10-SPACES we BLOG

I love the feature on Google maps that allows you to search hotels near a given location as you move around the map. In this case I was searching hotels near downtown Indianapolis. I didn’t want to stay near the airport or speedway though. I scrolled north on the map a bit to find alternatives. Fairfield Inn was one of the suggested results. I was surprised at how effective their local PPC and SEO campaign was. What impressed me was how they “got” the whole concept, from SERP to landing page.

To the left of the Google map you’ll see the organic (free) and sponsored results. Their listing title clearly indicated it was for a Fairfield Inn located in Avon Indiana. When I clicked on the way point I get a little more detail about the location via Google’s pop-over, such as address, phone number and website. So far none of this is really unique to them.

Where they really get it right is when I click on the URL from the Google map result to their website (what I’m about to say is true for their PPC ad as well). Even though the corporate site for Marriot Hotels runs the Fairfield division as well, the map link takes me directly to a landing page for the Fairfield Inn of Avon Indiana.

You don’t have to dig down to find out if you’re in the right place. The main landing page has everything you’d want to known: hotel highlights, details about the guest room, link to a photo tour, phone numbers, and an embedded form to book a room.

On the surface this doesn’t seem like a big deal. After all, who wouldn’t bid on optimize their SEO and PPC keywords around hotel locations they own, then send the visitor to a landing page for that exact location. I mean as a traveler, or a prospective traveler, this is exactly the transparent experience you hope for. At the same time most hotels companies don’t do this. And it’s not for the lack of budget or resources. A quick search on Google reveals many hotel chains spend plenty of money on SEM (search engine marketing).

What’s the takeway? When rolling out local campaigns on SEM, don’t forget visitors aren’t just looking for a “local business.” They also want the first page they see to match their search. You don’t need to run a sophisticated business analysis to do this either. Just think about what you’d want to see if you were searching for a place to stay. The same rules apply to creating landing pages for any business.