The biggest mistake we see at Motel Coach with local SEO for motels is starting to work on your SEO without planning or learning the fundamentals first. Executing a flawed strategy will result in you needing to double back and spend twice as much time fixing mistakes, or worse, targeting a search term with low search volume or no commercial intent.
Focus on Local SEO First
Search results on Google are dominated by big institutions like Booking.com, Expedia, Tripadvisor, and other large travel companies. The benefit of a Local SEO strategy is that these big channels cannot create a Google Business Profile (GBP). This gives a motel a small window to try to drive more direct bookings.
Pro-tip: Set up your free official site link for Google Business Profile to display rates. This needs to be done through your connectivity provider, like SiteMinder.
Opportunities in Local SEO
Local Motel SEO is always evolving and becoming more dynamic in how rankings are generated. Committing time upfront to understanding the current opportunities and how to get started is critical. Invest heavily in upfront research; it is the only way to ensure you aren’t wasting months on the wrong strategy.
- Map out all of your key search terms.
- Map out all of the questions your clients will ask.
Take a deep dive into these two tasks above. Map out your customer’s buyer journey. Use competitor keyword research tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to identify what your competitors are targeting. Don’t assume the keywords they are targeting are logical. You don’t need a permanent subscription, but an initial 1-month subscription when you’re just starting will be really valuable for your initial research.
Motel SEO is Part of the Strategy
Motel SEO is only part of your motel marketing strategy. It is important to ensure.
- Your website is organized to maximize conversions
- Room photos are high quality
- Room descriptions provide all of the information a guest needs to book a motel room
- Rates are priced correctly and are consistent across your channels. If you don’t have Rate Parity on your website vs online travel agents (OTAs), then guests will find it confusing and likely not book directly with you.
Once you start sending more guests to your website, if you don’t effectively optimize the key elements above, your hard-earned SEO results will be wasted.
Use your Existing Data
If your website is already live and you have Google Search Console installed, look at opportunities in your existing data. Select Performance in the left menu, sort queries from largest to smallest.
- Look at queries where there is a fair amount of volume first.
- Brainstorm additional keyword ideas and potential customer questions using an AI tool like Gemini or ChatGPT. “Write me a prompt. I run a motel in [your location]. I want to understand what customers are likely to search for and what questions or concerns they will have. Exclude these terms (Booking.com, Welfare) you don’t want to show up for and add them here.
- Type queries into Google, and it will bring up other questions people likely ask under the “Find Related” section. Don’t assume these queries have search volume.
- For all search terms, cross-check the search data with Google Keyword Planner in Google Ads or a reputable tool like Ahrefs or Semrush, as mentioned above.
Local SEO is Not a One-time Task
Local SEO is not a “set and forget” task; it is a discipline of precision. Learn the fundamentals, and go overboard on the initial research phase. You may feel like you are wasting time, but getting the right direction and strategy will help you avoid going in the wrong direction and to avoid mistakes that will take months to fix.
