Imagine this: a popular travel guide in your city features your hotel as a top recommendation. Travelers reading it immediately trust your property and feel more inclined to book directly. On the internet, that’s exactly what a backlink does.

A backlink is a link from another website linking to your website. Search engines like Google see these links as “votes of confidence.” Every quality backlink to your hotel’s website signals trust, relevance, and authority—helping you rise in search rankings.

A Short History of Backlinks

• 1990s: The Early Days of SEO
  Back then, websites climbed search results by stuffing pages with keywords. User experience was secondary.

• 1998: Google’s Breakthrough
  Google changed everything by modeling backlinks after academic citations. The more credible references a page had, the more valuable it appeared.

• Today: Quality Over Quantity
  It’s no longer about having the most links—it’s about having the right ones. A single organic link from a trusted travel blog is far more powerful than hundreds of irrelevant ones.

The Most Important Terms You Need To Know: Do-Follow, No-Follow

It might sound technical and scary, but the concepts are really not that technical. If you understand these three semi-technical concepts, you'll really be 80 percent of the way to being a Backlinks pro. Not all backlinks are created equal. To fully understand their impact, it’s important to know the main types:

• Do-Follow Links
  These are the standard type of backlink. They pass “link equity” (also called “SEO juice”) from the referring site to your website, helping improve your search engine rankings. Example: a local tourism board linking to your hotel’s homepage.

• No-Follow Links
  These links contain a small piece of code (rel="nofollow") telling search engines not to transfer authority. While they don’t directly boost rankings, they can still drive traffic, build brand visibility, and lead to future do-follow opportunities. Example: a TripAdvisor review linking to your site.

💡 Pro Tip for Hotels: Aim for a healthy mix of do-follow and no-follow backlinks, with natural anchor text that highlights your hotel’s location, unique features, and brand name.

One more technical term. Last one, I swear!

• Anchor Text
  This is the clickable text in a hyperlink (e.g., “luxury boutique hotel in Austin”). Search engines use anchor text to understand what your page is about. Natural, varied, and relevant anchor text strengthens your SEO. Over-optimized or spammy anchor text, however, can trigger penalties. But anchor text like "hotel website" instead of the hotel's actual name is a total waste of a backlink. Sure, it gives you some credibility, but it doesn't help you rank for your brand or another valuable keyword.

Why Backlinks Matter for Hotels

• Greater Visibility: Ranking higher on Google means travelers discover you before they ever land on an OTA. They also help for AEO (Showing up on AI results)

• Saving on Commissions: Every direct booking keeps the 15–25% OTA fee in your pocket.

• Building Brand Trust: Being featured in travel magazines, wedding blogs, or city guides builds instant credibility with potential guests.

• Long-Term Value: Unlike ads, a strong backlink can drive referral traffic for years after it’s earned.

What to Watch Out For

• Avoid spammy links—they can lead to penalties.

• Don’t over-optimize—Google prefers natural anchor text.

• Focus on local and relevant sources—links from the community matter most to your ideal guests.

• A good rule of thumb is "What is every opportunity I have to optimize my backlinks in a helpful and natural way that doesn't feel like it's 'cheating' or misleading"

How Hotels Can Earn Backlinks

• Collaborate with local tourism boards and event venues.

• Host travel writers or bloggers for a stay.

• Create unique packages and seasonal experiences worth writing about.

• Sponsor local events that get media coverage.

• Reclaim online mentions of your hotel that don’t include a link.

  But remember! Make sure these are all Do-Follow links or they are useless. Even better if the anchor text can be something you are trying to rank higher for but at the very least, your hotel's name.

💡 Remember: A backlink isn’t just a technical SEO term—it’s your hotel’s reputation and visibility in the digital world.

MHS helps hotels build smart backlink strategies that increase visibility, drive more direct bookings, and reduce OTA dependence.