Hotel websites designed with mobile optimization in mind allow travel consumers to capture those “let’s book it now!” moments and boost direct bookings more effectively. A mobile-optimized site should no longer be considered an extravagance – it should become part of everyday hotel life!
Fonts that can easily be read on mobile devices should be employed. In addition, make sure your website offers an integrated booking engine which works across devices.
Visual Appeal
Visual appeal of hotel websites is vital in drawing in potential guests. High-resolution images should be optimized for mobile viewing to allow potential guests to quickly see what each room type looks like without needing to click through several pages of images and descriptions. Furthermore, using vibrant colors, animations, and videos are excellent ways of drawing people in – these elements all combine together to help set your hotel apart from its competition.
While creating the visuals of your hotel website, don’t overlook its appearance to those with disabilities. People with impaired vision, hearing, and mobility require an accessible website which makes navigation and understanding simple for them. To ensure this occurs smoothly and quickly it’s crucial that images and text have proper size so as to be read by all readers regardless of visual impairments; additionally it should include alt-text for all images so screen readers accurately convey what is displayed onscreen.
Hotels should make it a top priority to build mobile-friendly websites, given that mobile searches and booking are becoming the fastest growing channel for travel research and booking. Hotels that feature optimized mobile sites will be more likely to capture bookings from travelers while competing against online travel services that lack such functionality.
As part of their mobile strategy, hotels should conduct periodic website audits to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.0 and ensure their content meets ADA compliance. This should include reviewing technical SEO, merchandising strategies, content and copy. Ideally this process should be managed in cooperation with an expert partner knowledgeable of hotel website accessibility issues and compliance.
As a way of testing your hotel website’s mobile-friendliness quickly and accurately, invite friends and family to use their phones to visit it and give feedback on its user-friendliness – specifically how easy they found it to find information and book rooms. This test can give you an accurate reflection of its performance in today’s mobile-first world and determine whether a redesign might be in order.
Easy Navigation
Your hotel website should be user-friendly on all devices and easily navigable for users navigating with mobile devices, meaning its content should be easily organized and accessible to users via navigation menus and search bars. Users will then easily book directly without incurring costly Online Travel Agency fees.
Utilizing icons can greatly enhance user experience. Modern consumers are highly visual, so strategically placing images and icons can keep visitors engaged while they navigate your website, helping to ensure they retain your brand and connect with it, while understanding each section’s purpose more quickly.
Reducing unnecessary elements from your hotel website is another effective way of improving navigation. A menu that takes up too much space, for example, may make it more difficult for visitors to navigate your site – leading to high bounce rates and potentially reduced conversion rates. Also keep in mind that smartphones typically feature small screens; you do not want your hotel website to be too complex and difficult for smartphone users.
If you’re having difficulty with improving the navigation on your hotel website, conducting some tests to see what works for your target audience could help. Checking “navigation summary” or “in-page” views in Google Analytics allows for this. Once tested, adjust accordingly!
An essential element of any hotel website, since most hotel searches take place via mobile phones, is having a mobile-first strategy. Google recently announced they would give more weight to mobile versions when ranking websites in search results – meaning your mobile website now matters more than its desktop one! Be sure to choose a responsive design which automatically adapts across screens – this will provide your visitors with a smooth user experience and lead generation opportunities.
High-Resolution Images
Hotel websites must incorporate high-resolution images in their design for effective decision-making and customer engagement. Images play an integral part in providing potential guests with a sense of what your property and rooms look like, while highlighting quality service and facilities. Professionally shot and edited photos should be utilized to provide an engaging visual experience to visitors to your website.
One way to entice customers to visit your site is by showing off your hotel in its natural environment, giving visitors an impression they are actually there prior to booking their stay. Furthermore, including photographs from events and activities hosted at your hotel provides visitors with a glimpse into what hospitality awaits them upon their visit.
Your hotel’s main image(s) should convey what makes you special and distinguish yourself from competitors. Burgenstock Resort does this exceptionally well by featuring an aerial photo showcasing their property surrounded by tropical trees and serene waters, while copy on the page encourages people to “enjoy a luxurious break at this 5-star luxury resort in Rostock”.
Help your visitors book with you by creating an inviting booking button that stands out against its background, using eye-catching colors or text that stands out, and easily accessible for guests. Adding compelling copy like “Check availability” or “Book now” may help entice visitors further towards making their reservation.
Hotels must ensure their websites are mobile-friendly in light of Google’s announcement that they will factor a hotel’s mobile indexing when ranking search results. There are various options for creating mobile-friendly sites for hotels, such as using a hotel website builder with responsive themes.
Easy Booking
With mobile bookings becoming more prevalent and overtaking desktop bookings in many hotels, it is vital that your hotel website offers an intuitive booking process. This is particularly relevant to mobile-first visitors who may be more eager than ever before to reserve their room on impulse.
Travel consumer journeys involve switching devices frequently; for instance, they might use their smartphone for inspiration and information before switching to their laptop to compare prices before booking via desktop website. Therefore, an effective mobile-first strategy that leverages sophisticated content management system (CMS) technology and sophisticated merchandising strategies must be utilized to provide optimal experiences on all devices used during travel consumer journeys is required to meet consumer expectations and expectations for optimal consumer travel experiences.
Hoteliers must also stay ahead of mobile trends by conducting regular audits on their websites to identify gaps and issues which could impact user experience, merchandising or SEO. Furthermore, hoteliers should partner with a website technology company which understands accessibility requirements as well as WCAG 2.0 compliance for maximum effectiveness.
Last, hotel websites must constantly evolve their design and functionality to remain effective for mobile visitors. Testing different design elements and layouts on mobile is worth trying; just be careful not to implement too many visual distractions that slow page load times!
An effective way to test your hotel website on mobile is to ask friends and family members to visit it with their phones, so you can gain an idea of its ease of navigation, quality of content, as well as whether contact details and booking buttons are clearly displayed. A mobile-first design for your website will significantly enhance user experience while increasing direct bookings online.