How To Conduct an SEO Audit: A Step-By-Step Guide To Checking & Maintaining the Health of Your Hotel Website

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through how to audit a hotel’s SEO to maintain your site’s health, keep your content competitive and ensure you stay at the top of the search results.

Hotels should audit their site’s SEO regularly to optimize its performance and help them stand out in the competitive hospitality industry. A well-optimized hotel website not only attracts organic traffic but also enhances the user experience, leading to more direct bookings and greater customer satisfaction. This isn’t a one-and-done process — a hotel’s SEO must be monitored and revisited to maintain its performance.

Without conducting ongoing hotel SEO audits, even the best marketer or top agency can be surprised by a decline in rankings, broken links and poor performance. These factors ultimately impact visibility and direct bookings. 

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through how to audit a hotel’s SEO to maintain your site’s health, keep your content competitive and ensure you stay at the top of the search results.

Understanding the Basics of a Website Audit for SEO What Is an SEO Audit for a Hotel?

An SEO audit is a thorough evaluation of a hotel website’s performance related to search engine optimization best practices. It identifies technical issues, content gaps,and other factors that may affect the site’s ability to rank well in search engines. The audit analyzes everything from keyword optimization to mobile usability, site speed and backlink quality, providing a comprehensive look at how well the site is positioned to attract guests and convert visitors.

Why Is an SEO Audit Important?

Search Engine Optimization is essential for independent and boutique hotels to attract potential guests and provide a satisfactory user experience to website visitors — an audit tells you if you’re on the right track. 

Conducting frequent SEO audits helps keep your website competitive by identifying opportunities to outrank larger chains and local competitors. These audits measure performance factors like fast load times, mobile responsiveness and seamless navigation that directly influence both user satisfaction and search engine rankings. Finally, regular audits help maintain or improve your hotel’s position in search engine results, keeping your website discoverable by travelers searching for accommodations in your area.

10-Step SEO Audit for Hotels Step 1: Check Your Hotel Website’s Indexing & Crawlability

The initial and most fundamental step in any hotel’s SEO audit is to check that the site is properly indexed and crawlable by search engines. If search engines like Google cannot find, crawl or index your site, it will be virtually invisible in search results — no matter how exceptional your content or design might be. 

Here are some of our favorite tools to audit your hotel’s website for indexing and crawl errors:

As a note, we use noindex as shorthand for meta robots tags, as both can be used in these situations.

Google Search Console

Google’s free tool allows you to monitor and troubleshoot SEO for hotels, including the site’s presence in search results. Key features include:

• Checking which pages are indexed
• Submitting sitemaps
• Viewing crawl errors and coverage issues
• Checking the index status of specific pages

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

This desktop-based tool crawls websites and identifies issues affecting indexability. Key features include:

• Finding broken links (404 errors)
• Auditing redirect chains and canonical issues
• Identifying noindex pages and missing metadata

SEMrush Site Audit Tool

SEMrush is a full SEO audit tool that highlights technical issues affecting indexability for hotel websites. Key features include:

• Crawlability and indexability checks
• Reports on pages with noindex tags or those blocked by robots.txt
• Finding missing sitemaps and canonical errors

Moz Pro Site Crawl

Moz Pro is an all-in-one SEO tool with a crawl and audit function. Key features include:

• Detecting crawl issues like missing pages, blocked URLs and noindex tags.
• Tracking page errors and duplicate content issues
• Providing prioritized recommendations for fixing indexability issues

Ensure All Important Pages Are Indexed

Ideally, all key pages (your home page, rooms, amenities, blog posts, etc.) should be indexed. If a hotel’s SEO audit shows important pages are missing, this could be due to improper settings in your robots.txt file or noindex tags, both of which prevent certain pages from being crawled and indexed. Here are three steps to ensure all important pages are indexed on your hotel website:

1. Submit an XML Sitemap

• What it does: An XML sitemap provides search engines with a roadmap of your website, listing all important pages you want indexed.
• How to do it:

  • Generate a sitemap using tools like Yoast SEO (for WordPress), Screaming Frog or XML-sitemaps.com.
  • Submit the sitemap in Google Search Console under Sitemaps and in Bing Webmaster Tools so it’s accessible to search engines.
  • Regularly update and resubmit your sitemap after making changes to your site.
  • We’ll dive deeper into sitemaps further in this article.

2. Check for Crawl Blocks (Robots.txt)

• What it does: The robots.txt file tells search engines which parts of your site should or shouldn’t be crawled.
• How to do it:

  • Review your robots.txt file to ensure it isn’t accidentally blocking important pages. It should not include directives that disallow important areas like your homepage, blog or service pages.
  • You can check the robots.txt settings in Google Search Console under Crawl > robots.txt Tester.

3. Check for Noindex Tags

• What it does: A noindex meta tag tells search engines not to index a particular page.
• How to do it:

  • Use a tool like Screaming Frog to scan your site and check for noindex tags.
  • Ensure that important pages (like your room listings, service pages and blog content) are not marked with noindex.
  • If any critical pages have noindex tags, remove them and allow search engines to index those pages.

