Social media is an essential force in your larger digital marketing strategy. It can increase brand recognition, improve customer loyalty, and ultimately drive direct bookings to your hotel. In a busy digital landscape, it’s essential to stand out from the competition with a distinct digital presence, which is focused on creating engaging content.

Kick start your digital presence with a Facebook page that best represents your unique property’s story, and that’s optimized to bring as many visitors to your page as possible. Implementing SEO best practices in your overall social media presence will help your hotel gain Google’s attention and dominate its rankings.

Follow our step by step guide to help you with your Facebook SEO.

1. Profile Picture

Upload a hotel logo and not a seasonal or personal image. This is the image that will appear in all of the Facebook search results, and also when someone shares your post on their timeline. Whether your property is associated with a brand or you’re independent, using a recognizable image plays a vital role in getting found via Facebook search and having people engage with your page.

Check Facebook’s guidance for image size information

To add a profile picture, follow these steps:

• Click ‘Add a picture’ and then click ‘Upload Photo’
• Choose the logo you want to upload and click ‘open’
• Crop the picture as required and click ‘Save’

2. Cover Photo

Your cover photo is just as important as your profile picture. First impressions are everything, so you want to make sure to upload a photo that showcases your business in the best possible light. Choose a photo that aligns with your hotel’s focus, such as a King Suite you’re trying to promote, a shot of your business amenities, or a unique selling feature.

An important thing to keep in mind when choosing a cover photo is to reinforce your branding with photos that are visually appealing and have a high resolution. Keep in mind that over 50% of people access Facebook on a mobile device. When cropping your photo, keep this in mind and check what your cover photo looks like on a mobile device.

Check Facebook’s guidance for image size information

To add a cover photo, follow the steps below:

• Click on ‘Add a Cover’ and then click ‘Upload Photo/Video’
• Choose the Photo/Video you want to upload and click ‘Open’
• Drag the image to reposition (if require), then click Save

3. Cover Photo Description

Your Facebook business page is a representation of your property, and while choosing the right cover photo is important, adding descriptions of your photos is also critical in gaining SEO traction. Provide a brief description of the contents of the photo itself, using relevant keywords for your property based on your targeted SEO strategy. Make sure your caption are in line with your page’s overall focus: driving direct bookings.

Sample Cover Photo Descriptions:

Stay awhile at our hotel in the heart of Miami.

Book an escape to our King Suite with an ocean view.

4. Fill in Details

The ‘About’ section of your profile offers yet another opportunity to integrate keywords essential to your brand. In this section you’ll add your basic business and contact info. Update this section with your hotel’s email address and website URL. Properly categorize your hotel’s details to make it easy for travel shoppers to see your hotel’s features, price range, and more.

Make sure to add all your hotel’s contact info, ensuring that is consistent with the information on your hotel’s website.

5. Add an About

Under the ‘About’ section on your Facebook page fill in the short description. A clip of your “About” section will show up when people search for your hotel, so use this space to describe your hotel in a few words. It’s here that you can add your hotel brand name, city or town, and other key selling features.

Make sure to use essential keywords for your hotel. This typically means “hotel in [area].” This is not the space to include a long description or contact information.

Sample Short Descriptions:

Dive into award-winning luxury at an Oceanside hotel with boutique amenities.

Located just off I-84, [Hotel Name] has everything the traveler on the go needs.

Cityville’s premier airport hotel, with a free shuttle, breakfast buffet, and big city style. 

6. Facebook Profile URL

Create a custom or vanity URL for your Facebook profile page. When you create a profile, Facebook creates a URL with some random numbers. We recommend to change this URL to your hotel brand name.

Note: You need to have minimum 25 likes to create custom URL and this can be done only once.

To create page username:

• Click ‘About’ from the left sidebar menu
• Scroll down to General option and then click ‘Create Page @username’
• Type your desired username (should be your brand name)
• If your desired username is available, click ‘Create Username’

7. Call to Action Button

Adding a call to action button is essential for any business. If you are a page admin, you will have an option to select from a group of call-to-action buttons. Below are some of the action buttons available in Facebook:

• Book Now
• Contact Us
• Use App
• Play Game
• Shop Now
• Sign Up
• Watch Video

Use ‘Book Now’ or ‘Contact Us’ button and add a relevant link to your website.

8. Start Posting

Your Facebook page should be a place for you to have a two way conversation with your past and future guests. Respond to reviews, write new posts, and share relevant local content on your page.

Some high level guidance on Facebook posts:

• Keep the posts between 40 and 80 characters. If you need to add more info, try not to exceed 120 characters.
• Use some hashtags in your posts
• Pin important posts
• Add image or video to drive more engagement

9. Start Engaging

It is always recommended to respond to reviews, comments and questions from your potential customers. Users expect things to happen much faster on social media channels. So, we recommend responding to user questions within one business day.

Follow these guidelines for your responses:

• Be sincere – Interact with people whenever possible. Use “@” to tag them in your response
• Be timely – Respond to user interactions as soon as possible. Responding on the same day is usually recommended.
• Be humble – You should never delete the negative comment. Instead be understanding and apologetic in your response.