Is it time to revamp your website?

If you feel that rebuilding your website from scratch is too daunting a task, then you could consider revamping or re-skinning your website. Below are some reasons why you should consider revamping your website:

1. Quicker turnaround time
By using the basic structure and content of your existing website, you can achieve a new and revitalised look and feel for your website in a very shorter amount of time then if you were to rebuild a new website from scratch.

2. Custom designed website
A web designer can work with your existing website structure and create custom designed mock-up to suit your company’s branding and personality.

3. Updated graphics and styles
All it takes to make your website look fresh and modern is some new graphics, or a simple layout update. This could include fresh and updated colours, updated photos etc.

4. Lower initial cost
A revamped website could be a cheaper option then designing a whole new website from scratch.

5. Increase conversion rate and ROI
Revamping your website could help increase your website conversion.

If you would like more information about a website design for your business, speak to one of the marketing consultants at TA Fastrack today on 1300 659 289.

The Complete Guide to Successful Landing Pages - An infographic

The Complete Guide to Successful Landing Pages - An infographic by the team at Pardot Marketing Automation

Website design and usability

First impressions count. Your website represents who you are as a business and brand and shows everyone what you offer. The website design needs to set people's minds at ease and show them that you are credible, your business can be trusted and it's professional. Your website also needs to make them feel welcome and be easy enough for them to navigate, find the information they want straight away and lets them book or call you without any hassles.

Below are some of our tips for great website design and will do the above things mentioned above.

Colour
Use the right colours to draw attention to specific aspects (eg your phone number or book now button). Don't make everything jump out, otherwise, nothing will stand out. We recommend keeping the website clean and avoid using too many colours.

Avoid using too many animations, gadgets or media
Avoid anything unnecessary. Keep flash animations to a minimum and only use media if it helps support your content, information or easily puts your message across quickly. Also, flash files cannot be read by search engine spiders and some browsers may block flash. Flash also cannot be viewed on smartphones.

Easy to use layout & navigation
Organise your webpages so that people can find the information they want quickly and easily. Create a clear navigation structure. Don't be afraid of using white space. Avoid clutter. Surveys show that approximately 76% of survey respondents say that the most important part of a website is the ease in which they can find information. We recommend including a navigation in the footer of your website, use breadcrumbs on every page and include internal links to other pages within your webpage copy.

Typography
Make sure that the content can be read easily. Use fonts, font sizes and colours that can be easily read. Break up the content using headings, sub-headings, bullet points and keep the paragraphs short.

Images
Images say a thousand words and are a powerful element of a website that can entice customers to stay on your website further and book with you. Use images that will be relevant to your audience. For example, if you are a holiday accommodation on the Sunshine Coast, you would use photos of families on the beach instead of businessmen in suits. Showcase your apartments with high resolution photos of your facilities, rooms and building.

Make it accessible
Make sure that your website can be viewed in all major web browsers, smartphones and tablets.

If you need help with a new website design for 2012, or if you would like some recommendations on how to improve your current website, speak to one of the marketing consultants at TA Fastrack today on 07 3040 3588 or visit www.tafastrack.com.au.

Increase website conversion with these easy tips

The first thing you need to look at is getting a professionally designed website. First impressions count and a well designed website with SEO in mind will help with your conversions.

Some of the things you should look at to help improve website conversion include:

Improve the content
Content is king, especially for search engines, but how much information should you include? We recommend that you should at least provide enough information about your products and services for your customers to make an informed and immediate purchase decision.

Customers hate having to dig around and scroll down the page for additional information. They may even become frustrated if they have to email you to find out more about your hotel. If you are leaving out product information, you are losing conversions.

Use SEO tactics when creating content for your site. That means, you should spend some time researching your relevant keywords, properly adding these keywords to your webpage title, indexing your webpages, and providing relevant content on your various site pages. Be sure to also include some relevant keywords within the content for search engine optimisation. Include detailed product information and prices for your services if necessary.

If you leave too much to the imagination, you will lose potential customers who cannot be bothered looking through your website.

2. Strong calls to action and easy to find contact information
The best placement for your contact information is at the top of the page, above the fold. Use bright, bold text to make your call to action stand out and ensure it is easy to read.

Your call to action and contact info should be on every landing page so customers don't have to spend time trying to find out how to reach you to make a purchase. Invite your customers to call or email you, or add an enquiry form so they can contact you easily.

An important call to action is your book now button. Have your book now button on ever webpage so customers don't have to hunt around the website for it and keep it near the top above the fold, so it directs people to book immediately with you.

3. Website design
Is your website visually cluttered and overflowing with too much information? Or is your website designed poorly with low resolution logos, images and no information?

First impressions count. Make sure your website stands out with a clean, user-friendly layout. Your website should give visitors the feeling that you are a respectable, trustworthy company.

If you need a new website design, speak to a marketing consultant at TA Fastrack today on 07 3040 3588 or visit www.tafastrack.com.au.