Detect Crawl Errors and Fix Broken Links

Crawl errors occur when a search engine tries to access a page on your hotel’s site but fails. This could be due to server issues, broken links or pages that have been deleted. If you conduct an SEO audit for your hotel using Google Search Console, the “Crawl” report will show you any crawl errors. Screaming Frog also flags broken links and other crawl-related issues.

Broken links are not a one-size-fits-all problem. In many cases, 5xx and no-response links deserve attention similar to the 4xx links you’re likely familiar with. And certain 4xx links will be valid scenarios that you can ignore. For example, 403s are common on sites like Vimeo where they just don’t want crawlers hitting certain URLs. Make sure to inspect each broken link on a case-by-case basis.

Once identified, fixing these errors is essential. For broken links, either update the link to a valid URL or remove it. For missing or deleted pages, consider adding a 301 redirect to guide users and search engines to a relevant page. Ensuring all pages are properly indexed and free of crawl errors will set a solid foundation for the rest of your hotel’s SEO audit.

Step 2: Audit the Hotel’s On-Page SEO

On-page SEO factors are critical to improving your website’s visibility and providing a smooth user experience. Optimizing hotel content makes it easier for search engines to understand what’s on your pages and rank them accordingly. This step of the SEO audit focuses on key on-page elements, such as title tags, meta descriptions, headings, URL structure and more, which all contribute to improved rankings for your hotel website.

Title Tags and Meta Descriptions 

Each page should have a unique, concise title tag that includes relevant target keywords or phrases related to its respective topic. The recommended number of characters for a title tag is 50–60 characters.

Tip: If you’re running into issues with the character limit, consider removing branding from your title tags to make room for more keyword context.

A meta description should summarize the page’s content in a compelling way while incorporating relevant target keywords or phrases related to its respective topic. The ideal length for a meta description is between 120 and 158 characters.

Heading Structure

For headings, use a proper structure (H1 for the main title, H2 for subheadings, etc.) to break up content and make it easier for users to digest and search engines to follow. Your H1 should clearly reflect the page’s primary focus and include your target keyword. You can determine your key search terms through comprehensive keyword research. 

Image Alt Text 

Ensuring that every image on your website has descriptive alt text helps search engines understand what each image represents. It can bolster overall SEO efforts as well as provide an additional opportunity for keyword placement, when it makes sense. For a hotel website, this could be as simple as “Spacious oceanfront king suite in [Destination] at [Hotel Name].” 

Tip: Additionally, you can optimize image file names by including keywords (and this is helpful for any users on the backend, too). Instead of “hotel1.jpg”, consider using “chicago-hotel-suite.jpg”.

Alt text also improves accessibility for visually impaired users and supports ADA compliance. 

Importance of Keyword Placement in Content

Strategic keyword integration is key to helping search engines understand the relevance of your content. For hotel websites, this means including hotel-specific keywords like “boutique hotel in [City Name],” “family-friendly hotel” or “best hotels near [Local Landmark]” naturally throughout your website’s content. 

For example, on a page about rooms, use keywords such as “luxury king suite in downtown Los Angeles” or “boutique hotel with ocean views in Miami.” 

While incorporating keywords is important for success, hotel marketers should avoid keyword stuffing, which can negatively impact rankings. Instead, focus on delivering valuable, relevant content for your users.

Ensure URLs are SEO-Friendly

URL structure is another important aspect of on-page SEO for hotels. Verify that your URLs are short, descriptive and contain relevant keywords. For example, a page showcasing your hotel’s suites should have a URL like www.yourhotel.com/myrtle-beach-accommodations instead of something like www.yourhotel.com/page12345. 

Ensure that URLs follow a proper hierarchy, as well. A parent page is a top-level page that sits at the top of a website’s hierarchy. In other words, it’s the main page from which child pages are created. A child page cannot exist without a parent page. The parent’s URL slug is shared with all of its child pages, helping to easily distinguish them within the site structure. For example, a child page of www.yourhotel.com/myrtle-beach-accommodations might be www.yourhotel.com/myrtle-beach-accommodations/two-bedroom-suite.

Avoid using special characters or lengthy strings in your URLs, as they can confuse both users and search engines. A clean, keyword-rich URL makes it easier for search engines to index your pages and offers visitors a clear idea of what to expect.

Tip: In URLs, hyphens are treated as spaces but underscores are not, so “my-hotel” reads like “my hotel” whereas “my_hotel” reads like “myhotel”.

Step 3: Evaluate the Hotel’s Core Web Vitals

Google was clear when they named their site performance metric Core Web Vitals — they want your site to be healthy. This metric measures loading performance, interactivity and visual stability, which together form the root of a user’s experience on a site.

