Best practices for hotel website design

Does your accommodation website read like an online brochure or does it still offer dead, stale content and outdated visual images? 

Today’s hotel and accommodation websites now carry the burden and responsibility of generating the bulk of bookings for your property. Across the industry, in 2010, Direct Online Channel sales (via the hotel website) will exceed 62% of total online hotel bookings.

According to research, in the first quarter of 2010, 71.7% of online bookings for the top 30 hotel brands were direct via the brand websites. The Direct Online Channel is by far the most cost-effective distribution channel and provides accommodation businesses with excellent ROIs, immediate results, and long-term competitive advantages.

The property website has become the backbone of the hotel marketing mix and is the main digital asset of any hotel. In this age of multi-channel marketing, any type of hotel marketing initiative (from search engine optimisation (SEO), Google Adwords, email marketing and social marketing) ultimately should drive your customers to your website.

Approximately 83% of all travellers plan and research travel online. There is no doubt the hotel website has become the “first point of contact” for the majority of customers. Unfortunately, on many occasions a visit to the website turns out to be the “last point of contact.”

Accommodation businesses must realize that the hotel website has become not only the main revenue driver for their property, but also the main influencer for making travel purchase decisions. Therefore, enhancing and optimizing the hotel website to meet and optimizing it to meet and exceed industry best practices and customer expectations should be a top priority.

Here are some important things to take into consideration:

If your hotel website is over 2 years old:

• So many things have changed over the past 24 months that hoteliers no longer have a choice of whether to re-design their website or stick with their old and tired site. This is a matter of “life and death” for any hotelier!
• The new website should reflect 2010-2011 industry’s best practices for an optimum revenue generating website. It should be user-friendly, search engine friendly, have an easy to use booking system and it should also be Web 2.0 friendly

If the site is over 12 months old:

• Ensure you hire a reputable company that only specialises in Search engine optimization (SEO. Get your website ranking now for specific keywords and phrases
• Web 2.0 optimization is now due to improve customer engagement on the site.
• Ensure your website is targeted towrads your key customer markets. Eg. content, images or menu tabs that cater to meeting and group lanners, corporate or leisure travelers, families, weddings etc

Best Practices for Today’s Hotel Website Design
When re-designing your accommodation website, you need to understand that website design is not an art and it is certainly not rocket science - it is a creative solution to a business problem. If your hotel website’s bookings are down, that's a business problem. If your visitors can't find your website, that’s a business problem. Your website is hard to navigate and functionality does not work? That's a business problem.

Obviously the new website design needs to also take into consideration other criteria, such as industry best practices, site usability and booker-friendliness.

Your site needs to “meet and exceed” user objectives and not provide any obstacles to achieving these objectives. If the hotel site has a solid, professional design layout that is supported by easy-to understand navigation, helpful functionality and relevant content and visual images, users will stay longer and will explore the site deeper—ultimately resulting in bookings.

Today’s hotel website should reflect 2010/2011 industry’s best practices and should be:

• User-friendly - The website should be easy to navigate and have the necessary information/core products laid out in an easy to read format.
• Search engine-friendly - The search-engine friendliness of the hotel website is important not only for organic search. Good SEO on a website improves the Quality Index for paid search as well. The Google Quality Index determines how much you pay per click (PPC) and the ranking of your PPC listing, and is based on keyword relevancy, quality of the marketing message and relevancy of the landing page (i.e. the website and its SEO). With a lower Quality Index you pay more per click and your ad is ranked lower.
• Booker-friendly - the booking engine is easy to use and lets them book quickly and without hassle. Users should also feel safe that the booking system is secure.
• Web 2.0-friendly (customer engagement-friendly) - The Web 2.0-friendliness of the hotel website is dependent on how well the website can intrigue users and enable them to provide comments, share information, upload content, and interact with various features and functionality. Eg customer reviews on the website, blog on the site to share the latest news, photos, a newsletter that they can view or sign up for, social media share bar, and Facebook 'I like' buttons and links on your site so they can share your webpage with their friends
• Mobile-ready - Travelers are already using their mobile devices to plan and book travel and hotels. Features of a mobile-ready hotel website include - fast download speeds, efficient and simple navigation, short and concise textual content, scaled-down visual content, a one-click map and directions to the hotel

Conclusion
The hotel website is not only the main revenue generator for the property, but also the main influencer for making travel purchase decisions and enhancing, optimizing and re-designing the hotel website to meet and exceed industry best practices and customer expectations should be a top priority for any hotelier. If the website is visually appealing, provides the customer with all the necessary information, they will be more likely to book directly on the site.

Before you start redesigning your website, choose your website design company very carefully, as this is the most important decision you will have to make. With 45% of all hotel bookings in being made online in 2010, the capability of your hotel website in generating bookings will determine the overall success of your property.