Internet marketing tips for your website

1. Website Design

• Make sure your website design loads quickly - check your hosting to ensure that servers are based locally and it's reliable (low down-time)
• Check that your website loads up properly in all major browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari etc
• Make it easy for search engine crawlers and humans to navigate through and find the information and pages they want quickly and easily
• Check for spelling and grammatical errors
• Carefully select website colours. For example, light font colours on a dark background can be hard to read and hard on the eyes
• Make it easy for customers to contact you or book directly with you
• Have a strong call to action - direct people to call or book immediately
• Include a sitemap and text links to all webpages in the footer - this is good for SEO and makes it easy for people to find the page they want straight away

2. Content is King

• Write good quality and unique content for each webpage
• Include keywords within the content
• Break up text with bullet points and headings
• Use fonts that are easy to read, such as Arial or Verdana
• Keep font sizes no smaller than 10, otherwise it's hard to read
• Don't write sentences all in capital letters as it's hard to read
• Check for spelling and grammatical errors

3. Search Engine Optimisation

• Use heading tags within your webpages, such as H1, H2 or H3 near the top of the webpages
• Include your primary keywords in the first paragraph of your content, but don't keyword stuff it
• Use alt or image tags
• Include keywords within your title tags and description tags. Make sure it's unique for each webpage
• Create keyword rich URLs for each webpage. For example, instead of rooms.html, call it holiday-apartments-gold-coast.html
• Try to avoid using flash, as search engine spiders cannot read them and they don't show up when someone views your website on a mobile
• Check that all links are working

Ensure that your website follows the above and you are on your way to improving your search engine ranking. If you need a new website or need help with search engine optimisation, speak to one of the website marketing consultants at TA Fastrack today on 1300 659 289 or visit our website on www.tafastrack.com.au for details.

Increase repeat visits to your hotel website with hotel internet marketing

Hotel Internet marketing should result in the four ‘R’s - a high Retention rate, Repeat business, increased Referrals and improved ROI. Below are some marketing strategies to help your hotel can increase repeat visits to your website, increase hotel bookings and rely less on OTAs.

Know your target market

Who is your target market? Any marketing strategies or activities you implement must focus on your core target market and address their needs. For example, if the majority of your client base is corporate, then promote the business features of your hotel (internet access, business centre etc). If you rely mainly on families, then showcase the family-friendly facilities at your hotel, and it’s close proximity to sightseeing attractions.

Use Social Media wisely

Web 2.0 applications, such as blogs, forums and social media networks (facebook, twitter, foursquare) can all help build brand loyalty. Make sure all hotel Internet marketing tools work in cohesion. For example, add social media icons on your website, so guests know you’re on Facebook and Twitter, encourage people to follow you or become a fan of your business pages. Add social media icons at the bottom of your email signature etc.

Member only special offers

Offer member only promotions via social media networks, email marketing campaigns or other your hotel marketing strategies that you employ. For example, offering promotions or a ‘sneak peek’ which are not offered to the general public will help to increase your fan base, subscriptions or registration rate. Guests will then find more value in what you’re offering and sign up for your e-newsletters or ‘like’ your business page as these special offers aren’t available on your website.

Regularly update your content

Updating your website with blog articles, customer reviews, seasonal promotions and special offers or information about local attractions and upcoming events is a great way to get people to return to your website. If potential guests can’t find the information they want about your hotel and local attractions on your website, they will go somewhere else that will provide them all the information they need to make a booking decision.

Quality of the website design

It’s important that your website design reflects the quality of your hotel and showcases your rooms, facilities and other selling points of the hotel, for example, the views, or proximity to the beach or quiet retreat in the mountains. Your website must also be easy to navigate, show up-to-date information, a easy to use online booking engine, and straightforward enquiry forms. If you’re website doesn’t look good, it won’t entice a customer to book with you. So maybe it’s time to think about getting a new website!

Pictures say a thousand words

Put high quality images on your website of your rooms, facilities, the scenery, the surrounding area and the property. Images can make or break a hotel booking and the more visual information a customer has, the more confident and reassured they will be that booking at your hotel is the right decision. Make sure that your pictures are also high quality.

Fast loading times

The hotel industry is a ruthless, cut throat industry and you are competing with travel agencies, wholesalers and travel products companies where a customer can potentially make a hotel booking. Don’t make it any harder for the customer with a slow loading website because it’s an easy option to book at another website if they can’t find the information they need quickly.

While a large part of your hotel Internet marketing activities should be focused on attracting new customers to your website and building your customer base, there should be a continued focus on getting existing customers to re-book at your hotel and increase brand loyalty.

Speak to one of our marketing consultants at TA Fastrack on 07 3040 3588 to find out how we can help you with your hotel Internet marketing, social media marketing and client retention campaigns.

Does Your Property Need a Website Design Makeover?

