First, don’t assume that people skip over those ads just because you do.  Most people read the ads.  Many people actually have no idea that they are even ads.  If you are new to Google Adwords, click here for a brief tutorial. 

Now, what type of keywords should you be buying?  Here are some ideas to get you started:

The name of your hotel – Sounds like a no brainer but most hotels do not buy the name of their own hotel.  You would be suprised how many times I Google the name of a hotel and the hotel’s website does not come up at the top of the list.  Often, the top searches will be third party websites like Expedia.  If you want Expedia to sell all of your rooms for you, there is no need to buy your own name.  Otherwise, this should be your top priority.  Many hotels also buy the names of their competitors.  I am not saying that this is ethical, but it happens. 

The word ‘hotel’ and the name of your city and nearby cities – These clicks might be quite a bit more expensive than buying your name because you will be competing with the big third party travel websites.  However, they may really pay off for you with increased bookings.  It may be worth it to appear the top of a Google search instead of on page 5.  Few Google searchers even make it half way down the first page. 

The word ‘hotel’ and the name of local attractions – For example, if you are near Disneyland, buy ‘hotel Disneyland’.  Many people search for a hotel simply by Googling ‘hotel near Disneyland’.  The major attractions may be more expensive but keywords with the names of your nearby museums, zoos, or concert halls might be surprisingly cheap. 

Keywords to fill your banquet space – If your hotel does meetings, weddings, or other social functions, be sure to buy those keywords.  Get creative.  Buy the keywords for every social function that has ever been at your hotel. 

Keywords for your hotel restaurant and bars – If your hotel has a unique restaurant or bar, buy up some keywords to increase traffic.  These might be more expensive because you are competing with every restaurant and bar in your area, but could really pay off. 

Hopefully, this will help you get up and running right away.  Be sure you have someone on property that is responsible for maintaining the ads at least once per week.  Also, someone should be tracking your website data to see how the ads are increasing your traffic.  Google AdWords makes it really easy to play with different keywords to get the results you need.  Good luck!

Their decision to stay at your hotel starts with a quick review of your website.  Does it have a pool?  Check.  Steakhouse?  Got it.  Gym?  Ok.  They take your hotel into consideration.  But is it better than the hotel down the street that has the similar rates?

A quick Google search will tell them what they need to know.  They read the reviews on tripadvisor.com.  Maybe they check out yelp.com or read your Yahoo Travel ratings.  Oh, Mary from Iowa says your staff is rude and your food is lousy.  Three people say that your hotel lost their reservations and two people say that they were overcharged during their stay.

You just lost a reservation.

This is why you must have someone on your property that is managing your internet reputation!  The great thing about sites like tripadvisor.com or yelp.com is that they allow you to contact the person who posted the complaint.  They also allow the complainer to amend their review if their opinion is changed.  You should be emailing everyone who posts a review of your hotel and thanking them for posting the review as well as resolving any complaints.

Customer Service 101 has told us all that someone who has a bad experience will tell 15 people while someone who has a good experience will tell 1 or 2.  This really gets magnified on the web.  I found one angry guest who posted his gripes with a hotel on more than 5 websites.  Who knows how many thousands of potential guests saw this review.  His complaint?  The hotel charged him a no show even though he stayed for 5 nights and would not issue a refund.  If the hotel was managing their internet reputation, they would have seen the review, contacted the guest and resolved the problem before any more damage could have been done.

Web 2.0 is changing the way that people use the internet and your hotel should be keeping up with changes.  We are not saying that your hotel should have its own MySpace page but there are many new areas that you must manage.  Start with these suggestions:

Set up a RSS feed to notify you of any blogs or sites that use the name of your hotel.  Here is a good article on how to set one up: http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/719/Online-Reputation-Management/

Review your ratings on the big websites like expedia.com and travel.yahoo.com.  You may not be able to do anything about your past reviews but you can at least improve your future reviews.  You will probably find many complaints that are easily fixed for future guests (ex. Not telling the guest in advance of your parking charge).

Embrace sites that encourage user participation.  Tripadvisor.com and hotels.com allows users to write a review as well as upload their personal pictures and videos of their trip!  One hotel we looked at had almost 300 reviews and 70 photos and videos on tripadvisor.com and another 200 reviews on hotels.com.

Build an owner page on tripadvisor.com.  You can build a page, post your own photos and videos.  You can also be automatically notified of every review posted about your hotel and even respond to the review!  If your hotel is on tripadvisor.com, you really need to have an owner page.  You can probably do it in about 10 minutes.  You will get more room reservations if you do it right!

Consider updating your hotel’s website with new Web 2.0 features.  We have seen a few hotel sites that allow their guests to upload their pictures of their trip.  People love to brag.  Let them brag about the great time they had at your hotel.  It will get you more reservations!  This would be especially fun if you are a hotel near a theme park or other vacation destination!  Trip advisor even has a widget that you can add to your website that displays reviews from your guests.

You may have to adjust your strategy depending on the type of hotel you have.  For example, boutique hotels and vacation destinations should focus more on the web 2.0 features.  Business hotels and hotels that are part of a large chain may want to focus their efforts on pleasing guests who post unsatisfactory reviews and performing damage control.