How search engines find your booking site

How search engines find your booking site

Your booking site is set up for search engines automatically. You don't need to install anything or edit any files. This article explains what Stayant does for you and what you can still control.

Your sitemap and robots.txt

Every published booking site has two files that search engines look for:

• /sitemap.xml lists the pages on your site that should appear in search results. These are your home page, the Properties page, every published page you built in the site builder, and a page for each active property. Where Stayant knows when a page last changed, the sitemap includes that date, so search engines can see which pages have been updated.
• /robots.txt tells search engines they can crawl your site and where your sitemap is. It also asks them not to crawl private areas of the site (see below).

Both files are generated for your site only. They never list another business's pages. They update by themselves: when you publish a page or add a property, it appears in the sitemap within a minute or so. Unpublished pages and inactive properties are left out.

To check yours, add /sitemap.xml or /robots.txt to your site's address, for example https://yourbusiness.stayant.co.uk/sitemap.xml.

Tip: In Google Search Console you can submit your sitemap address. This helps Google find new pages sooner. It's optional, because the address is already listed in your robots.txt.

Your main address (canonical URL)

Each page on your site tells search engines its main address. This is called a canonical link. It means Google treats your site as one site, rather than splitting it across several addresses.

• If you haven't connected your own domain, the main address is your Stayant address, for example https://yourbusiness.stayant.co.uk.
• If you have connected your own domain, your own domain becomes the main address once it is Verified and working over HTTPS.

Search filters don't change the main address. A property list filtered by dates or guest numbers still points search engines to the plain Properties page.

When your own domain takes over

Once your own domain is verified and serving your site securely (HTTPS), anyone who opens a page on your old stayant.co.uk address is permanently redirected to the same page on your own domain. Any dates or search options in the link are kept, so old links, bookmarks and search results still work, and search engines move their ranking over to your domain.

Some links always stay where they are:

• the links in guest emails (booking pages, payments, check-in, messages and guidebooks);
• the booking confirmation page that guests return to after paying;
• the embeddable booking widget on other websites.

Guests who already have one of these links can keep using it. Nothing breaks when you switch domains.

Just verified your domain? Until HTTPS is switched on for it, your stayant.co.uk address stays the main address and nothing is redirected. This means guests never land on a page with a security warning. See HTTPS / SSL in Connect your own domain.

Pages that stay out of search results

Some pages are only for your guests, so Stayant asks search engines not to index them:

• the guest booking portal (/guest/…), including payment, check-in, messages and invoices;
• guidebooks shared by link or QR code (/guidebook/…);
• the booking confirmation page (/booking/confirmation);
• page previews from the site builder.

These pages are hidden from search whatever your settings are.

Page titles and descriptions

• Home and site-builder pages use the page's own meta title and description, if you set them in the page settings. Otherwise they use the defaults in Website Settings → SEO. See Website settings & custom domain.
• Property pages have the title Property name – Site name. The description comes from the start of the property's description. If there's no description yet, Stayant writes a short summary (type, bedrooms, how many guests it sleeps). When a property page is shared on social media or in a chat app, the preview shows the property's first photo.

To make your property pages more useful in search results, write a clear opening sentence in each property's description. That sentence is what search engines are most likely to show.