People always say, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Well, it sounds nice, but people usually don’t take the advice, and often do judge a book by its cover. Whether it’s right or wrong is another topic, but it happens for all sorts of things, including hotel websites.

Based on an instant feeling from the look and feel of your property’s website, a travel shopper can move on faster than the speed of light. This is the worst case scenario for any property. After all, the shopper’s interest is not the only thing lost. You can kiss increased online bookings, revenue, branding and potential guest loyalty goodbye.

Let’s review five signs that your site needs a makeover. If none of these apply to your property, you’re in good shape. If any of them do apply, it’s time to make some tweaks.

Five signs that scream YES!

1) Dated Imagery
How current are the photos on your website - have they been updated in the last year or two? Have your property’s rooms recently been remodelled? 

Photos, especially if they’re rotating in flash or the largest feature on the page, are what visitors notice first, meaning photos should constantly be up to date and professional. If a visitor sees photos of a dim, empty lobby and a room with old TVs and fixtures, it may immediately cause them to start their search over. And hiring a professional photographer is usually worth it in the long run. The difference between professional photos and random photos taken by the hotel staff can be significant.

2) Non-compelling Imagery
Does you property look empty, with no cars in the parking lot, or zero guests walking the grounds?  Does your property have vibrant photos of local attractions – whether it’s the outdoors, shopping areas, theme parks, etc.? 

Your property’s website should have exciting, professional photos at all times, especially on the homepage, since it’s seen by nearly 100% of your website visitors. Don’t have two rotating photos of an empty lobby and a bed. Have four rotating photos of guest/staff interaction in the lobby, a wide angle of one your best rooms, an active pool that show guests relaxing, and most importantly, a photo of nearby local attractions, such as people enjoying a theme park, businessmen interacting at a convention centre or hikers enjoying the outdoors.

3) Non-engaging Content
Does your site’s content instantly spark interest in the travel shopper?
With the short attention span of consumers and the assault of ads and content they’re exposed to, they hardly ever read an entire page worth, but they do at least skim it… after they’ve been engaged with the imagery of course.

Besides the fact that your content has to be written with keywords and key phrases to help with search engine rankings, it’s crucial that it sells what the travel shopper wants. If you’re a luxury resort, you should sell the luxuries and amenities of your property – things like a spa and room service. You should also, even on the homepage, have relevant content about local attractions or demand generators. Often times, guests search for a property with close proximity to a place or event, not just for the property itself. If you’re located within a mile from the zoo or a botanical garden, emphasize that in your content. Capitalize on your proximity to the attractions, and try to form an emotional connection with the shoppers immediately.

4) Poor Navigation
Is your site map organized in a manner that’s easy for visitors to navigate?
Once a visitor sticks on your website, easy navigation is a must.  First and foremost, no matter where a visitor navigates to, there should always be a clear link directly back to the homepage.  Think about the goals of your website, and make sure the most important links are prominent and easy to reach from anywhere.

Second, the booking engine should be a distinct call to action on the homepage, always above the page break. Visitors should be able to quickly select a date range and click search. Third, don’t have too many sub pages on different levels. If a visitor clicks on “Event Space” from the homepage, gets to a second page, clicks on “Ballroom,” gets to a third page and clicks on “Weddings,” before clicking to yet another “Bride and Groom” page, then it’s too deep in the navigation. A visitor should never have to go through more than two or three clicks from the homepage to navigate anywhere on your site.

5) Alarming Website Statistics
Are travel shoppers staying on your site longer and viewing more pages than they did last year? Is your site ranking higher in the search engines for crucial keywords and phrases? Is your overall site traffic growing?                                              

All of these questions and more need to be answered regularly at your property. Review how shoppers find your site, which pages they are visiting and how much time they’re spending there. Look at your Web analytics, and learn what every statistic means to your bottom line. These are key indicators about how well you’re engaging shoppers, and how you can improve your site to increase online bookings.  An overall “health review” of your site should be done quarterly.

So, your site does or doesn’t need a makeover…
Now that you’ve thought more about your property’s website and considered the aforementioned five potential issues, how do you feel about your site? Does it need a design and/or layout makeover. Do you feel your visitors are engaged with photos and content and compelled to book? Your website is your 24/7 sales tool, so it must be up to par to consistently fill the rooms.

If your property clearly does not have any of these five issues, chance are, the design and layout is in excellent shape. But if any of these signs ring true, whether it’s one or all five, it’s probably time for a site revision, including updated images and content and a professionally diagrammed layout.

This is where hiring an hotel Internet marketing company would be beneficial. A content management system that allows you to make updates to the site without much design or technical knowledge is also a cost-effective, beneficial option.  Because after all, improving your site will only help increase the time visitors spend on it, which will in turn, boost your direct online reservations.


For more information about website design and development, speak to one of the marketing consultants at TA Fastrack today on 07 3040 3588.