More than ever, travelers turn to their mobile devices to find local businesses and travel destinations. According to a recent study,¹ 74% of smartphone users over 18 use their mobile phone to get directions or find something based on their current location.

More than just pinpointing the location of a hotel or retailer, travelers trust their phones to navigate them safely to their destinations. As one study from Pew Research Center noted, ‰67% of smartphone owners use their phone at least occasionally for turn-by-turn navigation while driving.‰²

Make sure travelers can find your hotel using their favorite mobile navigation app.

Whether a traveler uses default navigation apps like Maps (iOS) or Google Maps (Android) or they prefer a crowd-sourced navigation app like Waze, there‰’s no denying the power of the cell phone when it comes to driving directions.

How can you make sure your property is accurately placed on the app?

Knowledge is power. The first thing you should do is check how you‰’re listed on each of the main local directories including Google Maps and Apple Maps. You should ensure that your property’s name, address and phone number are all correct and that they match on each listing.

There are hundreds of local directories online, and it‰’s important that your property is listed consistently and accurately across all of these listings. While you could check each of these local listings manually, you don‰’t have to! Request a free listing scan to receive a report of how your property shows up on local listings.

Pro Tip: It‰’s especially important to check your local listings if your hotel has changed names or brands in the past!

The last thing you need is for your hotel to appear with its old flag on navigation systems ‰– this is extremely confusing for travelers and could result in fewer reservations.

If you find that your location is marked incorrectly on a directory like Yelp!, Google or YellowPages, you can typically report a correction manually to each website. Although this process is time-consuming and rather tedious, it‰’s essential that you correct your hotel‰’s location information. Why?

Incorrect property listings have a negative impact on user experience and on your ability to be found on search engines.

Listing management doesn‰’t have to consume all of your time and energy. Travel Media Group’s hotel websites are all powered by our advanced listing optimization which takes care of all of your listing updates automatically. Learn more about our website solutions.

1. Mobile Technology Fact Sheet: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/
2. U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/