Optimising just the Home page

Many website promotion companies focus solely on the home page of a hospitality website. In this way of thinking, they make the home page the front entrance to your website and they essentially lock all the other entrances by ignoring them. This is like fishing with one hook instead of a large net. A large net is a much more effective way to fish the internet for potential guests.

It is important to understand how guests search. Most accommodation type internet searches are multiple word phrases. In other words, when people search for a place to stay, they don't just type in "B&B". If they did, it would return thousands of sites from all over the world. Many searches are based on rejoin and type of accommodation. So people usually narrow their search to something like "B&B in some region". So you have to do some research and find out what typical searches for your area might look like. You must spend some time considering what search phrases will bring you the most guests - the good news is that this can be done in parallel with planning your page titles. The way search engines work, it is best to target one keyword phrase per page.

Is your website optimised for each page?  

There are a few ways to determine whether your website has been optimised for each page or just the home page.

• Do test searches on the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, and MSN) using a variety of phrases that potential guests might use if they were researching your area. When you find your website in the listings, is it always your home page, or is it sometimes your other pages? If you don't find yourself you should consider seeking some professional assistance immediately.
  
  
• If you have any kind of tracking device on your pages or on your web server (highly recommended), examine the referrers. You should find that your other pages should be referring people to your home page fairly often. This indicates that people are finding your other pages and then moving to your home page. You should also find a lot of variety in the list of search engine referrals. If all you find are searches for your business by name, this means people aren't finding you in any other search. If you only see one regional phrase, it means you aren't showing up well for lots of others.

Advice

• If you are having a new website built, spend some dedicated time choosing effective search phrases so you can apply one to each and every page of your website.
  
  
• If you have an existing website that is not optimised for each page, contact your designer and see if optimisation is a service they specialise in. If not, it is recommended that you look for someone who does.
  
  
• If you are looking for a new designer or website promotion specialist, examine the sites in their portfolio. Does each page target a useful search phrase? If the answer is "no," keep looking for another person to promote or design your website.