Site speed and performance play a crucial role in both user experience and search rankings. A slow-loading website frustrates visitors and negatively impacts your search engine rankings. In fact, Google uses site speed as a ranking factor, especially for mobile searches. Ensuring your hotel website loads quickly and performs well across devices is essential for attracting potential guests and driving conversions. 

Here’s how to audit a hotel’s website’s speed and performance:

Tools to Measure Page Speed

Various tools can measure a site’s speed and diagnose performance issues. Some handy speed audit tools for hotels include:

• Google PageSpeed Insights: This free tool from Google provides a detailed analysis of your website’s speed for both desktop and mobile. It offers actionable suggestions for improving load times, such as image compression and reducing render-blocking JavaScript.
• GTmetrix: This comprehensive performance analysis tool provides detailed insights into your hotel’s site speed, including page load times, total page size and the number of requests. It also gives you a visual breakdown of how different elements (like images, CSS and JavaScript) impact performance.
• Lighthouse: This open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages can audit performance, accessibility, SEO and more. It’s available through Chrome’s Dev Tools.
• Search Console’s Page Experience Report: This identifies page speed and other Core Web Vitals issues.

Optimize Images, Scripts and CSS

Some of the most common factors affecting page speed are large or unoptimized images, third-party scripts and bloated CSS. 

Here’s how to address key elements affecting performance:

• Image Optimization: Compressing and optimizing images without sacrificing quality can significantly reduce load times. Use tools like TinyPNG or ShortPixel to compress large images. Make sure to use the correct file formats (e.g., JPEG for photographs, PNG for images with transparency). Use responsive images (via srcset) to deliver appropriately sized images based on the user’s device.
• Minify CSS and JavaScript: Minification removes unnecessary characters like spaces, comments and formatting from code files, reducing their size. Tools like Minify, UglifyJS and Autoptimize (for WordPress) can help streamline your CSS and JavaScript files.
• Defer Loading of JavaScript: Prevent large JavaScript files from blocking the rendering of your webpage by deferring their load. Tools like WP Rocket (for WordPress) or manual configuration can delay non-essential scripts, ensuring the core content loads faster.

Importance of Page Speed for a Hotel’s SEO

Fast load times are critical SEO factors for hotel rankings in search engines; improving these also enhances the user experience. Studies show that even a one-second delay in load time can reduce conversions by up to seven percent. For hotel websites, this could mean lost bookings or guests choosing a competitor with a faster, more accessible site.

Here are additional reasons a hotel’s website speed matters:

• Lower Bounce Rates: Keeping load times under three seconds helps retain visitors. Slow websites lead to higher bounce rates, where users leave the site before it even loads. 
• Improved Search Engine Rankings: Google favors fast-loading websites in its ranking algorithm, especially for mobile searches. Ensuring your site loads quickly can give you an edge over competitors in search results.
• Better User Experience: A fast website ensures that potential guests can easily browse through room listings, check availability and complete bookings without frustration.

Step 4: Conduct a Mobile Usability Audit for the Hotel’s Site

Mobile optimization is no longer optional — it’s a must-have for any hotel website that wants to capture modern travelers. With a significant portion of hotel bookings now being made via mobile devices, your hotel’s website must offer a seamless mobile experience to attract and retain guests. A mobile-friendly site improves both user experience and search engine rankings, as Google has adopted a mobile-first indexing approach, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of your site for ranking and indexing.

Importance of Mobile Optimization for Hotel Websites

By offering a smooth, responsive experience, your website can cater to users across all devices, making it easy for them to navigate, check room availability and complete bookings without hassle.

Check for Mobile Usability Errors

To ensure your hotel website is mobile-friendly, utilize tools to highlight key areas where your site may fall short, such as text size, touchpoint spacing or unresponsive content.

Some common mobile usability issues to watch for include:

• Touchpoint Sizes: Buttons and links that are too small can frustrate mobile users, making it difficult for them to navigate your website or complete bookings. Ensure all buttons and interactive elements are large enough to be tapped easily, with sufficient spacing between them.
• Mobile Load Times: Page speed is critical for users who often rely on slower mobile networks. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse to assess your mobile load times and identify areas for improvement, such as image optimization, lazy loading or reducing unnecessary JavaScript.
• Responsive Design: Your website should automatically adjust to different screen sizes without losing functionality or readability. Test your site on various devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) to confirm images, text and navigation elements display correctly across all platforms. Device simulators and testing tools such as BrowserStack can help with this.

By addressing these mobile usability issues, you’ll create a user-friendly experience that encourages potential guests to stay on your site longer and enables them to easily navigate through your offerings, ultimately increasing bookings and improving your hotel’s overall SEO.

Step 5: Review Hotel Content for Relevance & Quality

Content is at the heart of every successful SEO strategy. For independent and boutique hotel websites, creating and maintaining fresh, engaging and relevant content is essential for attracting potential guests and keeping your site competitive in search rankings. In this step of our hotel SEO audit, you will focus on analyzing current content and refining your strategy to align with user’s needs and best practices.

