SEO for hotels that sends guests
to your own booking engine.
Humming Web’s SEO for hotels wins back the searches that currently end on Booking.com and Expedia: your hotel’s name, Google’s hotel results and “accommodation near me”. We work on your website, Google Business Profile and free booking links, then report on direct bookings.
Our SEO analyst will search your hotel like a guest and email where direct bookings slip away.
Trusted by Australian businesses
Why guests who want your hotel
still book through an OTA.
Online travel agencies earn their commission by being everywhere a guest looks. Most of the leaks we find fall into four groups.
- 01
OTAs sit above you for your own name.
A guest searches your hotel by name and the first clicks go to booking sites, so you pay commission on a guest who had already chosen you.
- 02
Your official site is missing from Google’s hotel prices.
Google shows room rates from booking sites next to your listing. Without a free booking link, your own rate isn’t in that list.
- 03
Room pages read like a brochure.
One page for every room type, no detail on beds, views or accessibility, and nothing for the searches guests actually make.
- 04
The website hands off badly.
A slow page, then a booking engine that looks like a different business. Guests go back to the site they trust.
Hotel SEO now includes
Google’s free booking links.
Free booking links put your own booking site and room rate in Google’s hotel results, next to the OTAs, and Google charges nothing for the clicks.
Per Google’s Hotel Center help on free booking links:
- Ranking draws on guest preference, value, landing page experience and price accuracy
- Nobody can pay for a higher free booking link position
- Many reservation systems already connect to Google, so ask your provider first
- Clicks appear in your Hotel Center reports
Price accuracy matters because Google measures it under its Price Accuracy Policy and uses it in ranking. We check your link, landing page and rates with your booking engine provider in Month 1.
- Official siteFree booking link · breakfast included$289
- Booking site ASponsored$289
- Booking site BFree cancellation$295
- Booking site CMember price$301
How guests search for
somewhere to stay.
Destination searches far outnumber “near me” searches, and every term in this table returns Google’s hotel results block, according to Semrush’s SERP feature data. That block is where free booking links and your Business Profile appear.
Coastal holiday towns lead the list. If your property is in Queensland’s tourism belt, our pages on local SEO on the Gold Coast and local SEO on the Sunshine Coast cover those markets. What it means for you: a hotel won’t rank for “accommodation” alone, but your Business Profile and booking link can appear inside these results for your town.
| Search term | Type | Monthly searches |
|---|---|---|
| accommodation | Broad | 74,000 |
| hotels | Broad | 49,500 |
| gold coast accommodation | Destination | 27,100 |
| noosa accommodation | Destination | 18,100 |
| hotel near me | Near me | 14,800 |
| byron bay accommodation | Destination | 12,100 |
| accommodation near me | Near me | 9,900 |
| hunter valley accommodation | Destination | 9,900 |
| hotels melbourne cbd | City area | 4,400 |
| cheap hotels sydney | Price led | 3,600 |
Where a direct booking
is won or lost.
A guest touches Google several times before booking. At each step, someone wins the click. Here’s where we put the work.
- 1 Step 1
Planning the trip
Usually won by: travel guides and OTAs
We write the local guides your guests need: what’s on, how to get there, where to eat nearby.
- 2 Step 2
Comparing hotels
Usually won by: Google hotel results
A complete Business Profile, real photos and a working free booking link put you in the comparison.
- 3 Step 3
Checking you out
Usually won by: review sites and OTAs
Room pages with real detail, and replies to every review, answer the questions guests check.
- 4 Step 4
Searching your name
Usually won by: whoever ranks first
Your site should own your name. We fix the homepage, sitelinks and brand searches that leak.
- 5 Step 5
Booking
Usually won by: the fastest checkout
Fast pages and a clean handoff to your booking engine keep the guest on your site.
Hotel SEO services
we deliver.
Hotel website SEO, Business Profile work and Google hotel results, run by one team. From $780/month incl. GST.
Paying commission on guests who searched your name?
Get a free audit showing where your direct bookings leak. No lock-in.
Your first 90 days,
timed before peak season.
Most properties see Business Profile and brand search gains within 6 to 12 weeks, with destination rankings building over 6 to 12 months. Start at least a season ahead of the period you most want to fill.
