TL;DR Key takeaways
- Off-season is when you have time to do the SEO work that pays off next summer.
- Update your Business Profile for winter hours, menus and seasonal offers.
- Event and local-guide pages capture searches that booking platforms don't.
- Every direct booking you win saves commission; make the direct route easy.
Galway in summer barely needs marketing. Between the Arts Festival, the Races and the steady flow of visitors heading for Connemara and the Aran Islands, rooms and tables fill themselves. The off-season is different. From November through to spring, the businesses that do well are the ones that are easy to find online, and the ones that took the quiet months to get their house in order.
I think of the off-season as SEO season. You finally have the time.
Start with your Google Business Profile
For a guesthouse, café or restaurant, your Business Profile is often the first thing a potential guest sees, well before your website. Go through it carefully:
- Update opening hours for winter, including any midweek closures.
- Add special hours for Christmas, New Year and St Stephen's Day.
- Upload fresh photos that show the place in winter: the fire lit, the cosy corner, the Christmas menu.
- Check that the booking or menu link goes to the right page on your own website.
- Use Posts to share seasonal offers, such as midweek breaks or a set menu during the Christmas Market.
Build pages for the things people search in winter
Visitors in the off-season search differently. They look for things to do in Galway in December, Christmas Market accommodation, Sunday lunch near Salthill, dog-friendly pubs in Connemara. Booking platforms rarely rank for these kinds of specific, local searches, but a well-written page on your own site can.
A few ideas:
- A page for the Galway Christmas Market period, with your offers and practical tips on getting to Eyre Square.
- A simple local guide: walks, rainy-day options, places to eat nearby.
- A page for any events you host yourselves, such as trad sessions, quiz nights or tasting evenings.
Keep them genuinely useful. A good local guide earns links and shares naturally.
The booking platforms own the generic searches. The specific, local ones are still yours to win.
Reviews: quality over quantity
Reviews matter enormously in hospitality, and they are spread across Google, TripAdvisor and the booking platforms. Focus your effort on Google, because that is where they directly influence your map ranking. Ask guests at checkout or in a short follow-up email. Reply to every review in a personal way, mentioning something specific. Future guests read your replies as much as the reviews themselves.
Direct bookings versus the booking platforms
Booking.com, Expedia and Airbnb bring in guests you might never reach alone, and I would not tell anyone to leave them entirely. But every booking they take costs you commission. The off-season is the time to make the direct route more attractive:
- Make the booking button obvious on every page and on mobile.
- Offer something the platforms do not: a late checkout, breakfast included, or a small discount for booking direct.
- Make sure your own site loads fast and your booking engine works smoothly on a phone.
- Keep rates and availability consistent so guests do not find a cheaper price elsewhere.
A realistic plan for the quiet months
You do not have to do everything at once. One afternoon a week through November and December can cover your profile, two or three new pages and a review routine. By the time the summer rush returns, those pages will have had months to settle in.
If you would like to see where you stand first, my €29 SEO report gives you a clear list of priorities. You can also read more about how I help with SEO in Galway.