Travel & Hospitality

Dominating Local Search for a Mediterranean Hospitality Group

How we transformed a 5-property hospitality group into the top-ranking accommodation provider across Malta and Sicily.

+289% Organic Traffic

Top 3 Local Pack

92 PageSpeed Score

+195% Direct Bookings

The Challenge

Heavy OTA Dependency & Technical Debt

A portfolio of 5 boutique hotels across Malta and Sicily was facing unsustainable commission costs. Over 80% of their volume came through OTAs (15-22% commissions), while their direct digital presence was failing.

speed

Technical Performance

Lighthouse scores as low as 34/100 across mobile devices.

distance

Google Business Profile

Inconsistent NAPs and unoptimized GBP listings across locations.

trending_down

Visibility Deficit

Outranked by local competitors and third-party booking sites for branded terms.

Execution Roadmap

Phase 1: Local Foundation

Weeks 1-4

Comprehensive GBP audit and optimization. Implementation of advanced Hotel Schema to feed pricing data directly into SERP.

Phase 2: Performance Overhaul

Weeks 3-8

Aggressive Core Web Vitals optimization. Rebuilding front-end assets to jump performance scores from 34 to 92.

Phase 3: Content Strategy

Weeks 6-14

Development of 120+ location-specific pages targeting 'things to do' and 'best areas' near each property.

Phase 4: Review Engineering

Weeks 8-20

Automated solicitation system integrated with PMS. Target: 4-hour response time for all direct reviews.

Key Technical Actions

storefront

5 GBPs Fully Optimized

code

Hotel Schema Implemented rich result entities for rooms, rates, and availability across all properties.

article

120+ Pages Location-specific content clustering targeting high-intent long-tail keywords.

speed

34 → 92 PageSpeed Performance Jump

The 12-Month Trajectory

Month 1-3

+65% Sessions

Initial technical cleanup and local citation syncing yields immediate visibility gains.

Month 4-6

+140% Traffic

Content strategy matures. Properties start appearing for 'Best Hotels in...' competitive terms.

Month 7-9

Local Domination

All 5 properties hit Top-3 Local Pack. OTA dependency drops to 45% as direct site traffic surges.

Final Result

+289% Traffic | €340K Savings

Direct bookings increased by 195%, fundamentally shifting the business model away from OTA reliance.

format_quote

"Direct bookings have nearly tripled since partnering with SEO Engineers. We are saving over €340,000 annually in OTA commissions. The ROI is undeniable."

Marco Rossi Digital Director, Hospitality Group

Ready to dominate your local market?

Stop paying excessive commissions and start owning your search presence. Let's build your authority.

Request a Strategy Call View More Case Studies