Case study · Travel + Hospitality · Local · SEO · 2025–2026
Top-3 rankings for 70+ terms in six months, without paying a platform.
North East Escapes was leaking bookings to Airbnb because Google didn't see them. Six months of focused SEO put them on page one for the searches that mattered, and reset the channel mix.
Where it hurt.
North East Escapes runs a portfolio of cottage rentals across the region. Over 90% of organic traffic was branded, landing on the homepage. The high-intent commercial queries — location plus property type plus modifier — were going to competitors and to Airbnb.
The brand had no leverage in the SERP. The pipeline depended on a third-party platform's fees. Property owners hesitated to list because visibility was low.
What we saw.
SEO for local hospitality isn't about ranking for 'cottages'. It's about ranking for what people actually search when they're about to book. Sea-view cottages. Dog-friendly cottages. Northumberland weekends. Specific, modified, commercial. That's where the traffic decides.
What we did, and why.
- 01 · Re-audit the SERP
Map every high-intent local query. Identify the gap between what the audience searched and what the site ranked for. Most of the gap was specificity.
- 02 · Build for specificity
Rebuild location pages. Add high-converting subcategory content (sea-view, dog-friendly, hot tub, log fire). Strengthen internal linking. Layer in commercial property-management keywords for the listing-side pipeline.
- 03 · Earn the position
Maintain the strategy. Refresh content. Track the SERP. Iterate where competitors moved.
The numbers, in plain language.
Within six months, North East Escapes ranked top-three for over 70 commercial keywords. Direct organic bookings climbed. Dependency on Airbnb's commission softened.
The channel went from a polite contributor to a primary acquisition source.
For brands like yours.
If your bookings come through a platform, you don't own the demand. Own the SERP for the specific things your audience searches and the platform becomes optional, not foundational.
What we ran.
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