How To List My Hotel on Google

Google is the most used and most popular search engine, approximately has 5 billion search queries in a day. That makes sense every business now should have one Google Business account. So, if you are opening a new hotel, let’s start to list your hotel on Google by following the below suggestions.

Create Google My Business Account

1. Go to Google.com and ensure you sign in to the Google Account. 
2. Go to Google Maps and search the area of your hotel on the Search bar at the top of the left side
3. Navigate your cursor to the closest area that you can find where your hotel is. Right-click and click on “Add a missing place”
4. Enter the name and address of your hotel and homestay in the fields provided. Make sure you include the city, state, and ZIP code if necessary. The more accurate information that you include, the faster Google will be able to verify the place’s existence. You are also required to add your category (hotel), phone number, hotel website link, and hotel operation/business hours. Once you have confirmed all the information, you may proceed to submit
   
   

Your request will not be added immediately by Google. Google will take a minimum of 1 day and can be up to 2 weeks to verify your place before proceeding to get it to appear on Google Maps.  

Next, Claim Your Google My Business Listing

One thing you need to take note of is Google allows anyone to suggest changes to any business listing on Google Maps. The changes will be depending on Google's approval. By claiming your business listing, you have full control of your business information so that the information displayed to your future guests is not misleading. If any Google users try to update or make any changes to your business information on Google, you will get notified. 

Below are the steps to claim your Google My Business listing after Google has approved your business listing on Google Maps. 

1. Go to Google Maps and search for the hotel name that you have entered during registration. 
2. Select Claim this business.
3. You may choose the verification code to be sent by Google via SMS or a physical postcard. If you choose a physical postcard, it will take 2 weeks to arrive at your registered location. 
4. Once you receive your verification code, go back to the Google Business page, sign in using the same Gmail account and you will need to verify your address by using the code provided. 
   
   

Tadaa! Your hotel is now on Google and you can start managing your hotel business information!

Integrated with Google Free Booking Link

Google Free Booking Link is a dedicated block of links put under Google Hotel Ads in the Google Search Result. This is one of the chances where you can get guests to book directly with you, and not via OTAs. Putting it simply, Google is now giving a chance for hoteliers to appear on their site without paid ads. Your hotel will be showing up on Google Search and Google Maps. Just imagine how many people will take notice of your hotel’s listing.

Below is a short compilation of what you need to know about Google Booking Link and how it benefits your hotel business. Hit the red button below to watch the video for more information.

The best part of using Google Booking Link is you have control over your Booking Engine rate. Imagine if you put the best rate on your Booking Engine compared to your OTAs, more likely the guest will book directly using the link rather than OTAs. This strategy will help your hotel to maximize your booking revenue as well as reduce the paid commission to OTAs.

So, how to get started with the Google Free Booking Link?

If you already have a hotel online booking engine system, check with your booking engine provider if it integrates with Google Free Booking Link. If yes, talk to them that you are interested to be enrolled in this Google Free Booking Link.

If you do not have a hotel online booking engine system yet, search one for your hotel. Go with the booking engine that is integrated with Google Free Booking Link.

Softinn is one of the Google-certified integration partners. If you are interested to explore the Softinn Booking Engine system, feel free to claim the free demo account here.

Google Hotel Paid Ads (Optional)

Do you know that Google has a paid tool for their users to market the business worldwide? It is known as Google Ads, a Google online advertising program that requires advertisers to Pay per Click or per impression on the running ads.

Google Ads allows you to create ads and set your own target audience. Putting it simply, if you run a Google Ads, your hotel will show up on the top of the search engine results page while your target customers are looking for a hotel nearby your area or similar to yours.

Therefore, if your hotel business has more marketing budget, other than Facebook Ads, and YouTube Ads, you may also consider doing Google Ads if you need to. Check out this article on how to Get Started with Google Ads.

Conclusion

Google provides many tools for hoteliers like you to help to grow your business. If you are looking for a way to track your website performance and understand the behaviour of your viewers, Google Analytics is the right tool for you, for sure it is free!

If you are looking for tips to increase the direct booking for your hotel, feel free to download our Ultimate Guide here. Drop your comment if this article is helpful to you. See you in the next post!