Which Hotels in Toronto Have the Best On-Page SEO?
Which Hotels in Toronto Have the Best On-Page SEO? This blog will be looking at part of the hospitality industry in Toronto, Ontario, and will try to determine which hotels have the best On-Page Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Toronto is a top-rated destination for millions of people around the world. Many people travel for work, conferences and others visit for entertainment and sporting events year-round.
According to the official website for the city of Toronto, in 2018, there were 27.5 million tourists. 9.4 million of them stayed for a minimum of one night, which resulted in 6.4 million hotel rooms rented. Some people may have their favourite hotel they like to stay at when they visit, and maybe it’s because of the food or spa, which is completely fine. But what about the rest of the visitors?
Hotel SEO Toronto
To determine which hotels in Toronto have the best On-Page SEO, I will put myself in the shoes of a tourist who just landed at Pearson International. I am off my flight, booked an Uber, and have just Googled one of the following:
- “Hotel Toronto”
- “Downtown Toronto Hotel”
Note: Many factors go into On-Page optimizations, but I will go with the very basics.
- UX/UI
- Page Titles
- Meta Descriptions
- Heading Tags (H₁ -H₆)
The main things I want to see are a friendly and simple user interface that can provide a good experience, the proper use of keywords in the title and headers, and a captivating meta description.
All discount hotel booking sites will also be passed over (Expedia, Travelocity, Trivago, Kayak). Only the official hotel sites will be looked at for On-Page SEO.
Shangri-La Hotel
User Experience:
The website layout for the Shangri-La is clean and straightforward. The site uses a traditional colour palette (black, white, grey, and gold) which is excellent for a 5-star luxury hotel.
When a guest lands on their homepage, they immediately see great images, a prompt to book a room and other details about the hotel.
Page Title:
“Luxury Hotel in Toronto | Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto”
The page title is a little short, but it gets the job done. It identifies a keyword and a location.
Meta Description:
“Our luxury Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto, Toronto provides comfortably appointed rooms, suites, and restaurants as well as excellent amenities.”. This description is good but can be improved by identifying the exact amenities in the hotel.
Headings:
The main heading on any website is the H1, and it lets Google know what the page topic is about. Here on the Shangri- La homepage, there is no H1 tag present, which is a missed opportunity to improve on-page ranking.
Hotel X
User Experience:
Hotel X has a clean and simple look, fantastic imagery, and a call to action right at the top to book a room. What I thought was great was the addition of the Instagram feed with images from past guest visits.
People always like to post about a great experience they have had. This feed could be an incentive for new guests considering staying at Hotel X.
The only negative aspect was a lack of contrast in the main hero section, and the text was a little challenging to read.
Page Title:
” Hotel X Toronto | OFFICIAL SITE | Lakefront Hotel Downtown Toronto”
This page title works well because there is branding and a specific location. To make the page title more SEO friendly, a secondary keyword should be used in place of “official site.”
Meta Description:
“Welcome to Hotel X Toronto, a luxury hotel on the Lake Ontario Waterfront in Downtown Toronto, featuring spacious rooms, restaurants, cafés and bars, a wellness centre and rooftop pools, meeting rooms, and business facilities.”
This meta description is excellent because it uses the main focus keyword at the beginning of the paragraph and explains everything the hotel offers.
Headings:
Hotel X makes good use of the H1, H2’s, and H3’s. Still, the main focus keyword should be used in the H1 position (here are a couple of better options: Luxury Hotel Toronto, Toronto Downtown Hotel, Best Hotel Toronto). This will allow Google to have a more precise understanding of the content on the page.
Chelsea Hotel
User Experience:
The UX on the Chelsea Hotel website is fully functional and mobile responsive, but the red and grey colour scheme feels gloomy for a family hotel. On a positive note, the use of an upbeat tourism video is fantastic for drawing attention and the website does an excellent job of displaying nearby attractions (CN Tower, Young and Dundas Square, Toronto Zoo), which is perfect for families that like to stay active.
Page Title:
“Toronto Hotel & Guest Services | Chelsea Hotel, Toronto”
This page title is just okay as it provides one main keyword and a location (Toronto Hotel). For a more professional title, a secondary keyword should be used, and repetition should be avoided.
Meta Description:
“From a family pool with a waterslide to an adult-only pool and fitness centre, Chelsea Hotel, Toronto has something for everyone – families, leisure, or business travellers alike. Learn more about our hotel and the services we provide”.
Their meta description is excellent as it displays that there is something for everyone and tries to draw the visitor in further by getting them to learn more.
Headings:
The heading tags on this website range from an H1-H6. One thing that pops out is the use of 8 different H1 tags on the page. Only one H1 tag should be present for optimal SEO results.
Toronto Hotel SEO Conclusion
- No hotel listed above did not have perfect On-Page SEO on their homepage but showed good work in one or two aspects.
- Hotels in Toronto should take a closer look at what customers are searching for + create a digital strategy so they can increase their bookings and reservations.
- With all the major booking websites, hotel brands need to make the most of their SEO efforts as there is limited space on the first page of Google.
Author bio for this guest post:
Hey there, my name is Michael and I am a digital marketer from Kamloops, British Colombia.
I have a small Web Design & SEO business named MC Web Studio. I build and develop WordPress websites and focus on all types of SEO.
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