SEO for B and Bs: How to Win More Direct Bookings for Your Guest House

If you run a Bed and Breakfast in Merseyside, you already know the challenge. Online Travel Agents (OTAs) like Booking.com and Airbnb take a sizeable commission from every reservation, often between 15% and 20%. That eats directly into your profit margins.

But here’s the thing: guests are actively searching for guest houses and B&Bs on Google every single day. The question is whether they’re finding your property or your competitors.

Search engine optimisation for Bed and Breakfasts isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between paying commission on every booking and building a sustainable stream of direct reservations that go straight into your pocket.

Why B and B Owners Across Merseyside Are Investing in SEO

The hospitality landscape has shifted dramatically. Travellers now begin their journey on Google, searching for terms like “B&B Liverpool city centre” or “dog friendly guest house Southport” before they ever land on an OTA.

Consider this: if your guest house appears at position one on Google for a high-value search term, you capture 39.6% of all clicks. That’s nearly four out of every ten potential guests clicking through to your website, not Booking.com, not Airbnb, but your direct booking page.

Here’s how the click-through rates break down:

Position 1: 39.6% of all clicks
Position 2: 18.4% of all clicks
Position 3: 10.1% of all clicks
Position 4: 7.6% of all clicks
Position 5: 4.6% of all clicks

If you’re sitting on page two of Google, you’re essentially invisible. Over 90% of searchers never scroll past the first page. Do you think your phone will be ringing if nobody can find you?

The Real Numbers: Search Volume for B&Bs in Your Area

Let’s talk specifics. Here are estimated monthly search volumes for B&B-related keywords across Merseyside and the surrounding regions:

Keyword	Monthly Searches
B&B Liverpool	2,400
Guest house Chester	1,600
Bed and Breakfast Southport	880
B&B Wirral	720
Dog friendly B&B Merseyside	210
Guest house near Liverpool Airport	390
Romantic B&B Chester	170
B&B Warrington	480
Weekend break B&B Liverpool	260
Pet friendly guest house Wirral	140

That’s thousands of potential guests searching every month. If your property isn’t ranking for these terms, those bookings are going elsewhere, likely to OTAs or competitors who have invested in SEO for B & Bs.

What Effective SEO Looks Like for Guest Houses

Search engine optimisation for Bed and Breakfasts involves several key components. Each one builds upon the next to create a comprehensive strategy that drives direct bookings.

Local SEO Optimisation

Your Google Business Profile is arguably your most valuable digital asset. When someone searches “B&B near me” from Liverpool, Wirral, Chester, Warrington, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crewe, Skelmersdale, Ormskirk, Widnes, Crosby, Maghull, or Bootle, Google pulls results from optimised business profiles.

Key elements include:

Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) across all platforms
High-quality photographs of rooms, breakfast settings, and common areas
Regular Google Posts highlighting seasonal offers and local events
Active review management, responding to every guest review demonstrates professionalism
Keyword-rich business description featuring your location and unique amenities

On-Page SEO for Your Website

Your website needs to work harder than a simple online brochure. Every page should target specific search terms while providing genuine value to potential guests.

Consider these optimisations:

Detailed room descriptions that go beyond “comfortable” to include specific features, views, and character
Location-based landing pages targeting each area you serve
Blog content covering local attractions, events, and travel guides
Schema markup that helps Google understand your property type, ratings, and availability
Mobile-first design, over 60% of travel searches now happen on smartphones

Technical Performance

Site speed directly impacts bookings. Research shows that a one-second delay in page load time can reduce conversions by 7%. For a busy B&B, that could mean losing several bookings per week.

Technical priorities include:

Image optimisation using modern formats like WebP
Browser caching for returning visitors
Secure HTTPS connection
Fast, reliable hosting
Clean URL structure

Marketing for Event B & Bs: A Growing Opportunity

If your guest house caters to weddings, corporate retreats, or special celebrations, there’s an entire segment of search traffic you could be capturing.

Couples searching for “wedding accommodation Liverpool” or “group B&B booking Chester” represent high-value bookings, often multiple rooms for multiple nights. Event organisers frequently book months in advance, providing excellent cash flow predictability.

We recently covered strategies for businesses in this space in our post on SEO for Event Planners, which shares overlapping principles that apply directly to guest houses serving the events market.

Marketing for event B & Bs requires targeted content, specific landing pages, and local link building from wedding directories, venue listing sites, and tourism boards.

Direct Bookings vs OTA Commissions: The Maths

Let’s put this into perspective with real numbers.

Assume your average booking value is £150 per night, and you achieve 200 bookings per year through OTAs at a 17% commission rate:

200 bookings × £150 = £30,000 gross revenue
17% commission = £5,100 paid to OTAs annually

Now imagine redirecting just 40% of those bookings to direct reservations through improved Google rankings:

80 direct bookings × £150 = £12,000
Commission saved: £2,040 per year

That’s money back in your pocket: every single year. And as your rankings improve, so does the percentage of direct bookings.

Why Merseyside B&Bs Choose Mersey SEO

We understand the hospitality sector. We understand Merseyside. And we understand that B&B owners need results without being locked into lengthy contracts that don’t deliver.

Our No-contract SEO services mean you stay because you’re seeing results, not because you’re trapped in a 12-month agreement.

What we deliver for guest house clients:

Comprehensive local SEO targeting Liverpool, Wirral, Chester, Warrington, Southport, St Helens, and surrounding areas
Google Business Profile optimisation and ongoing management
Technical website audits and performance improvements
Content creation targeting high-value search terms
Monthly reporting with clear, measurable outcomes
Transparent pricing with no hidden fees

You can see what our clients say about working with us on our Facebook page, follow our latest updates on our X profile, or check our reviews on our Google Business page.

Sales Bit Time…

If you’re a Bed and Breakfast owner in Merseyside watching OTA commissions drain your profits month after month, it’s time to take control of your online presence.

SEO for B & Bs isn’t an overnight fix: it’s a strategic investment that compounds over time. The guest houses ranking on page one of Google today started their SEO journey months or years ago. Every week you delay is another week your competitors strengthen their position.

We work with guest houses across Liverpool, Wirral, Chester, Warrington, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crosby, Maghull, and beyond. Whether you’re a charming Victorian townhouse or a countryside retreat, the principles remain the same: get found on Google, capture direct bookings, and keep more of your revenue.

Ready to discuss how we can help your guest house climb the rankings?