search

For Turkish manufacturers and retailers selling abroad: an international structure, real localisation and UK authority, without hurting the Turkish site.

Read the playbook

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can we really compete with Booking.com in search?

Not for every search, and we won’t pretend otherwise. Your brand name, your area and niche searches are where a strong hotel site can win, and free booking links put your own rate next to the OTAs on Google.

Will hotel structured data put our prices in Google?

Not on its own. Markup using the Hotel type helps Google understand your details, but the rates in Google’s hotel results come through Hotel Center, usually via your booking engine or channel manager. We handle the markup and help you get that connection working with your provider.

Our booking engine is on another domain. Is that a problem?

Not in itself, but it needs care: cross-domain tracking so bookings are credited to search, a fast mobile experience and the same total price guests saw on your site. We review it in the audit.

Do we have to show the full price on our site?

In the UK, mandatory fees belong in the headline price; in the US, hotels must show a total that includes mandatory fees more prominently than other pricing. Clear totals also make it easier for guests to compare you fairly with the OTAs.

Do you work with Turkish hotels that want UK and European guests?

Yes. We build a language version for each market with hreflang, local currency and UK-ready price display, and keep the Turkish site growing alongside it. Our playbook for Turkish brands entering the UK sets out the approach.

How soon will we see more direct bookings?

Business Profile and booking engine fixes can show within weeks. Seasonal content needs to be live months before the season it targets. We agree the measures with you and report against them, without promising numbers.

Get a free SEO audit

Ready for more of your bookings to come direct?

Send us your URL. Within 48 hours a senior strategist will send you a personalised audit with your biggest opportunities, completely free.

  • No obligation, no sales pitch
  • Reviewed by a human expert
  • Google, Bing & AI search
Book a call