Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 171 – 10 Tools & Tactics To Identify Backlink Opportunities

Click Here For A Crisis Management Resources For Hotels Master List

SHOW NOTES:
Original post:
https://www.travelboommarketing.com/blog/10-ways-to-identify-link-building-opportunities-for-hotels/

1. GOOGLE ALERTS

• • Using Google Alerts is one of the best ways to find out who is mentioning topics relevant to your business.
  • Free. Simple setup
  • You can set up different types of Alerts
    • For example, you could set up alerts for video content around a certain topic. You could offer the video creator a secondary text resource that they could link to that has additional information that would supplement the video content.

2. BRANDMENTIONS

• • Offers a new tool called Brand Tracker
  • Prices start at $99/mo but they are currently offering a free trial.
  • Similar to Google Alerts but with way more features.
    • Shows mentions over time
    • Offers a performance score that takes into account shares and domain influence
    • Shows social mentions

3. COMPETITOR LINKS

• • Requires paid tools but can be very effective.
  • We like to use Moz’s link intersect report which allows us to enter two or three competitor domains.
    • This tool then shows which sites are linking to all of those competitor sites.
    • If they’re linking to multiple competitor sites they should probably be linking to you too.

4. FINDING BRAND OR URL MISSPELLINGS

• • There are tools to help you find common misspellings of your brand name. (http://tools.seobook.com/spelling/keywords-typos.cgi)
  • If you put your domain (example: fueltravel with no spaces) and get the common misspellings
  • Then enter those into an excel sheet. In the next column put your TLD. In our case it’s .com
  • Concatenate those columns and then enter into a backlink checker you can find sites that tried to link to you but made a mistake. You can then reach out and try to get them to update the link

5. USING SEARCH OPERATORS

• • Old school tactic but still very effective – Link: https://moz.com/learn/seo/search-operators
  • In a search bar type inurl:(your keyword) to find sites that have your target keyword in their URL
  • In a search bar type intext:(your keyword) to find sites that have your target keyword on their page

6. USING DIRECTORIES

• • First, you should have your UNAP (URL, Name, Address, Phone) submitted to local listing directories.
  • You can also use directories to find linking and partnership opportunities.
  • My example in the blog post is a resort in Salt Lake City would want to go to a directory like HotFrog and search for Ski Rental companies in Salt Lake City. They could offer a useful piece of content for the ski rental company to link to or they could get in touch with ownership and create a partnership as the official ski rental company for the hotel. This will almost certainly get that ski rental company to link to the hotel website from their site.

7. MONITOR SOCIAL MEDIA

• • Tools like SocialMention.com (free) and BrandMention’s Brand Tracker can help you monitor mentions of your brand and your top target keywords.
  • You can also piggyback on the tactics listed above. When you’re creating lists of opportunities through Google Alerts, Brand Mentions, Competitor Links, Search Operators, & directories, you should also be clicking on the Social Media links on their websites and following your targets so you can start creating a relationship via social media.
  • Once you find out who is talking about you, your niche, or your target niche, you can reach out directly. Connect with them. Interact with them. Establish a relationship with those interested in your business and you could possibly earn links from them in the future.
  • This is perfect for implementing Jay Baer’s “Youtility” tactic. Monitoring social media will allow you to see if someone is asking a question that your brand can answer or solve, go help that person!

8. BRAND24

• • If you are focusing on twitter, or just want to see who’s tweeting about the things you care about, Brand24. Brand24 lets you stay on top of what’s being said about you on twitter by letting you track tweets about your name, brand, product, or hashtag.
  • Side note: Brand24 will give you web mentions so you can find news articles or other mentions across the web that mention your brand.
  • They do offer a paid version which has many more capabilities.

9. FOLLOWERWONK

• • Followerwonk will allow you to dig deeper into your twitter following.
  • With followerwonk, you can find people to connect with, compare twitter accounts to identify overlaps and target new influencers.
  • Seeing things like day of the week and time of day people are talking about your brand will help you understand the best times to try and get your content in front of your audience and hopefully some links.

10. YOUR VENDORS

• • Saved the best for last
  • Generate lists of your operational and marketing vendors
  • Operations
    • may include housekeeping services, security firms, telephone systems, valet services, food & beverage, cleaning supply companies, in-room amenities (soap/shampoo/coffee/etc.)
  • Marketing/Software
    • PMS, CRM, marketing agencies, booking engines, radio advertisements, billboards, print,
    • Tend to be more savvy and may want something in return
    • Create your very own case study about how that vendor improved your revenue/occupancy/OTA reliance/etc
    • Sometimes a simple testimonial is sufficient.
    • Present to your marketing or software vendor and you’re almost certain to get a link back to your hotel’s website.

========================

In The Newsaroos:     

• • a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land, “We’re aware of this incident and are monitoring it closely and are continually working to keep the information on Maps safe and accurate.”
  • Our advice:
    • Know who has ownership and access to your GMB profile.
    • If you ever receive a request to manage or to transfer ownership from an unknown person, you should decline the request. The rights to own or manage a Business Profile can only be granted if the verified merchant accepts the request or the requester proves their affiliation with the business.Google My Business Listings Are Being Hijacked. Make sure you aren’t a victim (Ep 171)
      https://searchengineland.com/hijacked-google-my-business-listings-appear-to-be-a-growing-problem-343737
• Man nearly goes to prison for a bad review (Ep 170 & 171)
  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/world/asia/thailand-review-american-apology.html
  • Wesley Barnes, the American guest, publicly apologized on Friday for his blunt online reviews of the Sea View Koh Chang resort in Thailand. In exchange, the hotel promised it would drop the complaint that led the authorities in Thailand to file criminal defamation charges against him.
  • In Thailand, criminal defamation charges can result in a prison term of up to two years. Mr. Barnes had already spent two days in jail after his arrest on those charges last month before posting bail.
  • After issuing an official apology and stating that the claims he made were untrue, the hotel dropped the charges
  • There is a lot of criticism of the hotel for even bringing the charges as it could definitely deter people from traveling to Thailand and especially to the Sea View resort

  ReNewsaroo – https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/world/asia/thailand-hotel-tripadvisor-jail.html 

========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to @_travelboom or info@travelboommarketing.com.
IN ADDITION TO THE PODCAST WE HAVE A BUNCH OF WHITEPAPERS AND STUDIES YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE