The hotel’s primary competitive edge is their location. The website targeted a variety of location-specific keywords that attract people looking for hotels in their area.
Case Study
Travelodge at the Falls
How Vizlly Increased Direct Revenue & Decreased OTA Commissions for this Hotel in Niagara Falls
Highlights
Direct Revenue
+$90k
Projected ROI
9x
Decreased
OTA Commissions
Boosted
Digital Presence
Summary
Millions of tourists visit the natural wonders of Niagara Falls every year—13 million of them in fact. After admiring the beauty of the falls themselves, there’s still lots to see in Niagara Falls. Of those visitors, the vast majority are visiting specifically for leisure, and many are coming with families or in a group. The Niagara area is packed with wineries, nature, and entertainment options—many of which are on Clifton Hill, home to Travelodge at the Falls.
A popular tourist area, Clifton Hill is home to a long row of bright lights and family fun. Travelodge at the Falls is one of two hotels right on Clifton Hill itself, both of which are owned by the Niagara Clifton Group. The Group operates restaurants, retail, and attractions on the strip, and markets these through their own website. However, this website wasn’t bringing in direct bookings for the hotel, and the Travelodge needed their own standalone hotel website to increase revenue.
The Challenge
With their prime location, family-friendly rooms and reasonable rates, Travelodge at the Falls’ team was not worried about occupancy. But as a hotel operating in a major leisure destination, lots of their visitors were looking for a package deal and booking through another travel channel.
Their brand website advertised the hotel alongside attractions and restaurants, but it didn’t provide a clear picture of the hotel’s features.
The Niagara Clifton Group’s site wasn’t the standalone direct booking generator the hotel needed to cut down on OTA commissions.
What’s more, Niagara Falls has hundreds of hotels in a densely packed area. With their location right on Clifton Hill, Travelodge at the Falls draws in leisure groups and families looking to stay right at the heart of this historic area. They needed a leisure-focused website, dedicated to drawing in the organic traffic they were losing to third-party channels.
The Solution
Travelodge at the Falls purchased Vizlly + SEO to build out a website specifically for the hotel. They launched a brand-new website for Travelodge at the Falls at the beginning of 2018. The website’s on-page content targeted specific keywords that landed their new site on the first page of Google for search terms used by their guests.
Using on-page SEO tactics they optimized the site content, meta tags and pictures to focus on the search terms that mattered most to the hotel.
Their new website highlighted ancillary services offered by the Niagara Clifton Group, such as nearby restaurants, attractions, and packages. With a clean and direct look, the website was able to deliver a clear path to booking to channel web traffic over to their booking engine.
In addition to the site itself, the hotel receives ongoing support from their Customer Success Manager, Daniel Grant. Daniel provides ongoing reporting, suggestions to stay on top of online trends, and helps facilitate any edits or updates to the website.
The Results
In their first year with Vizlly, Travelodge at the Falls has seen an estimated 90k revenue from direct bookings. Without Vizlly, those bookings would have come through third-party channels and cost them at least $13,500, assuming a 15% commission.
Looking forward to 2019, the hotel has built a solid SEO foundation. The hotel will continue to leverage their unique position in the market place. Their Success Manager Daniel is always one quick call away to add new offers and incentives to keep that direct revenue flowing.
Highlights
Direct Revenue
+$90k
Projected ROI
9x
Decreased
OTA Commissions