A Growth Engine for Europe

It seems that a desire to try new things runs in the Scholl family. Back in the 1960s, the grandfather of the current hotel owner moved production of the family bakery – which had been operating since 1878 – outside the city. Shortly afterwards, the land freed up in Schwäbisch Hall was transformed into a hotel. By 2002, the hotel – which is made up of four historic buildings – had its own website and real-time booking functionality. In 2005, they introduced Wi-Fi – and since 2007, guests have been offered this service free of charge. The website was optimized for mobile devices in 2011, and the company launched its first Google AdWords campaign in 2012 with notable success: “By advertising with Google, we were able to increase conversions on our website and generate additional bookings,” explains owner Christian Scholl. “What’s more, we have received over twice as many reviews as the second-ranked hotel in this area.” Scholl has gained significant benefits from his investment: “With Google, I can see the exact impact of specific measures and use every cent of my budget in a targeted way.” To manage the hotel’s advertising activities as effectively as possible, Scholl also uses Google Analytics and Google MyBusiness. For Christian Scholl, the national and even international visibility that Google offers is particularly interesting: “We recently had some guests from Amsterdam who had found us via Google and spontaneously decided to come and visit.”