Importance of Fresh, Engaging Content for SEO

Search engines prioritize websites that regularly publish fresh, high-quality content. Engaging content signals to Google that your website is active and valuable to users, which can positively impact your rankings. For hotels, this means offering content that appeals to travelers, such as comprehensive room descriptions, area guides and blog articles about local attractions, events and more.

Regularly updating and optimizing your content not only improves organic metrics, but also enhances the user experience by providing guests with relevant news about your hotel, nearby events and travel resources. Search engines favor content that answers users’ questions and provides helpful, timely information, making fresh, high-quality content a critical SEO factor for a hotel’s visibility.

Conduct Content Audits

A content audit is a systematic review of your hotel website’s existing blogs and landing pages to make sure they are still relevant, up to date and optimized for search. Start by identifying key areas of focus:

• Update Old Content: Look for outdated blog posts, inaccurate room descriptions or expired special offers. For example, a post about local events from 2019 should be refreshed with current information about upcoming events or seasonal activities near your hotel.
• Incorporate New Offers and Services: Regularly update your pages with the latest hotel offers, packages and services. This could include discounts for early bookings, honeymoon packages or partnerships with local attractions.
• Add Local Events and Attractions: Highlight events and popular attractions near your hotel to capture search queries and traffic around tourism and travel. For instance, if your hotel is located near a famous festival, add a dedicated section or blog post with details, dates and tips for attendees. 

By regularly conducting content audits for your hotel, you can enhance your website’s SEO so it stays relevant and offers valuable information that resonates with your target audience.

Focus on Blog Strategy

Your hotel’s blog is a powerful tool for driving traffic and ranking for travel-related queries. A well-crafted blog strategy can help position your hotel as an authority on local attractions and experiences, while also improving your organic search performance. 

Here’s how to structure your blog content:

• Rank for Destination and Local Keywords: Focus on creating blog posts that target specific destination-related search terms, such as “best places to visit in [City],” “things to do near [Hotel]” or “top restaurants in [Destination].” These keywords help you capture traffic from travelers in the planning phase of their next vacation.
• Incorporate Travel Tips and Guides: Write informative blog posts that offer travel tips, guides or itineraries for potential guests. For example, a post on “Top 10 Things to Do Near [Hotel Name]” not only provides helpful content but also keeps visitors on your site longer, improving engagement metrics. 
• Feature Seasonal and Event-Based Content: Create content around local events, festivals or seasonal activities to capture search traffic during peak travel seasons. For instance, if your hotel is in a ski town, write blog posts about “Winter Activities in [Destination]” to attract visitors searching for winter travel ideas.

 To dive deeper into strategies for creating high-ranking content, check out our comprehensive guide.

Step 6: Audit Backlinks to the Hotel’s Site Importance of Backlinks for SEO

Backlinks — links from other websites to your own — serve as “votes of confidence” in the eyes of search engines. High-quality backlinks from authoritative and relevant websites signal to search engines that your content is valuable, which helps boost your rankings. For independent and boutique hotels, securing backlinks from travel blogs, local business websites and tourism boards can significantly increase your visibility in search results, driving more traffic to your site.

However, not all backlinks are created equal. Links from low-quality or spammy sites can actually harm your optimization efforts, so it’s crucial to audit your backlink profile regularly to ensure you’re building a healthy and authoritative link network.

Tools for Checking Backlink Profiles

To effectively audit a hotel’s backlinks, you’ll need to use SEO tools that can analyze your site’s link profile and provide insights into both positive and negative backlinks. Here are some of the top tools:

• Moz Link Explorer: Moz provides a detailed overview of your site’s backlink profile, including domain authority, linking domains and anchor text used. It also helps you spot potentially harmful backlinks and offers suggestions for improving your link-building efforts.
• SEMrush: SEMrush’s backlink audit tool helps you monitor the health of your backlink profile and spot any toxic links. It also provides outreach features to help you find new backlink opportunities.

Regularly reviewing your backlink profile with these tools will help you maintain a strong, healthy link network that boosts your organic performance.

Create a Strategy to Build High-Quality Backlinks

Building high-quality backlinks requires a proactive strategy focused on relationships and value-driven content. Here are a few approaches specifically suited for hotel websites:

• Local Partnerships: Establish relationships with local businesses, tourism boards and event organizers to create opportunities for mutual backlinks. For example, you could collaborate with nearby restaurants, attractions or travel guides to feature your hotel on their websites.
• Travel Blogs and Influencers: Reach out to travel bloggers and influencers to review your hotel or create content featuring your property. Many travel blogs include hotel roundups, destination guides or experience reviews, all of which provide valuable backlink opportunities.
• Online PR and Guest Posting: Write guest posts or articles for industry-related websites or local news outlets. When relevant, include backlinks to your hotel website to gain exposure and SEO benefits. For instance, a guest post on “Best Hotels for a Romantic Getaway in [Destination]” could link back to your property.
• Create Shareable Content: Develop high-quality, shareable content like travel guides, infographics or event calendars that other websites may want to reference and link back to. Hotel content that offers value to travelers or local audiences is more likely to attract backlinks.

