Putting Google Maps to work for your hotel

Claim your hotel (or business)

Start off by claiming or listing your hotel in Google Maps.  This step is crucial for optimizing your local search visibility.

In my experience, even 15 minutes making sure all the details & keywords are correct pays dividends for months after.

Use the map on your website

Many hotels are using Google Maps on their directions or ‘find us’ page. It provides an extra layer of functionality to a traditional map image: allowing your visitors to see satellite and street view, as well as custom directions from anywhere they are.

Google provides a little widget that makes this process super-simple. First, you just search for your location – and click the Link link:

Following the customize embedded map link will lead to a page where you can edit the view, and obtain the website code:

Make a custom map

A logical step in concierge marketing, a custom map can show guests the special attractions in your area. Here’s a good example that Xotels created for the Puerto Antilla Grand Hotel in Spain – it shows golf courses in the region:

You may want to take this a step further and add rich media to the map. A 3rd-party tool such as Trippermap allows you to add your own photos to a custom map – which could work well for custom city tours:

Trippermap

Advertise on Google Maps

If you’re advertising in Google AdWords, your text ads will have the opportunity to display to people searching the maps.

For additional coverage, some businesses are painting logos on their roofs – like this Target store in Chicago:

Chris has a (spoof) tutorial on how to optimize your roof ads for Google Maps.