Your hotel website serves as your digital mirror and the cornerstone of converting guests. Make sure your site is optimized for mobile, fast loading and includes essential functionalities to increase online visibility in 2023.
Testimonials and reviews are essential in the hospitality industry as they offer social proof to potential guests. Make sure your hotel website features an over-the-fold call-to-action with a bright blue “Book Now” button to encourage new bookings.
1. Responsive Design
Hotel websites must be designed with their guests in mind. People use multiple devices when searching and booking hotels online, so it’s essential that your hotel website works across them all.
Responsive web designs ensure that content fits correctly on screen, images are optimized, spacing is appropriate and your website complies with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).
Assembling a high-quality, responsive website can be challenging. That’s why hiring a professional web developer to take care of this for you can be beneficial: they will ensure an accessible hotel website with one integrated CMS that works across devices without needing separate mobile versions; furthermore they can craft an experience for users that includes seamless navigation, calls to action and content – key for turning visitors into guests!
2. Fast Loading
Fast loading time may not be top of mind when considering hotel websites, but it should not be overlooked either. Our society operates on instant gratification; if it takes too long for your page to load, customers could lose interest and leave for elsewhere. Furthermore, Google considers page speed an integral ranking factor so having a fast-loading website will help it rank higher in search results.
Video and image files tend to slow down hotel websites the most. If your hotel website hosts large video files, try hosting them on YouTube or Vimeo instead to reduce load times and speed up performance.
Erakor offers an engaging website that loads quickly, featuring captivating imagery, videos and content to help potential guests imagine their stay, with clear information about inclusions and pricing easily accessible – creating an experience guests are more likely to book upon leaving their site.
3. Social Media Integration
Social media integration can help hoteliers to establish more meaningful connections with their target audiences and monitor and understand customers more thoroughly.
Social media analytics tools enable businesses to monitor customer satisfaction, site traffic and ecommerce sales while social media management software allows you to track performance more comprehensively. AI can even automate many marketing tasks for you such as monitoring UGC mentions of your brand or analyzing social posts or competitor activity on social media.
Post high-value, relevant and useful content on your social media pages that highlights what sets your hotel apart from competitors. Include genuine testimonials from previous guests or third-party sources that demonstrate trust for potential guests when researching vacation plans. Furthermore, keep abreast of social media trends and be on the lookout for innovative features; live chat is one such feature which could allow your hotel website quickly answer guest queries.
4. Easy Navigation
Visitors expect an effortless navigation experience whether searching on mobile or desktop, with easily legible text and intuitive page layouts that are both visual and accessible. Strategic use of white space helps direct them towards what matters on your hotel website.
Additionally, it is vital that your website is accessible for visitors with accessibility needs. For instance, nearly 10% of US populations suffer from red-green color deficiency – so using vibrant hues to differentiate sections could prove challenging for some users.
Your hotel website should feature a PCI-compliant booking engine that integrates seamlessly with your PMS and allows guests to book directly through it, increasing direct bookings and increasing leads. Don’t forget a tracking pixel for easy visitor analysis; this makes creating targeted ads campaigns on Facebook and Google easier as well.
5. High-Quality Images
High-quality images can help transform searches into bookings, by giving guests an accurate depiction of the hotel, setting expectations and ultimately increasing conversion rates and revenue.
Visual quality in images can be defined by its sharpness, clarity and detail; accurate color accuracy and contrast; free distortion; file format support (PNG, JPEG or TIFF); as well as maintaining its aspect ratio while resizing for best results.
Crisp, detailed photos enhance marketing campaigns, social media posts and website content. In addition, they create brand identity and differentiate you from competitors while increasing credibility as a business.
6. Testimonials & Reviews
Gathering customer testimonials and reviews should be a top priority for every business. Not only does customer feedback build trust with potential clients, it also allows you to refine products and services based on genuine insight from real users.
Testimonials can be an excellent way to entice potential customers to book your hotel. Reviews, on the other hand, provide honest accounts from customer experiences shared on third-party websites and cannot be altered in any way.
Both features can help drive more direct bookings, reduce reliance on online travel agencies (OTA’s), and ultimately boost your bottom line. Unfortunately, however, the process of implementing these features into your hotel website can be both complex and time consuming – particularly for hoteliers using free website templates without professional designers at their disposal. That’s why hotels seeking to optimize their websites need a purpose-built CMS with full customization options in order to succeed with this.
7. Booking Engine
Booking engines provide guests with a smooth and hassle-free online reservation experience, making direct reservations easy. They enable hoteliers to customize the room preference, rate, availability and conversion potential of each guest; as well as integrate seamlessly with PMS/channel manager systems for real time updates on rates and inventory distribution.
Direct bookings offer hotels more flexibility to provide value-adds like airport transfers and tours – increasing customer satisfaction and retention while creating promotions and voucher codes to attract more guests.
When choosing a hotel booking engine, prioritize one that offers multiple languages, currencies and payment types to provide an optimal booking experience for international guests. Integrations like metasearch, mobile and Facebook should also be supported to keep users moving smoothly through their booking journeys without slowing down site performance too much. Finally, ensure it reflects the brand identity through design and tone to give users an immersive experience when using it as well.
8. Lead Magnets
Lead magnets are powerful marketing tools that offer free, useful information in exchange for an email address, providing an opportunity to expand your email list while building trust among prospects.
As app and web development companies, it is essential to create lead magnets that are reliable, relevant and valuable to potential clients. As an app developer you might write a guide on increasing app downloads or offer free consultation services as an incentive.
Ebooks and whitepapers can also serve as effective strategies to provide in-depth information and establish your business as an authority within its industry. Shogun, a website design builder, has found great success using its whitepaper as a lead magnet and successfully increasing subscriptions through this method.
Free trials are another popular lead magnet option. They can be offered through targeted ads or even social media, although you should take care not to over-promote this offer, which could put off potential customers.
9. Analytics
Hotel data analytics enable businesses to accurately track trends and performance while creating intelligent marketing and logistical strategies for hotels, helping to keep competitive edge intact while managing overbookings, among other benefits.
Hotels should use their websites to provide visitors with useful information they can use when planning their stays, such as providing details on amenities and services available onsite and information about local attractions and events.
Hotel websites should provide guests with contact information in order to increase conversions. This may take the form of direct booking forms, email addresses, telephone numbers and social media pages – ensure these are easily accessible by including click-to-call buttons, maps or emails that open in new tabs/windows so guests can quickly contact your property if they have any inquiries – improving customer experiences while increasing reservation possibilities.