3 things you need to do right away on your hotel’s Google profile

It’s been a busy year for Google. The company has dramatically evolved its travel search product, pulling together its flights, hotels, and travel inspiration tools into a standalone experience. It’s easy to see why Google is investing in a better way to explore destinations and book hotels and flights: every month, there are over 3 billion searches for hotels across Google products!

Since accurate attributes position your hotel competitively in search rankings, it’s more important than ever to keep your Google Business Profile updated. Outdated information leads to misinformed consumers. Or worse: it makes your hotel invisible for relevant searches. Let’s say that a potential guest searches for “hotels with pools good for kids.” The results may omit qualifying hotels due to incomplete information.

Of course, Google has other datapoints (from user reviews and third-parties) — but it’s better to be certain that the company has up-to-date information to better target its results to a given search.

Thankfully, Google has recently made it much more straightforward for hotels to update their information. A new “hotel attributes” section gives hotels more control over their own information. To get started with updating your profile, click over to Google My Business, which is the hub for managing all aspects of your hotel. Once you’re logged in, update the following hotel attributes to ensure that your hotel is shown accurately and effectively so you can capture your fair share of the billions of hotel searches!

#1: Update your hotel’s check-in and checkout times

Back in February, Google made it easy for hotels to add their check-in and checkout times to their profiles. This information is helpful to both potential and current guests, and is one of the most frequently asked questions on TripAdvisor forums and elsewhere.

Steps to take:

(1) Log into Google My Business.

(2) If you have multiple locations, open the location you’d like to manage.

(3) Click “Info” from the menu.

(4) Click the pencil icon under the check-in and check-out times section.

(5) Add your check-in and check-out times.

(6) Click “Apply.”

(7) If you ever have any issues, contact support.

#2: Update your attributes

Most recently, Google announced an entirely new section called “hotel attributes.” Within this hotel-specific section, hotels can add relevant services and amenities to their profiles.

This information will then appear from both Search and Maps, giving potential guests a detailed view of your hotel. These attributes are also searchable, so it’s imperative that your hotel maintains an updated profile — otherwise, you may not appear for certain searches and lose business!

Steps to take:

(1) Log into Google My Business.

(2) If you have multiple locations, select the one to update.

(3) Click “Info.”

(4) Next to “Hotel attributes,” click “Edit.”

(5) Add or remove attributes, and then click “Save.”

(6) If you ever have any issues, contact support.

#3: Link any on-property restaurants, bars, and spas

Do you have an on-site restaurant or bar that’s open to the public? If so, each of these businesses can qualify for their own listings as well. It’s valuable and desirable to set up standalone pages for any public-facing restaurants, bars, lounges, or spas. Each of those businesses can then manage their only views, photos, and other details.

Since it might not be readily apparent that these establishments are located within your hotel, Google can affiliate these businesses with your hotel. On the affiliated business profile, it will be marked as “located in” your hotel. You’ll want to take advantage of this so that guests know what’s available on-property, and potential customers know where to go to patronize the business!

Steps to take:

(1) Log into Google My Business.

(2) Contact support. As this is not a self-serve feature, you’ll need to submit the request manually.

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Staying on top of your Google Profile is an important part of your hotel’s marketing efforts — and not just to keep your profile optimized for search. It’s also about keeping an eye on the user-generated content.

Google encourages users to contribute information and answer questions related to businesses. Each profile has two calls-to-action: “Suggest an edit” and “Answer quick questions.” When users suggest changes or answer questions like “Would you call this a cozy place,” your Google Business Profile may be altered without your knowledge. By checking your profile regularly, you ensure that it’s accurate, optimized, and well-positioned to capture direct bookings by showing up in relevant searches!

Need to get your hotel setup for Google My Business? Check out this handy step-by-step guide to get started!