- 1 Month 1
Audit and booking tracking
- Website, Business Profile and brand search audit
- GA4 and booking engine tracking, so direct bookings are counted
- Free booking link and rate check with your provider
- Priority fixes, and a plan agreed with you
- 2 Month 2
Rooms and content
- Room and facility pages rewritten
- First destination guides published
- On-page SEO and internal linking
- 3 Month 3
Links and first report
- Links from local tourism, event and venue sites
- First full report and review call
After 90 days: the work continues month to month, with no lock-in contract.
What we report: direct
bookings before rankings.
A hotel SEO agency should report on bookings you didn’t pay commission for. Your monthly report, reviewed with you on a call, covers:
- Direct bookings and revenue from organic search
- Free booking link clicks from Hotel Center
- Brand searches won by your site, not an OTA
- Business Profile calls, website clicks and directions
- Rankings for your town and room-type searches
- Mentions in AI search answers
Not sure where to start? Our SEO audit services give you a one-off view first.
What changed: new room pages and a fixed booking link landing page. Next month: school holiday guides.
Tourism, travel
and local search.
Hotels share guests with tour operators and local businesses. These pages cover the rest of the visitor economy, and our SEO by industry hub lists every sector.
Travel businesses
Tour operators, experiences and agents working with the seasons.
SEO for travel businessesGold Coast
Map pack work for a city built on visitors.
Gold Coast local SEOSunshine Coast
From Caloundra to Noosa, town by town.
Sunshine Coast local SEOReal estate
Holiday lets and property management searches.
SEO for real estateThe team behind
your hotel SEO.
Four people, the same from day one. Your account executive works with your front office and revenue manager.
SEO lead
Sets priorities around your peak and shoulder seasons.
SEO analyst
Handles booking tracking, free booking links and reports.
Content writer
Writes room pages and destination guides.
Account executive
Your day-to-day contact and monthly review call.
Hotel SEO questions.
What is SEO for hotels?
SEO for hotels is the work of getting your property found on Google, Google Maps, Google's hotel results and AI search, so more guests book direct. It covers your Business Profile, free booking links, room and destination pages, site speed, reviews and booking tracking.
How much does hotel SEO cost?
SEO for a hotel with Humming Web costs between $1,000 and $5,000 monthly, set by the number of properties and room types, how competitive your destination is and how much booking engine tracking needs fixing first. Our SEO pricing page lists the factors. Local SEO starts from $780/month.
How long does hotel SEO take?
Most properties see Business Profile and brand search gains in 6 to 12 weeks and destination rankings building over 6 to 12 months. Start at least a season before the period you most want to fill.
Can SEO reduce our reliance on Booking.com and Expedia?
Yes, partly. SEO wins back brand searches, Google hotel result clicks and returning guests, which lowers the share of bookings that carry commission. Most hotels still keep OTAs for reach, especially with international and last-minute guests.
What are Google free booking links?
Free booking links are unpaid listings in Google's hotel results that show your booking site and room rate next to the OTAs, with no cost per click. Many reservation systems connect to Google already, so your provider can often switch them on.
Is local SEO for hotels different from other local SEO?
The main difference is that local SEO for hotels competes inside Google's hotel results, with prices and OTAs alongside the map. Guests also search from far away, so destination content matters more than the "near me" searches most local businesses chase.
Do you work with motels, apartments and holiday parks?
Yes. Motels, serviced apartments, B&Bs and holiday parks follow the same approach, scaled to the number of rooms or sites. Regional properties can move faster when fewer nearby competitors invest in their websites.
Do guest reviews help a hotel rank on Google?
Yes. Google says review count and review score count towards local ranking, and guests read reviews before choosing. Ask every guest for a review after checkout, reply to each one and fix the issues reviews keep raising. Future guests read your replies to negative reviews as closely as the reviews themselves.
How do you measure direct bookings from SEO?
We measure direct bookings by tracking the full path from search to your booking engine. That means GA4 set up across your website and booking engine, call tracking, and free booking link clicks from your Hotel Center reports. Your monthly report puts commission-free bookings ahead of rankings.
Stop paying commission on
guests who searched your name.
Your free audit searches your hotel like a guest, across brand, destination and Google hotel results, then lists where direct bookings slip to OTAs.
- Business Profile and booking link
- Room and destination pages
- Direct bookings reported monthly
- No lock-in contract
