If your shortlet apartment does not appear when someone searches 'shortlet in Lekki' or 'vacation rental in Abuja' on Google, you are leaving money on the table. Many property owners assume that listing on Airbnb or Booking.com is enough. While those platforms are useful, having your own online presence that ranks well on Google gives you direct bookings — without paying platform commissions. Here are seven practical SEO strategies that work for Nigerian shortlet operators.
1. Claim and Optimise Your Google Business Profile
This is the single most impactful thing you can do, and it is completely free. Go to Google Business Profile and claim your property. Fill in every detail: your address, phone number, website link, check-in and check-out times, amenities, and operating hours. Upload at least ten high-quality photos of your property — the exterior, living room, bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, and any unique features. Properties with complete profiles receive significantly more enquiries than those with sparse information.
2. Target Location-Specific Keywords
Think about how a potential guest searches. They do not type 'nice apartment' — they type 'shortlet apartment in Victoria Island Lagos' or '2-bedroom shortlet near Murtala Muhammed Airport'. These location-specific phrases are called long-tail keywords, and they are gold. Use them naturally in your website's page titles, headings, property descriptions, and image alt texts. If your website mentions your location clearly and consistently, Google will know where to rank you.
3. Create Useful Content About Your Area
Start a blog on your website. Write about things your guests care about: 'Best Restaurants Near Lekki Phase 1', 'How to Get From Lagos Airport to Victoria Island', or 'Top 5 Things to Do in Abuja on a Weekend'. This kind of content brings people to your website who are already planning a trip to your area. Once they are on your site, they see your property listings. It is a strategy that compounds over time — the more useful content you create, the more traffic Google sends your way.
4. Make Your Website Fast and Mobile-Friendly
Over 70 percent of Nigerians access the internet through their phones. If your website takes more than three seconds to load or does not display properly on a mobile device, Google will penalise your ranking, and your potential guests will simply leave. Compress your images, use a fast hosting provider, and test your site on multiple devices. With StayRanger, your booking website is automatically optimised for mobile, so you do not have to worry about this.
5. Get Reviews — and Respond to Every Single One
Google Reviews directly influence your ranking in local search results. After every guest checks out, send a polite message asking them to leave a review on Google. When they do, respond promptly — thank them for positive feedback and address any concerns raised in negative reviews professionally. A property with 30 genuine reviews will consistently outrank one with zero, regardless of how beautiful the listing is.
6. Use Proper Image SEO
Every image on your website should have a descriptive file name and alt text. Instead of uploading 'IMG_3847.jpg', rename it to 'luxury-shortlet-bedroom-lekki-lagos.jpg'. In the alt text, describe what the image shows: 'Spacious bedroom with king-size bed in a shortlet apartment in Lekki, Lagos'. This helps Google understand your images and can bring you traffic from Google Image searches — a source most shortlet owners completely ignore.
7. List Your Property on Local Directories
Beyond Airbnb and Booking.com, list your shortlet on Nigerian directories like Hotels.ng, PropertyPro, VConnect, and Homely. Each listing creates a backlink to your website, which tells Google that your business is legitimate and well-known. The more quality backlinks you have from relevant Nigerian websites, the higher Google will rank your own site.
SEO is not a one-time task — it is an ongoing process. But if you start implementing these seven strategies today, you will begin to see more organic traffic, more direct bookings, and fewer commissions paid to third-party platforms within a few months.
