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The Best Schema Markup for Hotels and Travel Sites – Image Credit TravelBoom Marketing
Looking for examples of schema markup for hotels, an important element of SEO for hotels? You’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll demystify schema markup for hotels and travel sites, plus offer examples and clear answers for travel-industry pros seeking guidance.
Schema: An effective way to get your hotel noticed online
For today’s leisure and business travelers alike, nearly three in every four hotel searches start in a predictable place: an online search engine. And for hotel properties looking to stand out in the search, schema markup — also known as structured data — provides a powerful way to enhance online visibility, take more control of how property listings appear in search results and, as a result, boost online bookings.
What is schema markup?
An important SEO strategy for hotels, schema markup involves adding code to your hotel or travel website to provide added information to search engines, including Google, Bing and Yahoo. While this code is invisible to your site’s visitors, it provides helpful information to the search engine bots that crawl your web pages and index the information they find there.
Schema markup doesn’t directly influence your rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs), so it won’t help your property climb to the top of the list when travelers are searching for hotels that meet their needs. But by helping the search engines add compelling elements to your search listings, schema markup can help your property better capture users’ attention on the SERPs, thereby boosting your click-through rates and, hopefully, increasing site visits and direct bookings.
Other top benefits a solid schema strategy can deliver for your property include the addition of rich snippets to your search listings, enhancing your search visibility, and resulting in a better user experience by helping prospective travelers more quickly find the details they’re seeking about your property when they perform an online search.
Key schema types and examples for hotels and travel sites
Schema markup for hotels and travel sites is different from typical schema markup because it focuses on highlighting the kind of information that’s typically most important to travelers and that is especially integral to the hotel experience. The following are some of the most important elements hoteliers should address in their schema-markup efforts:
Hotel schema elements
- Property location and contact information – To improve your local SEO efforts and increase the likelihood your property appears in area-specific and “hotel near me” searches, make sure that your property’s physical address, phone number and geographic coordinates are included in your schema markup.
- Reviews and star ratings – By highlighting positive guest reviews and displaying your property’s star ratings, you can build trust among prospective travelers and heighten consumer perception of your hotel’s quality.
- On-site amenities – To attract more travelers’ interest, spotlight the most appealing amenities your property offers, such as pools, on-property dining, free parking, free Wi-Fi and pet-friendly features.
- Pricing and availability – For travelers who are actively looking to book, it’s important to share your room rates and availability for the specific time window they’re planning a visit.
Here’s an example of hotel schema code you’d want to include in your website’s page files:
{
"@context": "http://schema.org",
“@type”: “Hotel”,
“name”: “The Grand Hotel”,
“address”: {
“@type”: “PostalAddress”,
“streetAddress”: “123 Main Street”,
“addressLocality”: “Cityville”,
“postalCode”: “12345”,
“addressCountry”: “US”
},
“telephone”: “+1-234-567-8900”,
“aggregateRating”: {
“@type”: “AggregateRating”,
“ratingValue”: “4.5”,
“reviewCount”: “123”
},
“priceRange”: “$$$”,
“amenityFeature”: [
{“@type”: “LocationFeatureSpecification”, “name”: “Free WiFi”}
]
}
Hotel room schema elements
- Room types – Offer a quick glimpse into the room choices available at your property, such as “Studio Queen,” “2-King Family Room” and “Luxury Suite.”
- In-room amenities – Highlighting stay-enhancing amenities like kitchenettes, balconies, scenic views, sitting areas and oversized beds can add to the appeal of a stay at your property.
- Vacancies available within a specific category – Especially if a certain room type is soon to be all filled up, highlighting the number available can add a sense of urgency and drive prospective guests to lock in their room choice with a booking.
- Check-in and check-out times – Information on when a room will be available and how long guests can stay on their check-out day can influence travelers to choose your property, especially if your check-in and check-out times are more generous than industry standards.
Here’s an example of hotel room schema code to include in your website’s page files:
{
"@context": "http://schema.org",
“@type”: “HotelRoom”,
“name”: “Luxury Suite”,
“description”: “A luxurious suite with a king-sized bed, ocean view, and private balcony.”,
“amenityFeature”: [
{“@type”: “LocationFeatureSpecification”, “name”: “Private Balcony”},
{“@type”: “LocationFeatureSpecification”, “name”: “Ocean View”}
],
“offers”: {
“@type”: “Offer”,
“price”: “299.00”,
“priceCurrency”: “USD”
}
}
FAQs schema elements
By including the answers to common questions travelers might have about your property in your schema markup, you can increase the likelihood of prospective guests experiencing a “zero-click search,” in which they find the answer they’re seeking right on the SERP. This can support a positive user experience and leave a good impression of your hotel.
Here’s a FAQs schema code example to include in your website’s page files:
{
"@context": "http://schema.org",
“@type”: “FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”: [
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Does the hotel offer free parking?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Yes, our hotel offers free on-site parking for all guests.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Is breakfast included in the room rate?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Yes, a complimentary breakfast is included with every stay.”
}
}
]
}
Additional schema elements
Here are some other important schema types to consider incorporating into the page files for your hotel or travel site:
- Rating and review schema to boost consumer perceptions of your property
- Nearby destination and attraction schema to spotlight noteworthy tourist experiences within close proximity of your property
- Local business schema to highlight area businesses and conveniences within easy reach of your hotel’s geographic location
Implementing schema markup on your website
Schema markup is typically incorporated into a website’s page files by adding JSON-LD code (the type of code seen in the examples provided above) to a page’s <head> or body copy — but this approach requires a relatively high level of technical skill and knowledge.
Using plugins and tools to add schema markup to your site’s web pages can simplify the process, making the tactic more accessible to hoteliers with less technical expertise. These helpful resources often allow users to add schema markup to their pages via guided interfaces that require little to no coding knowledge.
Popular Tools to Create Schema Markup
These are a few of the most popular plugins and tools for easier schema markup:
- Yoast SEO (for WordPress)
- seoClarity
- technicalseo.com
- Automated solutions like WordLift and Schema Optimizer that can analyze a website’s content and suggest potential schema markup additions
For any hotelier looking to enhance their property’s presence in search engine results, schema markup can be a powerful, needle-moving tactic. When implemented and executed properly, this SEO-supporting webpage element can lead to more interested consumers, more website visits — and more direct bookings.
Step Up Your Schema and Other SEO Elements With TravelBoom
Ready to take your property’s online presence and your hotel SEO to the next level? With years of experience optimizing travel-focused websites for higher rankings in search engine results, our SEO and SEM pros have the skills and experience needed to give your property more prominence on the SERP — and draw more attention to your listings to put more travelers in your hotel rooms. To learn how we can help you optimize your schema and elevate your search visibility, contact TravelBoom today.
About TravelBoom Marketing
TravelBoom specializes in developing and executing customized data-driven marketing solutions that drive direct bookings and growth for its clients. With over 25 years of experience in digital marketing for travel and hotels, TravelBoom leverages advanced data science and analytics to uncover insights and develop strategies that greatly enhance results for our clients and reduce reliance on third-party channels. TravelBoom is also host of the world’s #1 ranked Hotel Marketing Podcast and its quarterly Traveler Sentiment Study both of which can be found at www.travelboommarketing.com.
