Hotel owners know the importance of managing costs without compromising revenue results is critical to their business, so finding cost-cutting tools that help facilitate operations while simultaneously expanding revenue potential is essential to their success. There are a few such cost-reducers available which can be implemented to streamline hotel operations and boost revenues potential.
CMMS solutions help hotels reduce maintenance costs by automating workflows, minimizing errors and improving user experiences.
1. Use a Content Management System (CMS)
An integrated content management system (CMS) enables your staff to easily update the website without needing web developers, cutting costs and providing fast responses to customer comments. This gives hotels greater agility in responding to customer needs quickly and responding more rapidly to feedback.
Formerly, hotel website designers would typically build websites from scratch using programming languages like HTML. A content management system (CMS), on the other hand, offers an intuitive user interface that masks all underlying code for content creation and editing – meaning anyone with basic computer skills can contribute content without any prior knowledge of HTML or CSS coding languages.
Utilizing a CMS can bring many advantages, but the key element in selecting one that will meet your specific requirements is crucial. While certain systems might focus on ease of use over functionality, you should find one that achieves both simultaneously.
Utilizing a CMS can also assist in keeping an eye on and optimizing the performance of your website. By tracking results of marketing initiatives, it allows you to pinpoint which tactics are more successful and which are not, enabling you to implement changes that have an immediate positive effect on revenue growth.
To reduce maintenance costs, investing in a Hotel Asset Management System (also referred to as CMMS) may also be worthwhile. These systems are designed to streamline the management of hotel assets by automating manual processes like scheduling and work order creation. They can help prevent costly repairs by keeping detailed maintenance records for each asset as well as helping schedule regular preventive works for keeping equipment operating optimally.
2. Optimize Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization (SEO) can be an extremely powerful marketing tool for any business. Done properly, SEO can increase the visibility of your website in search engine result pages (SERPs), drawing more visitors and ultimately increasing revenues. But it must be remembered that SEO can be a lengthy and time-consuming process; rather than “setting it and forgetting it,” consider SEO an ongoing practice which requires regular updates and modifications for optimal performance.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an integral element of online marketing as search engines serve as the main way that people navigate the internet. When someone conducts a search for something specific, search engines present results ranked according to how relevant their content is with that query; the higher a website ranks on that list, the more organic or free traffic it will receive.
Search engine optimization (SEO) can also assist businesses by increasing visitors to their website as well as building their brand awareness and credibility with consumers. When they appear in the top results of a search, consumers see this as evidence that Google or another search engine has verified the information found on the website is accurate and trustworthy.
SEO can also assist businesses in cutting costs through pay-per-click advertisements on search engines like Google AdWords, as more targeted and effective SEO strategies means less money will need to be spent paying for search ads. While optimizing for SEO may significantly lower advertising expenses, other forms of promotion should not be ignored such as social media campaigns and email blasts.
3. Optimize Your Website for Mobile Devices
Mobile devices now account for more than half of web browsing activity, and users expect websites to be equally easy to navigate and read on mobile phones as they are on desktop computers. Businesses that fail to optimize their website for mobile use may miss out on an enormous potential customer base.
Optimizing your website for mobile means making sure both its content and design are tailored specifically for mobile viewing and interaction. This may involve employing responsive design – which automatically adapts itself according to whatever device is viewing – as well as optimizing text size and formatting, plus providing clear calls-to-action that are visible from mobile visitors.
Making sure that the pages load quickly is also key for mobile optimization, since most visitors will abandon a website which takes too long to load. By optimizing page loading speed you can enhance user experience on mobile and increase conversion rates.
Other ways of optimizing your website for mobile include using a compression tool to decrease image sizes, as well as more compact file formats like JPEG for photographs and PNG for graphics with transparency. You should test your site on various devices and screen sizes to make sure it looks and functions properly, using short paragraphs with easy scanning for small screens as well as using tools to ensure text is readable on small screens. Lastly, any no longer needed plugins should be deleted to improve website speed while remaining compatible with mobile devices.
4. Hire a Web Developer
Hotel websites serve as the centerpiece of their online presence, linking all booking channels, business directory listings, social media profiles and ads back to it. Therefore it’s critical that their site be well designed and optimized to deliver an exceptional user experience while adhering to all necessary security standards such as HTTPS (securing credit card payment data and sanitizing user input) while being secure against potential security threats (e.g. HTTPS security standards and user input sanitization).
Professional web developers can design high-quality websites that are responsive to mobile devices, feature tools to generate interest, leads and bookings and meet all security standards. In addition, they may help reduce costs through software that bundles PMS, channel management and revenue management functions into one suite; and develop sites which are easy for staff members to update or manage themselves.
Hiring a web developer with an impressive portfolio will provide an understanding of their skills and experience; their past projects should show you exactly what they could do for your hotel. You should also seek recommendations from friends or colleagues whose websites you admire.
Based on your budget, it may be possible for you to hire in-house web developer or outsource development needs. In either instance, make sure your chosen developer stays abreast of emerging technologies so they can keep your website current and ahead of competition. In addition, ensure they understand both hospitality industry as well as optimizing website for search engines to boost visibility on the internet and bring more guests.
5. Optimize Your Website for Social Media
Social media marketing can be an extremely cost-effective and time-saving marketing solution for hotels, providing cost-efficient ways of increasing exposure and drawing in guests. But maintaining an effective strategy requires time and money. Here, we share some best practices for keeping social media costs under control so your hotel’s marketing efforts won’t cost as much!
Preventive maintenance can be an invaluable way to lower expenses, as it helps avoid emergency repairs or dissatisfied guest experiences. By identifying potential issues, creating a regular servicing schedule and investing in energy efficient equipment, hotels can save money while still offering their guests premium experiences.
Reducing maintenance expenses can not only protect margins, but it can also help hotels meet the expectations of modern guests who place a high value on sustainability. Hotels can utilize Operto Teams as an efficient internal maintenance reporting system to make it easy for cleaning staff to inform an appropriate team member when they encounter maintenance issues during turnovers – this allows issues to be prioritized quickly rather than getting lost among a flurry of group chat messages or disregarded altogether.
As an added benefit, optimizing social media content for search engines can also help reduce hotel marketing expenses by driving more organic traffic to your website and other content. For maximum success on social media, aim to craft posts that bring value to your followers and offer unique content. As examples, infographics and original research tend to do well on social media because they often contain insightful statistics or unique data that isn’t readily available elsewhere online. Your social media profiles can also be optimized by including links to your other content in your bio, using tools like One Click Bio to add multiple links at once or carousels to present blog articles in an engaging format.