Work with a website design company that understands best practices in hotel website design, uses state-of-the art technology, has proven results in the form of prestigious designs and have transformed clients’ hotel websites into their most cost-efficient revenue generator for their property.

If you would like more information about our website design capabilities, to view our portfolio and get an obligation free quote on a new website design, speak to one of the marketing consultants on 07 3040 3588 or email us directly on email@tafastrack.com.au.

E-mail Marketing: Is your property capitalizing?

Does your property have an effective and comprehensive email marketing stragey in place? Do you send consistent email messages that match your brand and build relationships with customers and drive revenue? 

Email marketing has evolved from simple confirmation messages to being an important component of your online marketing strategy.  If your property doesn’t have a plan or the right messaging, you could be missing the boat on additional bookings and repeat guests.

According to a survey conducted by HSMAI and VIZERGY, email marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) are the two most effective online marketing channels. Approximately 74% of hotels use some form of email marketing.

Below are some tips on how you can get started with email marketing and what you should do when sending out your email messages:
 
Your database 
It starts with your property’s database. Compile past, current and future guests, along with other contacts you’ve gained, to form your email database.  You can build this database via your website by including a contact form and newsletter sign up form. You can also use the contact forms to gain specific stats from your visitors - ask them their location, travel intentions, etc. This will allow you to target and cater messaging to specific groups.

Sell the benefits of your property
Emphasize the amenities, local attractions and convenience of your property via emails.  Professional photos and copy, information on local demand generators, guest testimonials, and special promotions will help.  Partnering with local attractions or businesses such as restaurants, spa/massage or events can help you add discounted packages to your emails… and upsell to guests.

Should you do it in house or outsource?  
Once you’ve reviewed your database, consider whether to tackle email marketing in house or outsource to professionals.  Having a comprehensive program can be fairly time consuming, but the bigger issue is expertise.  Can you afford to have an employee trained on the nuances of email marketing - from design, to copy, to tracking, to SPAM laws?  It may even be less expensive to outsource to an experienced hotel Internet marketing company.  If you elect to send out e-newsletters and edms in house, be sure that your staff is properly trained.  If you do decide to outsource, make sure the company you hire has the experience, expertise and have a plan in place for your business.

Subject lines are important
An over the top or a subject line that is too long is equally ineffective as an uninspiring one.  Keep it short and sweet (preferably 8 words or less), and it's easy to read. 

State the benefit or offer first, and entice them to read more.  The “from” address should identify your property (eg. “A Hotel [specials@ahotel.com.au]”), so it’s not necessary to repeat your name in the subject line. 

Below are some examples for subject lines:

• Too over the top, too long and no true benefits - “Stay at our breathtaking hotel in June and be enchanted with our lovely room views”
• Uninspiring - “Stay with us this summer”
• Just right - “20% off your long awaited romantic getaway…”

Content 
Email content should be brief, easy to read, state the offer or news early, provide links to your website and have bold calls to action for what you’re promoting.  With the huge number of emails that people receive, they will most likely scan your email message quickly and not read word for word.  If an offer appeals to a reader, it should be simple for them to take action or contact you straight away.

All messages should be professional, proofread by at least two people and tested in both HTML and text formats, to ensure the content displays properly. Send a test email to your Outlook, hotmail and gmail account to ensure that the email displays properly.

Experiment with “personalizing” the e-mail too, for an added touch.  Most services allow you to insert the name of the person (“Dear Sarah,”), assuming you have their first names.  And remember that you must abide by the CAN-SPAM act, which essentially requires that all recipients are “opted in” to your e-mails, and that there must be a clear “opt out” option in the email design (usually at the bottom).  Study up on this act, or make sure that your provider has it covered.

Design
Design is subjective of course, but let’s look at three objective elements that all email designs should include.

• Branding - Every message should be branded to fit your property’s website.  It doesn’t have to be identical, but it should at least include the logo and your corporate colors.  This will make it easier for recipients to remember your branding in the future and makes it more consistent
• Imagery - E-mails should have photos that connect with readers.  Amateur photos look second rate, and don’t convey professionalism.  Corporate photos of an empty hotel look high quality, but don’t cultivate a sense of comfort or inviting.  Use professional photos with real guests or stand ins to show that people visit and enjoy your property.
• Layout - Keep it clean, simple and scannable.  Again, recipients want to scan over the excessive amount of messaging they’re exposed to.  Use a header with links to your site, a main content area and a footer with your property’s contact information.

Build relationships with your guests and generate Revenue. Email marketing is a vital component for hotels, resorts, bed and breakfasts and any other type of business in the accommodation industry.  It enhances your website, SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising by reinforcing your property with past and future guests. 

Besides a great guest experience, email marketing is the best way to increase repeat bookings and generate additional revenue.  You must encompass every aspect mentioned above if you want to fully realize its potential. 

If you would like help with email marketing, speak to the marketing consultants at TA Fastrack today. Call 07 3040 3588 or email us on email@tafastrack.com.au.