By building partnerships and creating compelling content, you can develop a long-term backlink strategy that enhances your site’s authority and improves your hotel’s search engine rankings.

Step 7: Review Internal Website Links Review Internal Linking Structure to Improve Navigation and Optimization

Internal links — the links that connect pages within your website — are equally important for SEO and the user experience. A well-structured internal linking system helps search engines understand the hierarchy of your website and allows users to navigate your content more easily.

Here’s how to audit and optimize a hotel website’s internal linking structure:

• Ensure Key Pages Are Linked: Make sure that your most important pages — such as room listings, amenities and booking pages — are linked from multiple relevant pages across your site. This not only improves the user experience but also signals to search engines that these pages are critical to your site.
• Use Descriptive Anchor Text: When adding internal links, use descriptive anchor text that includes relevant keywords. For example, instead of using “click here,” use phrases like “luxury beachfront rooms” or “boutique hotel in [destination].” This helps search engines understand the context of the linked page.
• Avoid Orphan Pages: Orphan pages are those that are not linked to from any other page on your site. These pages are difficult for search engines to find and index. Ensure every important page is connected through at least one internal link. 
• Optimize Navigation and Sitemaps: Review your site’s main navigation and footer to ensure important pages are easily accessible. Additionally, make sure your XML sitemap is up to date and accurately reflects your site structure to help search engines crawl and index all of your pages.

By regularly auditing your internal links and making improvements, you can create a more user-friendly website that performs better in SERPs.

Step 8: Enhance the Hotel’s Local SEO

For independent and boutique hotels, optimizing for local search is one of the most critical elements of SEO. Local SEO focuses on ensuring that your hotel shows up when travelers search for accommodations near your location. By optimizing your website for local search, you can drive more bookings directly from search engines and stand out in your community. In this step, we’ll cover key aspects of local SEO, including Google My Business, NAP consistency, and leveraging local reviews and keywords.

Optimizing Your Hotel Website for Local Search

Local search optimization is essential for any hotel that wants to capture guests searching for accommodations in a specific area. Here are some crucial components to get correct:

• Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business): Having a well-optimized Google Business Profile is the foundation of local SEO. Make sure your Google Business Profile is fully filled out with accurate details, including your hotel’s name, address, phone number, website link, business hours and photos of your property. Regularly update this information to reflect any changes, such as seasonal operating hours or new amenities.
• Local Citations: Local citations refer to mentions of your business’s NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) on other websites, such as travel directories, local listing sites and online review platforms. Ensuring your hotel is listed in directories like Yelp and TripAdvisor, as well as local tourism websites, can help search engines confirm your business’s legitimacy and improve local rankings.

Ensure NAP Consistency Across Platforms

One of the most important factors in local SEO is ensuring that your NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) is consistent across all platforms, including your website, Google Business listing, social media profiles and online directories. Inconsistent information can confuse search engines and potential guests, which may negatively impact your local rankings.

Here’s how to ensure NAP consistency:

• Check your listings: Use tools like Moz Local or Whitespark to audit your business’s citations across the web and identify any inconsistencies in your NAP details.
• Update incorrect information: If you find discrepancies in your hotel’s name, address or phone number across directories, update them immediately. Consistency helps search engines trust the accuracy of your information, leading to better rankings in local search results.
• Monitor your NAP regularly: As your hotel grows or experiences changes, it’s essential to keep your NAP up to date. Establish a system for monitoring and updating your details on all platforms whenever any changes occur.

Focus on Google Maps, Reviews and Local Keywords

Local SEO also involves optimizing your hotel’s presence in Google Maps, gathering guest reviews and strategically using local keywords throughout your website content.

• Google Maps Optimization: Your hotel’s Google Maps listing plays a key role in local search visibility. When travelers search for hotels “near me,” Google Maps results often appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). To ensure your hotel ranks well in Google Maps, make sure your Google Business Profile is fully optimized.
• Guest Reviews: Reviews are a critical ranking factor for local SEO. Hotels with high ratings and a consistent flow of reviews are more likely to appear at the top of local search results. Encourage guests to leave positive reviews by sending follow-up emails after their stay or by providing a link to your Google Business page on your website or booking confirmation emails.
• Local Keywords: Targeting local keywords is vital for your content strategy. Incorporate phrases that include your hotel’s location and popular attractions nearby. For example, instead of just using the term “luxury hotel,” use “luxury hotel in [City Name]” or “boutique hotel near [Famous Landmark].” These keywords should be naturally integrated into your website’s pages, including room descriptions, blog posts and meta descriptions.

Step 9: Audit the Hotel’s Technical SEO

A technical SEO audit focuses on the backend elements of your website that affect its ability to be crawled and indexed by search engines. Performing regular technical SEO audits for a hotel ensures that the site is fully optimized for search engines, secure for users and prepared to handle mobile traffic. In this step, we’ll cover how to audit a hotel’s technical SEO.

