Laterooms dominated summer 2011 hotel searches – Greenlight

Laterooms dominated summer 2011 hotel searches – Greenlight

Laterooms.com was the most visible hotel brand on Google for the three months to August, the latest report from search specialist Greenlight has found.

Laterooms.com was the most visible hotel brand on Google for the three months to August, the latest report from search specialist Greenlight has found.

The Tui Travel-owned specialist topped the charts for natural search results and its high ranking for paid search meant it came out on top in the integrated search league table with 49% share of voice.

For paid search booking.com achieved the greatest share of voice with 83%, while lastminute.com topped the table for social media presence.

The analysis revealed that in June, July and August there were two million hotel-related searches, with the term ‘hotels’ accounting for 14% of these.

Generic term searches were the most used (43%) ahead of domestic destinations (33%), short-haul destinations (12%) and long-haul destinations (11%).

London proved a popular destination with the search terms ‘hotels in London’, ‘London hotels’ and ‘cheap hotels in London’ cumulatively accounting for 12% of all searches.

Lateroom.com’s top position for natural search came from its ranking first for 93 keywords including ‘hotels in London’.

It ranked one for 32 generic, non-destination, keywords giving it a 53% share of voice well-ahead of lastminute.com with 29% and for domestic terms (96%), again ahead of lastminute.com (80%).

A significant movers on the last hotel sector reports in December was Travelodge that increased its ranking in the top 60 sites to eighth from 19 and Superbreak (eighth to fifth).

To achieve its top ranking for paid search visibility booking.com bid on 118 keywords compared to second placed laterooms.com’s 100. In the top 10 Hotels Direct bid on the fewest terms (21).

Looking at ad creative booking.com came out as the most visible wile lastminute.com, promoting a 45% discount message, was the most diverse racking up 694 unique creatives.

Analysis of domestic, short-haul and long-haul keywords share of voice saw booking.com dominate all three categories with 100%, 99% and 93% share of voice.

The search strategies of the most popular hotel sites appeared to closely match consumer behaviour when looked at on a weekly basis, with volumes dipping towards midweek before rising at the weekend.

However looked at on an hourly basis the picture was different with most brands failing to track the low levels of searches from midnight to 8am and gradual rise throughout the day.

Online retailer Travel Republic most closely mirrored this activity although appeared to over-estimate activity after 4pm, while Holiday Inn achieved highest visibility in the morning when search volumes were at their lowest.

Lastminute.com’s high ranking for social media came thanks to its 14,800 Twitter followers, 87,000 Facebook fans, 2,400-string LinkedIn network and 25 YouTube uploads.

 – Download the full report on Greenlight’s hotel sector page