For hospitality tech companies, a resource library is a cornerstone of marketing strategy, a dynamic learning hub that attracts traffic to the website, generates qualified leads, and nurtures prospects along the path to purchase.
However, resource libraries often start with big aspirations and quickly become the place where content goes to die. Common issues include:
- Not enough content: A lack of depth or variety limits the library’s usefulness.
- Dull or unoriginal topics: Content fails to engage or offer unique insights.
- Outdated materials: Old content grows stale, reducing credibility.
- Sales-heavy content: Too much promotional material turns visitors away.
- Confusing navigation: Users can’t easily find the content they need.
As a result, the few visitors who do stumble upon the library tend to leave the site quickly without engaging further—and aren’t likely to come back.
Here’s how to make sure your tech resource hub doesn’t suffer the same fate.
What Should Your Resource Library Include?
To cater to the different ways that people consume information and learn online, a resource hub should be packed with helpful resources in a variety of formats, including both short-form and long-form flagship content.
Blog: Share the latest news, trends and customer stories.
Guides: Offer step-by-step instructions on key topics related to your products and services.
Whitepapers: Explore industry trends, challenges, and solutions in depth.
Reports: Showcase the latest data and research relevant to your industry.
Videos: Bring content to life through interviews, animated graphics, and tutorials.
Webinars/Podcasts: Feature discussions with industry experts, customers and company staff on important issues, trends and best practices.
Thought Leadership Articles: Showcase insights published by your company in industry publications.
Other: Provide templates, checklists, quick reference guides, infographics, glossaries and other assets to download and share.
Some companies also include case studies, FAQs, events or product tutorials in the resource library, but you have the rest of your website for that. I recommend housing product marketing materials elsewhere to keep the focus on learning rather than promotion.
8 Ways to Breathe New Life into Your Resource Hub
Here’s how to revitalize your resource library and maximize its effectiveness.
1. Keep Content Fresh & Relevant
Give people reasons to return to your site by regularly adding new content and updating or removing outdated content. Source new topic ideas by analyzing search activity, checking out competitors’ content, and checking in with the sales, product and customer success departments.
2. Speak in the Language of Hoteliers
Provide helpful, educational content that shows that you understand how hotels operate and the challenges they face. If you don’t have the required skills and experience in house, outsource content creation to a professional writer who does.
3. Optimize Content for Search
To attract qualified traffic, infuse content with the qualities Google’s search algorithms value most: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). Optimize content with relevant keywords in titles, headers, meta descriptions, and body text.
4. Ensure Easy Navigation
Build a user-friendly interface that highlights your most popular, important or recent material. To ensure visitors can find the content they want, provide a scrollable list of topics with thumbnails and descriptions, a search function, and the ability to filter materials by topic, date or format.
5. Gate Premium Content
To generate leads, gate your most valuable resources (such as reports and comprehensive guides) behind a contact form, at least for a short period after release. To encourage downloads and boost SEO, create a landing page for each item with a summary and highlights.
6. Guide Visitors to Next Steps
Help move prospects further along the sales funnel by encouraging them to take further action after consuming content, such as downloading more resources, subscribing to your newsletter, or scheduling a demo. Once they subscribe, send a series of emails to nurture them through the sales funnel.
7. Promote Content on Other Channels
Rather than wait for people to find your resource library, promote content across email, social media, and even paid media channels. Mention it during demos and in presentations as a free resource for hoteliers.
8. Track Engagement
Use analytics to track pageviews, time on page, downloads and other engagement metrics. This helps you understand what content resonates most with users and informs future content strategy decisions.
Reap the Benefits of a Professional Content Hub
Once your resource library is well-organized and filled with valuable content, maintaining it becomes much more manageable. With thoughtful planning and consistent upkeep, you can ensure it remains a powerful tool for growing your database, building trust, and driving conversions over time.
Looking for Inspiration?
Check out these examples of strong resource libraries:
- Cloudbeds’ Resource Center
- Cendyn’s Resource Library
- IDeaS’ Content Library
- Squarespace’s Learning & Community Center
- HubSpot’s Resource Center
- Salesforce’s Resource Center
Want to learn more? Check out our posts about creating flagship content and hosting webinars.