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If you’ve noticed volatility in your Google Discover traffic over the last 24 hours, you aren’t alone. Google has officially confirmed the rollout of the February 2026 Discover Core Update, marking a significant shift in how content is surfaced in the Discover feed.
As we monitor the situation here at Razib Marketing, here is the breakdown of what this update entails, who is affected, and how you should adjust your strategy.
The Official Announcement
According to the Google Search Status Dashboard, the incident began on February 5, 2026, at 09:00 PST.
Google states:
“Released the February 2026 Discover core update for English language users in the US… This update is designed to improve the quality of Discover overall.”
Key Details at a Glance
- Rollout Start: February 5, 2026.
- Target Region: Currently rolling out to English language users in the US.
- Expansion: Google has confirmed they will look to expand this to all countries and languages in the future.
- Duration: The rollout is expected to take up to 2 weeks to complete.
What This Means for Publishers
Unlike standard Search Core Updates that target ranking positions in search results (SERPs), a Discover Core Update specifically targets the recommendation engine that powers the feed on mobile devices.
The goal is “Quality,” but in the context of Discover, quality often relies heavily on:
- Visual Engagement: High-quality, non-clickbait imagery.
- Relevance: How well the content matches a user’s known interests (Interest Graph).
- E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness are critical, especially for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) topics.
Action Plan: How to Adapt
Since the rollout is focused on US English users first, this is the perfect time to audit your content before it hits global markets.
- Review Your Headlines: Ensure your titles promise exactly what the content delivers. The algorithm is likely tightening its filter on clickbait or misleading headlines.
- Audit Your Images: Discover is a visual-first medium. Ensure your feature images are high-resolution (at least 1200px wide) and compelling.
- Check Your Analytics: If you see a dip in US traffic, do not panic. Wait for the 2-week rollout window to close before making drastic changes.
Final Thoughts
We will continue to monitor the volatility across our client sites and update our guidance as the rollout progresses. If you are targeting a US audience, keep a close eye on your Google Search Console Discover reports over the next 14 days.
Stay tuned to the Razib Marketing blog for further updates on this rollout.
- Web Analytics
Imagine this scenario: A couple walks into your boutique hotel’s lobby. They are dragging Rimowa suitcases. They look around at your art-deco lighting and smile. They walk up to the front desk, ask about the King Suite, and nod happily at the price. You hand them the registration card to sign.
Suddenly, without a word, they drop the pen, turn around, and sprint out the front door.
You would be chasing them down the street, right? “Was it something I said? Was the pen out of ink? Did you see a ghost?”
In the physical world, this behavior is insane. In the digital world, it happens on your website about 80% of the time.
We call it “Booking Abandonment,” but let’s call it what it really is: The Silent Walk-Out.
Most hoteliers look at their basic dashboard, see a high “Bounce Rate,” and shrug. “I guess they were just browsing,” they say. But as a Web Analytics expert, I can tell you: Guests don’t just ‘browse’ with a credit card in their hand. Usually, we pushed them away.
The good news? The clues to why they left are hiding in plain sight within your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) account. You just need to know where to look.
Here are the 3 “hidden” metrics that tell the real story of your lost revenue.
1. The “Checkout Journey” Funnel (The Specific Step of Death)
Most hotel marketing dashboards show you two numbers:
- How many people visited.
- How many people booked.
This is useless. It’s like knowing 100 people entered a maze and only 2 came out, without knowing where the other 98 got lost.
The Hidden Metric: GA4 has a specific report often buried under the “Monetization” tab called the Checkout Journey. Unlike the old “Goal Flow,” this visualizes the exact cliff where your potential guest fell off.
How to Read It Like a Human: Look at the gap between “Begin Checkout” and “Add Payment Info.”
- The Scenario: You see a 60% drop here.
- The Human Translation: “I was ready to book, but then I saw the ‘Taxes & Resort Fees’ added to the total, and I felt tricked.” Or, “I wanted to pay with Apple Pay, but you only accept Visa.”
The Fix: If the drop is at the Payment step, audit your hidden fees. If the drop is at the Details step, your form is likely too long. Do you really need their home address and company name just to reserve a room? Cut the friction.
2. Scroll Depth on “Room Details” (The “interest” Lie)
We often assume that if a user spent 2 minutes on the “Luxury Suite” page, they were interested. But time is deceptive. They could have left the tab open while making coffee.
The Hidden Metric: Scroll Depth (specifically the 25%, 50%, and 90% scroll events).
How to Read It Like a Human: Compare your Scroll Depth against your “Book Now” button clicks.
- The Scenario: 5,000 people visit your “Suites” page. 80% of them scroll only 25% down the page.
- The Human Translation: Your hero image (the big photo at the top) isn’t doing its job. Or worse, your “Book Now” button is buried at the bottom of the page (the footer), and 80% of your visitors never even see it.
The Fix: Stop playing “Hide and Seek” with your revenue. If GA4 says users aren’t scrolling past the 50% mark, move your best photos, your strongest social proof (reviews), and your “Check Availability” button to the top 30% of the page.
3. Core Web Vitals vs. Session Duration (The “Patience” Test)
This is the most painful one to admit. Sometimes, the problem isn’t your price. It isn’t your photos. It’s your code.
