Geographic Keyword Competition Analysis Between Global Platforms and Local Hotels

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the level of digital keyword competition between global booking platforms, such as Booking.com and TripAdvisor, and local hotel websites. The study adopted a descriptive-analytical comparative approach, utilizing SEMrush for data collection and analysis, alongside a manual review of the targeted websites. The analysis encompassed organic visibility metrics, a sample of keywords driving organic traffic to the sites, and an evaluation of the backlink profile for each website. The results revealed the dominance of global booking platforms over high-search-volume geographical keywords, while local hotel websites exhibited relative weaknesses in keyword targeting and building robust backlink profiles. The study recommends enhancing content through specialized pages for each service and adopting an integrated keyword strategy (covering short-tail, long-tail, and geographical keywords) with multilingual content. Furthermore, it emphasizes the necessity of adopting a hybrid marketing strategy that balances global booking platforms with direct booking channels.