Ensure Proper Use of Schema Markup (Hotel-Specific Structured Data)

Schema markup, also known as structured data, is a powerful tool that helps search engines more effectively understand the content on your website. Adding hotel-specific schema markup can enhance your hotel’s visibility in search results by displaying rich snippets — such as pricing, ratings and availability — directly in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

• Hotel Schema Markup: Use the Hotel schema to provide search engines with details about your property, such as room types, amenities, location and availability. This structured data helps search engines provide more relevant information to users looking for accommodations, increasing your chances of attracting clicks. Your hotel name, address, star rating, room offerings, check-in/check-out times, amenities and guest reviews are all examples of data to include.
• Test Your Schema Markup: Use tools like Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool or Schema.org to validate your schema markup and ensure it’s correctly implemented. This helps prevent errors that could keep your rich snippets from appearing in search results.

Ensure XML Sitemap and Robots.txt Files Are Set Up Correctly

Your hotel website’s XML sitemap and robots.txt file are critical components of technical SEO. These files tell search engines how to crawl and index your website, so it’s important that they are set up properly and optimized.

• XML Sitemap: Your XML sitemap lists all important pages on your website, helping search engines discover and crawl them. Ensure your sitemap is up to date and includes all relevant pages, such as room listings, amenities, blog posts and booking pages.

  • As mentioned above, you can generate an XML sitemap using plugins like Yoast SEO (for WordPress) or online tools like Screaming Frog. Once created, submit your sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to help search engines index your site effectively.

• Robots.txt: This file tells search engines which pages or sections of your website they should or shouldn’t crawl. Ensure that your robots.txt file isn’t inadvertently blocking important pages like your homepage or service pages.

  • You can test your robots.txt file in Google Search Console under the “Robots.txt Tester” tool to ensure it’s configured correctly.

Canonical Tags

Canonical tags are essential for preventing duplicate content issues that can hurt your SEO performance. Duplicate content confuses search engines, which may not know which version of a page to prioritize in search rankings.

• Canonical Tag Usage: Use canonical tags to tell search engines which version of a page is the primary one when similar content exists across multiple URLs. For example, if you have different URLs for the same room type (e.g., /king-suite and /king-suite/?sort=price), the canonical tag should point to the main URL (e.g., /king-suite).
• Check for Canonical Issues: Tools like Screaming Frog and Ahrefs can help you identify any pages missing canonical tags or pages where the wrong canonical URL is specified.

Step 10: Check for Website Security Issues

A secure website is vital for protecting your guests’ sensitive data, but security also plays a crucial role in SEO. Search engines like Google prioritize secure sites in their rankings. For independent and boutique hotels, ensuring your website is secure not only builds trust with potential guests, but also improves your chances of ranking higher in search engine results. 

Key Security Checks for a Hotel’s SEO Audit

To maintain a secure website, you need to implement and regularly monitor a range of security measures. Here’s how to check and improve your hotel website’s security:

• SSL Encryption (HTTPS): The most basic and essential security measure is having an SSL certificate. SSL encrypts data transferred between your website and users, protecting sensitive information during transactions, bookings and inquiries. Without SSL, your website will display as “Not Secure” in browsers, which can lead to lost trust and conversions.

  • How to Check: Ensure your website’s URL starts with “https://” instead of “http://.” You can use tools like SSL Labs to test your SSL certificate and identify any vulnerabilities.

• Malware Scans: Regularly scan your website for malware, which can compromise your site’s performance and security. Malware attacks can lead to stolen customer data, unwanted ads on your site or even complete site takeovers. Search engines also penalize websites infected with malware, which can result in a drop in rankings or even removal from search results.

  • How to Scan: Use website security tools like Sucuri, SiteLock or Wordfence (for WordPress) to perform regular malware scans. These tools can detect vulnerabilities, malware infections and potential backdoors on your site.

• Firewall Protection: A web application firewall (WAF) adds another layer of security by blocking malicious traffic before it reaches your website. It helps prevent common cyberattacks like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS) and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

  • How to Implement: Many website security platforms, such as Cloudflare or Sucuri, offer WAF services that protect your hotel website from external threats.

• Secure Your Admin Area: Your website’s backend (admin area) is particularly vulnerable to attacks, especially if weak passwords or outdated software are in use. Strengthen your website’s defenses by ensuring strong, unique passwords for all users and by implementing two-factor authentication (2FA) where possible.

  • How to Secure Admin Area: Use plugins like Limit Login Attempts or iThemes Security for WordPress to limit login attempts and block suspicious IP addresses.

• Regularly Update Software and Plugins: Outdated CMS (Content Management System), plugins or themes can introduce security vulnerabilities that hackers exploit. Keeping your website’s software up to date helps close any security loopholes.

  • How to Check: Regularly check for updates on your CMS (e.g., WordPress) and ensure all plugins and themes are updated. Use a staging environment to test updates before applying them to your live site.

