Hotel web site design: Tips and Tricks

 

Hotel website design is an important part of online marketing that is overlooked. However, ODISSIA feels that website design contributes to a major part of successful marketing effort. An appealing website results in more traffic to your website. This contributes to increased revenue. Many hoteliers spend thousands of dollars for promotion and marketing but complain about high bounce rates.  High bounce rates imply that your website has relevant traffic, but they are leaving. If such is a case with you, your marketing efforts are not in the right place. Web design is the first impression for your property, and if it is old or outdated, visitors are bound to lose interest and leave.

With Internet marketing being dynamic, it is important to stay current with the latest marketing trends. This includes continually updating your website design to match the current trends.

ODISSIA has compiled the following tips for proper web design and success for your property.

·     Navigation System – Clarity and consistency with the logo/header navigation system is important. Your logo/header is critical for your hotel business. Your customers should relate it with your business. Moreover, it should portray the values of your business and create a brand image in the customer’s mind. The image should be one that they will remember. If your navigation system is outdated, the visitors might get a bad impression and leave. 

·    The header of your website should be appealing with eye-catching graphics. The font and buttons should be correctly placed. The most important links such as reservation and contact information should be placed correctly. These should be easily accessible to the visitors. Every page of the website should contain an availability check and calendar. 

·    Online availability check – With the advent of Internet, online availability check is important for any hospitality business to prosper. If the visitor does not find the option to check for availability on your website, they might move on to the competitor. ODISSIA has provided various hospitality properties including hotel, motel, boat, and car rental businesses with the ability to integrate online reservation on their existing or new website with its online reservation software “Voyager”. 

·      Easy Accessibility – The conversion rate is also dependent on the information you provide for each room and rates. Every room description should include a photo with the rate information respectively.  You should include a direct link to the availability calendar for easy booking and comfort for the visitors. 

·      Images – The images on your webpage should be professional with proper lighting, angles, as they are an important part of marketing your business. The success of your website is dependent on photographs that are appealing and plays a crucial role as the first impression for your hotel. A stellar view of the exterior of your property along with shots of the guestrooms, restaurant and common areas should do the trick. Today, Flash is a great tool to put professionalism and dynamism on your website. With it, you can show more than one aspect of your property in a short period. 

·     Content – Professional and descriptive content plays an important role in drawing your visitor’s attention. This becomes more evident if you are running a hotel business. A customer visiting your website is not just looking for a reservation but also a comprehensive guide for their vacation. You should include information such as sightseeing, landmarks, theatres, attractions, restaurants, etc. Remember that visitors are interested in making reservations, but they are more interested in being acquainted to the place. If you do not provide enough information regarding the destination, they might not rave about the destination, resulting in no reservations. Your content should be keyword-rich, and descriptive to draw your customer’s attention. Include the important points, unique selling proposition of your property that puts you ahead of competition. 

·      Sitemap – A sitemap is an index or mini-map for your homepage. Moreover, a sitemap helps the search engine to index all the pages on your website. 

·     Professionalism – Website professionalism is crucial for your business. Individually, you might not be able to achieve this. Visitors place a great impression if your website is professional. It is preferred that you should seek an expert for your website design and content. For example, ODISSIA has a proven record of enabling hotels to achieve professionalism through website design and content. 

·      Tracking System – A tracking system is an important tool to track your conversion and return on investment.

       Content and Link building – Content building is a great way to include your website results in organic free listing on search engines. Adding a guest comment page, review page, etc. is a great way to keep your text updated.

       Link building will help you promote your website and place it in the top list of search engines. It is an important and influential tool for online promotion. Continuous link building will help you in an increased website ranking. Therefore, it results in more traffic and conversion rates. 

F     Article is written by ODISSIA.net web design team.
 Email: info@odissia.net
 Web: www.ODISSIA.net
 Phone: 1 312 212 3890