Content marketing and blogging is often a mystery to the hospitality industry. Boutique hotels and retreat centers focus much of their marketing dollars and energy on advertising to generate leads and ultimately booked sales. At The Experience Experts, we are asked consistently ‘Does our hotel’s website really need a blog?’ and ‘What do blogs really really do for our sales and bottom line anyways?’

These are fantastic questions. If your boutique hotel, resort or retreat center is currently asking yourselves this question, then you’re in the right place. 

Blogs are an essential tool for boutique hotel’s websites to get more online traffic of potential guests, to then generate more bookings – Every hotel’s top goal which is ‘heads in beds’. A lot of hotels and resorts either do not have a blog at all, or they have one and never add new content to it, having set it up once and leaving it ignored. This not only defeats the purpose of having a blog, but also is a wasted opportunity for creating valuable content that converts.

In this week’s video, The Experience Experts are going to debunk the myth that hotels do not need blogs on their website while guiding you through exactly why your hotel needs a blog and how you can leverage content marketing to get more bookings.

Blog posts are new content posted weekly or monthly to your website. By keeping your site active with fresh content, this translates to new keywords and higher SEO (search engine optimization) on search engines like Google and Bing. Search engines automatically do regular scans across websites for new content in order to place the best possible results at the top of when someone is searching. So the more fresh content you publish through your blog means the more possible keywords that your website will show up in and more targeted your SEO toward your ideal future guests.

Hotel & Retreat Center Marketing Tip: A good baseline for starting (or restarting) to publish consistent content on your hotel’s blog is to commit to a minimum of one blog per month, or only 12 articles per year. By picking topics and planning out each of these 12 posts, it only takes a little bit of extra time to grab attention from hundreds, even thousands, of potential guest bookings. Over time, you ideally can build up to be posting about once a week to maximize the results from your blog, especially if you have a staff member who can write the blogs. 

Recommendations for Blog Topics: 

• You can write a blog series about the story behind your boutique hotel or resort, focus on special staff & team members, or highlight property details or special suites on-site. 
• If you offer luxury amenities, be sure to include posts about your spa, restaurants/food, excursions, wellness offerings, or exclusive packages. 
• If you have a social media presence already – and you should –  a blog can serve as another sharing point for photos and posts that showcase the best possible side of your property’s accommodations and experience. 
• Start brainstorming ideas and you’ll be surprised how easily new topic ideas will come to you. The possibilities for posts are endless! If you need help getting started, check back in for our ‘Top Hotel & Retreat Center Blog Post Ideas’ blog coming soon!

Creating blog posts helps potential future guests to learn more about the area & destination in which your hotel or retreat center is located, what makes you stand out as a special, unique accommodation and more information to support them in having the stay of their dreams at your property. Blogs help support brand building & recognition, that your property is a trusted, reliable accommodation & experience that they can count on for an incredible stay. 

Another bonus with using blogs as a hotel or retreat center property is being able to easily get packing lists and important information out to guests to prepare them before arrival and check in. This helps guests feel comfortable before they fly or drive in. Then your staff can expect less confusion or excessive questions which can create a hesitation in their booking or extra work for your team upon check-in. 

How is your hotel or retreat center business utilizing your website’s blog right – or are you just getting started? Let us know in the comments below. If you’d like to take your website to the next level, reach out to The Experience Experts today for a strategy call to see how we can help you increase your bookings through maximizing your blog and content marketing. 

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