• Backup Your Website Regularly: In the event of a security breach or malware infection, having a backup ensures that you can quickly restore your website to its previous state. Automated daily backups help minimize downtime and reduce the impact of security issues.

  • How to Backup: Use services like UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy or your hosting provider’s built-in backup solutions to schedule regular backups. Make sure backups are stored in a secure, offsite location.

By performing these security checks and implementing robust security measures, you can protect your guests’ sensitive information, maintain a trustworthy website and ensure a smooth booking experience for potential customers. Knowing how to audit a hotel’s security measures not only safeguards the business but also improves your chances of ranking higher in search results by providing a secure browsing experience for users.

Maintaining a Hotel’s SEO Health Over Time

Keeping your hotel website in peak condition requires consistent effort and regular monitoring. While a comprehensive SEO audit is crucial for identifying immediate issues, maintaining long-term health involves a sustained approach to ensure your website remains competitive and continues to attract guests. 

Frequency of Hotel SEO Audits

SEO is not a one-time task — search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, your competitors are actively working to improve their own rankings and the travel landscape is ever-changing. Regular SEO audits helps hotels keep up with these changes, ensuring your website stays healthy and continues to perform well in SERPs.

• Monthly SEO Audits: A monthly mini-audit allows you to stay on top of critical issues that can arise unexpectedly, such as broken links or changes in keyword rankings. 
• Quarterly SEO Audits: A deeper quarterly audit is ideal for reviewing the technical aspects of your website. Over time, technical issues such as slow page load times, crawl errors or schema markup problems can arise, impacting performance if left unresolved. 
• Annual SEO Audits: An annual SEO audit allows you to take a broad look at your hotel website’s performance over the past year and make strategic adjustments. 

How To Track Optimizations and Progress with Tools

Consistent tracking of your website’s organic performance is critical to maintaining long-term success. A range of tools can help you monitor your site’s health, track changes and measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts. 

Here’s how to use some of the most effective tools:

• Google Search Console: This free tool is essential for monitoring your website’s visibility in Google’s search results. Use it to track search queries, impressions, click-through rates and keyword rankings. Google Search Console also alerts you to any technical issues, such as crawl errors, security problems or mobile usability issues, allowing you to address them promptly.

  • How to Use: Check the “Performance” report regularly to monitor which keywords drive traffic to your site and to assess overall site health. Use the “Coverage” report to identify indexing issues and resolve errors.

• Google Analytics: Use Google Analytics to track organic traffic trends, user behavior and conversions. For hotel websites, it’s important to monitor how many visitors are reaching your booking engine and how often those visits convert into bookings.

  • How to Use: Set up goals in Google Analytics to track key actions like room inquiries, bookings or sign-ups for special offers. Monitor the behavior flow report to see how users navigate your website and where they may be dropping off.

• Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush: These tools offer in-depth insights into your backlink profile, keyword rankings and competitive analysis. They also provide valuable data on your site’s health by identifying issues such as toxic backlinks, broken internal links or missing meta tags.

  • How to Use: Use these tools to monitor keyword performance, track your hotel site’s rankings relative to competitors and identify opportunities to gain new backlinks. You can also set up alerts to notify you of any sudden ranking drops or technical SEO issues.

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider: This tool allows you to audit your hotel’s website to detect technical SEO issues such as broken links, duplicate content or missing metadata.

  • How to Use: Run monthly or quarterly crawls to identify and fix SEO issues before they impact rankings. Screaming Frog can also help with ensuring proper use of canonical tags and internal linking.

SEO Audit Resources for Hotels

Search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, and what works today might not work tomorrow. Stay up to date on the latest SEO trends and Google updates by following industry blogs, subscribing to industry newsletters and more. 

Here are some favorite hotel SEO resources our agency experts recommend:

Top SEO Websites & Blogs

1. Moz Blog

   • Website: moz.com/blog
   • Why It’s Great: Moz is one of the leading authorities in SEO. Their blog covers everything from beginner to advanced SEO topics, including keyword research, link building and algorithm updates. They also provide practical tips and strategies you can implement on your website.

2. Search Engine Journal (SEJ)

   • Website: searchenginejournal.com
   • Why It’s Great: SEJ is a comprehensive resource offering news, guides and how-tos related to SEO, PPC, content marketing and social media. It’s a go-to source for the latest industry updates and algorithm changes.

3. Search Engine Land

   • Website: searchengineland.com
   • Why It’s Great: Search Engine Land covers breaking news on search engines, updates on Google’s algorithm, SEO tips and strategies. They also focus on local SEO, paid search and technical SEO.

4. Ahrefs Blog

   • Website: ahrefs.com/blog 
   • Why It’s Great: Ahrefs is a leading SEO tool, and their blog offers valuable insights into practical SEO strategies, link-building techniques, keyword research and competitive analysis.

5. Neil Patel Blog

   • Website: neilpatel.com/blog 
   • Why It’s Great: Neil Patel is a well-known digital marketing expert, and his blog covers SEO, content marketing and traffic growth strategies. The content is actionable and suitable for beginners as well as more experienced marketers.

