What is Google Hotel Finder?

Google Hotel Finder allows your prospective guests to view hotels on line (it does what it says on the can). However the things I particularly like about it are

• The map – I click on a hotel in a list and it shows me exactly it’s location.

Google Hotel Finder

• I can expand or contract my search geographically by time on foot, by car or train.

• I can use filters, for instance on price, class, amenities, rating

• I can choose dates for the stay.

• I can compare prices and also compare prices for different dates.

• I can book on line through the usual suspects (in the UK Expedia etc) through links on the page.

• Everything I need is there consolidated on one page in an instant.

• It works on mobile and tablet.

To me what’s most powerful about this, is the use of the map plus the way the hotels are consolidated onto one page and that’s what gives a good user experience.

The Google branding is less intrusive than some online travel agents and this means as a hotelier you can have a better and a more direct branding engagement with your customer up to the point of booking.

Once you are on Hotel Finder, how do you get up the rankings? Well it’s not exactly clear. It never is! We’ve done some ‘random’ but systematic research and certainly Ads play a part (obviously!), having a verified Google Plus page for the hotel plays a part, having photos and Google tours and activity such as reviews also plays a part. In the UK, links with online travel agents and distributors who can share your room and pricing data in an instant also helps (and since you might be doing this already all you need to do is harness the power of Google Hotel Finder).

Hotel Finder is another way of getting your hotel to market, and it is free from Google. The potential reach around the globe for hoteliers is enormous, don’t miss out.

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Hoteliers……are you missing out good marketing that’s Free?

So far I’ve used some of these posts to talk directly to shop retailers and service suppliers.

And now I want to talk to hotel owners. However in the main, everything that I have already said with reference to retail and service providers also applies to the hotel business.

Google Hotel 3 pack

Summarising here:

• Already Google has done a fairly good job at listing most hotels on their Hotel Finder shown above in the subtly outlined box that appears when searching for ‘hotels in Windermere UK’ (Take a look for your hotel at www.google.com/hotels ).
• If you have not verified your hotel business, then you must do so now, to avoid lowly rankings in Hotel Finder or sabotage.
• Once verified you can control, images, Google tours and information that is shown up about your hotel both in Google searches and in Hotel Finder.
• Once you are seen as being active by Google then it is possible for your hotel to rank more highly in Google Hotel Finder (above) than in traditional organic SEO searches for your web site.
• The Google Plus business page is FREE, verification is FREE and the data is very easy to maintain and FREE to maintain.
• Hosting of pictures, data and Google tours is FREE on Google Plus, and this data and imagery drives most of what appears in Google searches and Hotel Finder.
• Google acts as a free gazetteer for your business.

Consider it as a business decision to use it or not. Remember that it does not impact your web site or web site SEO – in fact it’s way more important than that – find out why next.

So what exactly is Google Hotel Finder?

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What else can you do with a Google Tour?

Going beyond your Google+ page and See Inside on your Knowledge Card, there are more things that you can do with your Google Tour.

For instance, you can integrate it onto your website. I’ve created websites including Google Tours for clients – example below.

Example of a Google Tour embedded in a Web Site

(Alternatively your web designer can incorporate the link for you in your web site – we can provide them with the code, or they can click the right buttons on Google to get the embed code for themselves. If your web designer says it can’t be done – then you need to employ a different web designer)!

You can also incorporate the tour onto your Facebook page. It’s straightforward to do, and again, your web support should be competent enough to do this, otherwise get in touch and we can sort it out. Most people can figure out how to do it for themselves without my help or web support. Whatever anyone says – IT CAN BE DONE! (We will talk about the mechanics of how to do this in a later post anyway).

Example of a Google Tour embedded in Facebook

Then, share the links on all your social media – especially Twitter, plus anywhere else you advertise – yell, 192, printed materials, adverts etc. And get people to follow you on your Google+ page.

Let’s think! You could even get yourself a QR code that would take a customer straight to your Google Tour on a mobile phone or tablet.

OK, I can tell that last one maybe, is just one step too far for any newbies reading here….

So what else goes on your Knowledge Card/Google+ page?

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Before and after a Google Virtual Tour on the web

Now I’m going to show you the search results BEFORE and AFTER a Google Virtual Tour and Photos are added. This is for a business called Number Fifteen. Number Fifteen is a delightful arts, crafts and gift shop in Cockermouth.

On the left hand side (below), is how Number Fifteen USED TO APPEAR on an iPad when searching for the shop.

On the right hand side – this is how it NOW appears after we have completed a Google Tour and included our professional photos.

You can see that there is a tremendous improvement in the business presence and presentation.  Which one do you think your customers would prefer, I know which one I prefer!

In addition to the map, you can see See Inside (the Google Tour), you can go to Street View and you can take a look at the Photos that we produced.

Try Googling ‘Number Fifteen Cockermouth’ now and see what you see.

It will look slightly different on mobile and pc, but the key elements will all be there.

This is one of my favourite tours. You can see it here, why not take a virtual tour?

So you want a 360 Google Virtual Tour?

Remember a Google Tour is a specific Google product.

It goes on the Google system and shows up on your Knowledge Card as See Inside (see previous posts).

(A non-Google Tour will not display on See Inside on your Knowledge Card – so do not be duped by imitators).

For those companies with ambiance or facilities to show off to the world, I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to have a Google tour. If you have something to share then why not let people see it? You need to compete – cos others certainly are! (Try it on the image above).