In 2026, the human attention span is shorter than that of a goldfish. If your booking engine takes 4 seconds to load on a mobile phone, that guest is already back on Expedia.
The Hidden Metric: In GA4, we look at User Engagement overlaid with Tech > Device Category. Specifically, look for a discrepancy between Desktop and Mobile engagement.
How to Read It Like a Human:
- The Scenario: Desktop users stay for 4 minutes and convert at 3%. Mobile users stay for 12 seconds and convert at 0.1%.
- The Human Translation: Your mobile site is broken. Maybe the calendar pop-up doesn’t work on iPhone. Maybe your 4K drone video is choking their 4G data connection. You are effectively locking the front door for 50% of your guests.
The Fix: Test your site on an actual phone—not the “mobile view” on your laptop. If you tap “Book” and have time to take a deep breath before the page loads, you are losing money. Compress your images and simplify your mobile scripts.
The Bottom Line: Data is Empathy
When we look at spreadsheets, it’s easy to forget there are real people behind those numbers.
A “bounce” is a person who got frustrated. A “checkout abandonment” is a person who got confused/surprised.
At Razib Marketing, we don’t just fix “metrics.” We fix the experience. We smooth out the carpet so your guests don’t trip on their way to the front desk.
Is your website silently chasing guests away? Let’s stop the walk-outs. Book a Free Analytics Audit with us, and let’s find out exactly where your revenue is hiding.
- GA4
If you have opened your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) dashboard recently and felt a sudden rush of excitement followed by a wave of confusion, you are not alone. Across the globe, website owners are reporting the same bizarre phenomenon: thousands of “Direct” visitors suddenly appearing from Lanzhou, China and Singapore.
At first glance, it looks like a marketing miracle. But a quick peek at the engagement metrics tells a different story: 0-second session durations, 100% bounce rates, and zero conversions.
Welcome to the 2025–2026 Ghost Traffic Surge. Here is everything you need to know about why this is happening, why it isn’t a security breach, and how to fix your data.
1. What is “Ghost Traffic” Anyway?
Unlike traditional bots that crawl your site to index content, this new wave is often called “Ghost Traffic”. These bots don’t always visit your actual website; instead, they send fake data hits directly to Google’s servers using your unique Measurement ID.
Because they bypass your server, they often won’t even show up in your hosting logs, appearing only in your GA4 reports.
Why the sudden surge?
Industry experts believe this traffic is fueled by:
- AI Scrapers: As AI models race to train on real-world data, automated scrapers are constantly probing sites for structured information.
- Cloud Routing Hubs: Singapore is a major global data center hub; many automated tools route through there even if the “human” behind them is elsewhere.
- Filter Testing: Sophisticated bots are being designed specifically to bypass GA4’s standard automated filtering systems to see what they can get away with.
2. Is My Website Being Hacked?
The short answer is: No.
While a sudden spike from foreign countries can feel like a security threat, this traffic is generally harmless to your site’s infrastructure. These bots are harvesting data or testing tracking IDs, not attempting to breach your database.
However, they are extremely dangerous to your data accuracy. They “pollute” your KPIs, making your engagement rates look terrible and your geographic reports completely unreliable.
3. How to Clean Your Data (The 2-Layer Fix)
Since Google has confirmed these hits are inauthentic, they are working on a long-term fix. Until then, you need a two-layer defense.
Layer 1: The “Firewall” Defense (Cloudflare)
If you use Cloudflare, you can stop many of these bots before they even trigger a page load.
- The Rule: Create a custom WAF rule to Challenge or Block traffic where
Countryis China or Singapore. - The Exception: Always add a condition to exclude Verified Bots (like Googlebot) so your SEO rankings aren’t accidentally harmed.
Layer 2: The “Clean View” (GA4 Exploration)
Standard reports will remain “dirty” for a while, but you can see the truth in the Explore section:
- Create a new Blank Exploration.
- Create a Session Segment to Exclude traffic where
Countrycontains China or Singapore. - Apply this segment to see your true engagement, conversion, and traffic numbers.
4. Final Verdict: Don’t Panic, Just Filter
The “China/Singapore Bot Wave” is a regular scene in the 2026 digital landscape. It’s a side effect of the AI revolution and the constant battle for data.
By implementing these filters today, you can stop making business decisions based on “ghost” numbers and get back to growing your real human audience.
Sources
Google Analytics Official Community: A major thread titled “Google Analytics 4 bot traffic increase from China/Singapore” has become the central hub for reports and updates. https://support.google.com/analytics/thread/378622882
Reddit (r/GoogleAnalytics): Extensive discussions can be found under threads like “This Lanzhou-Singapore bot traffic is getting worse”. https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleAnalytics/comments/1oi4bo0/unexpected_traffic_from_singapore_and_lanzhou/?rdt=37365
FAQ
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Razib Marketing has specialized in digital marketing for the hospitality industry since its inception. CEO and Founder Mohammed Razib has been in the industry for over a decade. His hospitality expertise ranges from digital marketing strategy to revenue management.
Razib Marketing offers digital marketing services at an affordable price. The specific pricing of the services may vary depending on your project, so we ask you to contact us so that we can send you a quote and perform a free audit.
Please fill out and submit this contact form. A representative from Razib Marketing will follow up with the quote and necessary steps that should be followed.