With nearly three-quarters of travelers using metasearch during their planning process, it’s no wonder that independent hoteliers are turning to these search tools as a way to improve their direct booking conversion rates. Some are calling metasearch the most important distribution channel in the travel industry.

In fact, an analysis by travel consultants PACE Dimensions indicates that metasearch sites account for more than 45% of global unique visitors in the travel industry. That’s greater than the proportion of unique visitors for Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), both globally and in the US. Moreover, a 30% to 40% rise in traffic is predicted in the coming year, with more than 50% of surveyed hotel marketers saying they’d dedicate at least 20% of their advertising budgets to metasearch.

Establishing a successful metasearch strategy requires more than just a one-size-fits-all approach, but all boutique hoteliers should take three important steps before investing in metasearch:

1. Maintain price parity — Remember where the traveler is in their booking journey. Many travelers who utilize metasearch are ready to book immediately. Hotels need to make sure they’re in the best possible position to capture that conversion, and that means having the best price. Because metasearch engines show the traveler a real-time rate comparison to the OTA’s price, it is critical that the hotel’s direct booking rate be aligned with the other options. Otherwise, you’re losing the conversion and hurting the image of your brand. Since OTAs can apply their metasearch click to bookings at hundreds of possible hotels, it’s hard to outbid them in most cases. What can independent hotel marketers do to tip the scales in their favor?

2. Prior conversions matter — A high conversion rate is a prerequisite for an effective metasearch program. For target return on ad spend (ROAS), Google suggests that a hotel’s booking engine have at least 20 conversions in the past 45 days. For optimum results, it is recommended to have at least 50 conversions in the past 30 days for both target cost per acquisition and target ROAS. Additionally, hoteliers should identify their current booking engine conversion rate without any marketing as this would be a good indication of how successful or unsuccessful their campaign will be.

3. Differentiate your brand — Google Hotel Ad Callouts, previously known as taglines, allow hotel marketers to include additional text in the hotel booking module. Callouts are usually one to two additional lines of customizable text within a single ad. This feature allows hotels to differentiate themselves from other listings. It’s an opportunity to feature campaign taglines, property amenities, promotional offers, or messages that will set you apart from OTAs.

The Guestbook’s whitepaper, “Metasearch, What to Know Before You Bid,” is available now and can be downloaded HERE.

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