Local SEO for hotels: get an independent hotel found on Google Maps

Why does local SEO matter for an independent hotel?

Someone searching "hotel near the harbour" or "B&B in Hay-on-Wye" can get a map of properties on Google Search and Maps, with prices, class ratings, reviews and booking links. Google builds that card from your Business Profile, its own research and the rates sent to it, and ranks local results by how well a place matches the search, how close it is and how well known it is. If you run a small hotel, inn or guesthouse, that card is often the first thing a guest sees of you, so it is where the work starts.

How do you do local SEO for a hotel?

1. 1. Check which lodging type Google files you under

   Google splits lodging into hotels, vacation rentals and outdoor lodging. You count as a hotel or a related type if you have a front desk or on-site management, take overnight guests and list your address publicly. Then pick the most specific category that fits, such as motel, inn or bed and breakfast. Google says the category, not the property's name, decides which searches you appear in.¹

2. 2. Claim the profile, or create it, then verify

   Search for your hotel on Google Maps first. If it is already there, request ownership instead of adding a second listing; if not, add it through Business Profile Manager with the hotel's name, address and category. You need to verify the profile before you can manage the hotel's details.²

3. 3. Fill in the hotel details and amenities

   In the profile's Hotel details section, search for each amenity you offer and save it. Google already shows a summary of amenities on Search and Maps from what it has gathered, and some appear as highlights such as free Wi-Fi, free parking or pet friendly, so correct anything wrong. You can add sustainability practices there as well. The free Google Business Profile audit has a checklist of what Google says a complete profile has.³

4. 4. Check your class rating

   The star class rating shown after your review score is set by Google, from third-party partners, its own research, feedback from hoteliers and machine learning over things like price, location, room size and amenities. It is a separate thing from your guests' rating. If yours is missing or looks wrong, contact Google's support from the class rating help page, since owners can't edit it.⁴

5. 5. Switch on free booking links

   Free booking links show your hotel or site name with your room rate for the guest's dates, and send a click straight to the landing page you choose. Google charges nothing for those clicks. If you use a reservation system, it may already be connected to Google and can set the links up for you; otherwise start in Google's Hotel Center. Google ranks the links on signals like price accuracy and landing page experience, and nobody can pay to move up.⁵

6. 6. Give the restaurant, bar or spa its own profile

   A restaurant, lounge, shop or spa that people can visit without staying with you can have its own Business Profile with its own category, such as Restaurant, and Google's support can mark it as located inside the hotel. The hotel's profile keeps the hotel category and doesn't add Restaurant. Google's inn category is different: it is for a restaurant, café, pub or brewery that also offers lodging, using fewer than 20 rooms.³

7. 7. Link a website that answers guests' questions

   Google's guidelines ask for a website that represents your individual property. Give each room type a page with its beds, view and what is included, and add one page on arriving: from the station or airport, where to park, check-in and check-out times. Those are the questions a guest still has after reading the map card, and the page they land on should answer them without a phone call.⁶

8. 8. Ask for reviews and reply to them

   Google's local ranking page counts reviews toward how well known a property is and says replying shows guests you value what they wrote. Ask at check-out, and put a Google review link on the confirmation email and the room card. Our guide to getting more Google reviews has more ways to ask.⁷

Checklist

• Lodging type and most specific category checked
• Profile claimed or created, then verified
• Hotel details and amenities filled in and corrected
• Class rating checked against your property
• Free booking links on through your reservation system or Hotel Center
• Separate profiles for a public restaurant, bar or spa
• A page per room type and one on getting there
• Review link on the confirmation email and room card

Written by Joseph Jang, Co-founder, PlacePilot