Size of Tour

If you have a small premises, then you can have a small tour, simply coming into your premises, moving about, turning around and zooming in and out.

Alternatively if you have a large premises on several floors – you can have the complete works – walking through your premises, zooming in and out and also going between floors.

And of course there is every size in between large and small. Get a tour that suits your needs.

What do you need to do to get a tour?

Well you can contact someone, such as ourselves, who specialise in these tours. We make a date with you, when we can come and shoot the photography for you. We can even shoot on the same day and you can keep running your business whilst we are there.

We do all the technical stuff and hey presto it all appears on your Google+ page and on See Inside on your Knowledge Card. Automatically.

Making your premises neat and tidy is really all you have to do. And don’t worry if it’s not perfect, customers like having a root around.

So if you are a spa, restaurant, hairdresser, shop, beauty parlour, bar, conference facility, gym….or anywhere that prides itself on it’s facilities and look to get business, this really is a very simple marketing tool for you to use.

Next: what else can you do with the Google Tour?

www.sciarts.co.uk

Google See Inside

Continuing then from previous posts:

Here’s a typical screen shot of a Google knowledge card, which is presented (using data on your business page) to potential customers.

Cedar Gallery Knowledge Card

Google likes to present businesses that are ‘live’ and ‘active’. So the more you do on your business page the better your web presence gets.

Take Google Virtual Tours for instance (aka See Inside). These are just perfect if you want to show the world your facilities, your shop, your restaurant, the list goes on and on. It goes up on Google automatically without any need for you to have any technical knowledge or even contact your web people.

You can move from place to place, or just turn on the spot. You can zoom in and zoom out. Give it a go in the image above or with this link for the Cedar Gallery in Windermere. 

So if you have one on your Google Business Account (it appears as See Inside) then customers can go straight to your business interior. There is a significant advantage to this.

Feedback on those we ourselves have created for businesses and organisations so far is positive, with one shop owner relaying to us that she has had calls on the phone for particular items seen in the tour and thus has been selling things over the telephone. Customers have not even had to visit in person.

An alternative method to see your tour is to leap from Street View into your tour by following the arrows on Street View. In other words it means that a customer can move along Street View and the click on a business and suddenly they are transported to your business.

An alternative method to share your Google Tour is to integrate it into your Facebook page – stick with us to find out more. (We can do that for you anyway).

Alternatively it can go on your website, which we can also do for you.

A picture paints a thousand words, a virtual tour is even better in this respect.

Next more on how to get the most from your Google Business Page

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Your Google Business Knowledge Card

First, a quick recap on our previous posts:

1 When someone searches on Google, Google searches it’s own index compiled from your data from your Google Business page and all the other information culled from the web to provide relevant results ideally in less than a second.

2 This means you need to keep your Google Plus page updated with your most recent data and any changes as soon as possible.

You do this by first verifying your business and then updating your data on your Google Business Page (Free).

Now, new stuff:

Your data appears on a ‘Knowledge Card’ to the right hand side (different devices mobiles/tablet/pc are slightly different in appearance but the principle is the same)

A Google Knowledge Card to the right hand side.

Not that many people realise what this is. Basically the Knowledge Card is presenting to your potential customers data about you. This data whether it be location, opening times, photos, 360 virtual tours, reviews or posts, can mean the difference between someone visiting you or not.

And get this; the knowledge card is driven from your Google Business Page.

Now I am hoping that the ‘penny has dropped’. In other words the knowledge card is driven by the data you provide Google on your Google business page.

In other words – if there’s nothing on it or it’s incorrect – your customers will see next to nothing or incorrect data. Which one of those is worse do you think?

If you have not realised this until now, then hopefully I’ve just blown your mind, as I said I would at the start of this series. 

So next up, once you have your Google Business Page – how to enhance your page and presence using photos and See Inside (Google 360 virtual tours aka panoramas)…try to get the most out of this, it is an opportunity.

www.sciarts.co.uk

How to move a pin on Google Maps for My Business?

I’m interrupting my original planned flow of posts, since I’ve been asked a few times now, how to move a pin on a Google Map for a Business.

Pins on Google Maps

Some of you have now realised that your pin is in the wrong location on Google Maps, for whatever reason. For instance

• You might have moved business premises and you just forgot to let Google know,
• Or your place of work is different to your registered business location now…

Our random (and uncharacteristically unscientific) analysis suggests that around 70% of the businesses we have seen so far (in the UK) either have a pin in the wrong place or have unverified sites or generally contain incomplete or inaccurate information on Google Maps and their business page.

That’s an extraordinary statistic (hence the reason for the blogs) considering your business location is used for local searches (e.g. nearest jewellery shop or nearest pharmacy with night opening hours or nearest plumber etc).

This is your data and you need to fix it as soon as possible. Remember

1. it’s simple to do
2. you can do it yourself
3. it’s free

So here’s how

1 Log in to Google, and go to Google Maps. Find your business on Google Maps.

2 Click on the top left corner on the main menu icon  and click ‘Report a data problem’ and follow the instructions.

(Alternatively if you don’t see the main menu icon, look for the help icon   in the bottom right).

It might take up to 4 weeks for the data to be changed.

You can see more at https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3094088?hl=en

And that’s all there is to it. Don’t miss the boat. If you want to get the best from Google for your business keep reading….

www.sciarts.co.uk