The hotel industry is fiercely competitive. With so many holidaymakers and travel agencies promising low-cost deals all year long, it can be tough to get customers to book out your rooms for their stay.
While it may be difficult to find the time to improve a marketing strategy and hotel website in between all other day-to-day operations of running the business, it’s not impossible.
This article will explain various methods you can start using today and begin boosting that bottom line. Even though customers are looking for great deals, they need to be able to find your hotel and actually see your offers in the first place.
So with all this in mind, here are 9 tips to improve your hotel website strategy in 2019.
1. Drill Down On Your Guest Persona
Before anything else, you need to know your target audience. What are your guests looking for? Why should they stay with you over other hotels? What’s the purpose of their stay?
These are just some of the basic questions that you can ask yourself and create a guest persona. This will be at the centre of everything you do for the website and future marketing activities.
All this data becomes incredibly valuable later down the line, giving you the ability to personalize the user experience and increasing the number of bookings.
2. Design An Awesome Landing Page
SEO and content marketing will only get you so far. But what happens when you manage to convince guests to check out your hotel website? Without an awesome landing page, all your other efforts will go to waste.
To ensure this doesn’t happen, your website copy must connect with your guests with call to actions strategically placed within (more on call to actions later). Use strong headlines and include lots of images to reinforce any points you want really hitting home.
3. Use Your Company Values To Connect With Guests
If a guest has a choice between your hotel and a competitor and there’s not much to separate you, chances are they going to choose the hotel that shares the same values.
They want to feel like they belong at your hotel. Strong values will put you above the competitor in the guest’s mind.
If you don’t have strong values, you will lose business. It’s much easier to feel at home somewhere that does.
4. Make Sure You Have A Fast Hotel Website
Not only does website speed have an impact on where your hotel ranks in Google, but it also affects how likely a guest is to book a room at your hotel.
eConsultancy research has shown that 3 out of 4 guests will leave your hotel’s website for a competitor if you have a slow website. This is because guests are looking for a smooth booking experience and that starts from the initial landing page loading.
Use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to see how fast your website loads. Use their tips to improve the speed and keep your guests happy.
5. Keep It Simple But Effective
More doesn’t always mean better. In fact, when it comes to hotel website marketing, keeping the design and navigation simple is far better at creating a more satisfying experience for potential guests.
Give your customers easy access to room and booking information and availability and they will be grateful.
If your website is easy to navigate, it’s easy for a guest to book a room.
6. Give Them Lots Of Content To Explore
According to Digital Authority, creating a lot of content on your hotel website is very effective at driving sustainable traffic to your website.
There are two types of content you need to put out on a regular basis: images and descriptions.
In terms of images, they need to be of the highest quality. This doesn’t mean stepping outside and using the camera on your smartphone. You must hire a professional to take images that tell a story to your guests.
For the descriptions, this can be anything from what you include on your inclusive breakfast menu to the history of the building the hotel is situated in. The finest details are so important for convincing guests to book a room at your hotel.
7. Go Mobile
25% of all online travel money is generated through mobile devices. If your hotel’s website is not optimized for mobile use, you are missing out on potential guests.
Websites for mobile should have less content than the desktop version. Those that don’t often look the original was just shrunken down and looks like you’re trying to fit too much into a small screen.
This will leave visitors confused and probably causing them to leave your site and book with another competitor.
8. Use Engaging Call To Actions
We mentioned this tip earlier. Your hotel website much use call to actions that make guests want to learn more about your hotel. It can be the difference between someone just generally browsing to making a booking.
For example, when introducing a room and its luxurious views, you would use a call to action such as ‘Learn more about the Executive Suite’. It tells the guest exactly what to do while using attractive language.
If you want to convert viewers to guests, you need engaging call to actions. Not sure where to start? Work with a creative agency that can help you out throughout the process.
9. Drive Home The Benefits
Compare these two hotel websites: Hotel A and Hotel B.
Hotel A lists its features like this:
We have:
- A spa and fitness centre
- A golf course
- Room service
On the other hand, Hotel B lists its features AND benefits like this:
We have:
- A health spa and fitness centre so you can relieve all the stress from your busy day
- A golf course so you can network with new clients or enjoy 18 glorious holes in your own time
- Room service available 24/7 as we understand your day doesn’t always end when the sun goes down
The difference? Hotel B will get guests while Hotel A does not.
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