6. SEMrush Blog

   • Website: semrush.com/blog 
   • Why It’s Great: The SEMrush blog covers a wide range of SEO and digital marketing topics through detailed case studies, actionable tips and expert interviews. It’s an excellent resource for hotels to stay up-to-date with SEO trends.

7. Backlinko

   • Website: backlinko.com
   • Why It’s Great: Brian Dean’s Backlinko is a goldmine for detailed, in-depth guides on SEO, link building and content marketing. The blog features comprehensive posts that are easy to follow and implement.

8. Yoast SEO Blog

   • Website: yoast.com/seo-blog
   • Why It’s Great: Yoast is well-known for its WordPress SEO plugin, and their blog offers practical SEO tips for website optimization, focusing on technical SEO, content optimization and usability.

SEO Newsletters

1. Moz Top 10

   • Sign Up: moz.com/community/moz-top-10 
   • Why It’s Great: This bi-monthly email newsletter curates the top 10 most valuable SEO and inbound marketing articles across the web. Concise and highly informative, it is ideal for busy hotel marketers.

2. Search Engine Land Daily Brief

   • Sign Up: searchengineland.com
   • Why It’s Great: This delivers daily updates on SEO, search engine marketing and PPC straight to your inbox to keep you informed on the latest news and strategies.

3. SEOFOMO

   • Sign Up: seofomo.co
   • Why It’s Great: Their weekly newsletter is packed with SEO news, resources and tools. It keeps you updated on the latest trends and algorithm changes while offering practical tips and tutorials.

4. The SEO Notebook

   • Sign Up: seonotebook.com
   • Why It’s Great: This unique weekly newsletter shares actionable SEO strategies and notes, straight from top optimization experts. The focus is on sharing real-world insights and tactics.

5. The SEM Post

   • Sign Up: thesempost.com
   • Why It’s Great: The SEM Post provides timely updates on Google algorithm changes, search engine news and SEO trends. This newsletter makes it easy to stay current with search marketing developments.

6. SEO for Lunch

   • Sign Up: seoforlunch.com
   • Why It’s Great: This short, digestible weekly newsletter covers all the critical SEO updates and news. It’s great for busy professionals who want to quickly catch up on what’s happening in the SEO world.

SEO Podcasts

1. TravelBoom Hotel Marketing Podcast
   
2. The SEO 101 Podcast

   • Website: wmr.fm/audio/7953
   • Why It’s Great: This podcast breaks down SEO concepts and strategies into easily digestible episodes. It’s ideal for beginners and intermediates looking to improve their SEO knowledge.

3. EDGE of the Web

   • Website: edgeofthewebradio.com/seo-podcast/
   • Why It’s Great: EDGE of the Web covers the latest trends in SEO, digital marketing and content strategies. They interview top experts and provide actionable takeaways for improving SEO performance.

4. Search off the Record

   • Website: search-off-the-record.libsyn.com/
   • Why It’s Great: Search off the Record offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Google Search operates. Members of the Search Relations team provide insights into the decision-making process for new launches, how features are prioritized in Search Console and the ongoing projects within Google Search teams.

Additional SEO Tools & Resources

1. Google Search Central

   • Website: developers.google.com/search 
   • Why It’s Great: Google’s official resource for SEO best practices, algorithm updates and guidelines is a must-follow for staying on top of Google-related SEO changes.

2. Google Trends

   • Website: trends.google.com
   • Why It’s Great: Google Trends allows you to track keyword search volume trends over time. It’s a helpful tool for discovering seasonal trends and popular search terms.

3. Search Engine Roundtable

   • Website: seroundtable.com
   • Why It’s Great: This site is dedicated to discussing changes in search engine algorithms and SEO news, making it a go-to resource for monitoring Google updates and fluctuations in rankings.

Developing an Ongoing SEO Strategy for Hotels

Developing a robust SEO strategy is crucial for independent and boutique hotels looking to stand out in today’s highly competitive market. Regular SEO audits are key to maintaining a hotel website’s visibility to attract qualified travelers and boost its organic performance. Contact TravelBoom today to discover how an experienced hotel SEO agency can tailor strategies to position your hotel at the top of search results, driving more direct bookings and enhancing your online presence.

Alyssa Foriska is the Director of Marketing Services at TravelBoom Marketing. Connect with Alyssa at LinkedIn.

About TravelBoom Marketing

TravelBoom specializes in developing and executing customized data-driven marketing solutions that drive direct bookings and growth for its clients. With over 25 years of experience in digital marketing for travel and hotels, TravelBoom leverages advanced data science and analytics to uncover insights and develop strategies that greatly enhance results for our clients and reduce reliance on third-party channels. TravelBoom is also host of the world’s #1 ranked Hotel Marketing Podcast and its quarterly Traveler Sentiment Study both of which can be found at www.travelboommarketing.com.