Is your Hotel Website Design Reaching your Guests?
Although online travel searchers typically use OTAs to browse and price-shop through accommodation options, research by Fuel & Flip shows that 87% will generally visit a hotel’s website before booking a hotel stay, and with good reason.
Compare a Booking.com listing with a Hotel Website. There is no doubt that the hotel website better portrays both the personality of the property and the experiences the destination has to offer. For the dreaming, yet discerning traveler (and we know most of them are), the hotel website will give visitors the first proper glimpse of your property, and be the final point of reference to make an informed buying decision.
Is your Hotel Website designed to Attract Guests?
Consider the 5 cornerstone website components below and what they say about your hotel:
1. Rich Media – Photos & Video
Various industry report shows that photos are the number 1 decision-making factor for guests who visit a hotel website. In today’s busy online travel world, photos and video create a unique emotional connection with people that plain text simply cannot replicate.
2. Straightforward Navigation & Clean Design
The ultimate reason people visit your website is to find information about your hotel. If your hotel website is cluttered or messily designed that visitors are unable to get what they want quickly, the chances of them bouncing are very high. Are your hotel’s address, contact details, and other crucial information easy to access, or do you find yourself treasure-hunting?
3. Unique Value & Best Prices
A hotel website that showcases unique value helps travel shoppers understand why they should book. Do you want to highlight an amenity you provide to your guests? Are you located in an amazing destination with a story to tell? Do your prices, offers, or promotions incentivize guests to book directly on your website? If you answered yes to the above, then your website is the best place to show off this unique value – through both attention-grabbing visuals and clear
4. Which brings us to our next point, Clear Content
You have to make sure your website provides the main information visitors are looking for. They are not looking for literature, but they do want to know about you. Most importantly, content should be up-to-date. Does your website clearly tell guests what is amazing about your property and why they should book?
5. Last but not least, Branding
In fact, branding might be one of the most underrated pieces of hotel communication. Your brand is far more than your name or logo. It encompasses everything from the personality and the values of your hotel to your customers’ perceptions, notions, and experience. It represents who you are, and can make or break consumer trust. Is your brand strongly represented on your hotel website? Would you trust your hotel brand if you were simply an online visitor considering booking a stay?
Think of your hotel website’s homepage as your business card. A professional website design can provide that extra engagement needed to inspire visitors to book directly on your website. However, you also need to deliver a seamless booking experience to reduce abandonment rates at the transaction stage