The modern era is the age of branding and cut-throat competition. Travel and hospitality are not exceptions. Brand identity, effective communication, reputation, and reliability matters most to a traveler when choosing a hotel for reservation.
At this point, a custom hotel website gains dominance for success in the property business. For small hotels, a website is a matter of investment and effort. But it is worth every cent to promote your property online and reach potential customers.
Read on to find out more about why every hotel needs a website.
Think about a visitor’s experience when booking a hotel room via Tripadvisor, Expedia, or Bookings.com. All hotel portfolios appear similar…room photos, a list of amenities, rooms, reviews, and a short bio. That’s all.
Bombarded with a pool of options, most visitors tend to find exclusive information about the best ones in mind. Many people prefer browsing the hotel website to find accurate information before booking a room. This may also include calling a sales manager in person.
A hotel website is a platform where you can put all the info a customer may want to see before bookings.
Distribution platforms don’t have an ‘about us section for the hotelier to promote the brand story. Property owners enjoy full control and authority over a custom website. Create an ‘about page’ to explain your journey. This info is exclusive, helps engage the audience, and rouses interest in your property.
A brand story clearly defines the hotel’s ethical values, vision, and goals to provide an idea of what to expect after a reservation.
Most small guest houses and hotels prefer using distribution platforms to advertise their rooms online. But it comes at a cost. Most third-party channels charge commissions based on an agreed pay structure.
Hotels having a website have ample scope to avoid paying commissions to channels. Google business listing is a free and popular online platform to promote your business. Brands having a website have the option to create a button with a link on Google searches. Be found online and prompt visitors to make a direct booking by clicking the website link.
A hotel website comes with a pool of benefits to attract a target audience using local search marketing efforts.
Most channels restrict hotel owners from posting photos of sightseeing attractions. Having a brand website for the property business comes with an opportunity to have a content strategy to generate sales.
Hoteliers can add a blog section to promote local tourist hotspots. Put photos, videos, or simply a blog post to rouse interest in website visitors about the best places to visit in the city. It is an advanced marketing strategy to prompt visitors to book a room in your hotel.
Most hotels struggle to gain visibility across metasearch channels. A website link on Google search pages takes your business milestones ahead of others.
The online presence of your business depends on how many people see your hotel profile across various platforms. Promoting your property across channels comes with a challenge to gaining optimum exposure.
A responsive website optimised for search engines appears high on search results. It raises the chances of being found ahead of others.
You can’t promote offers and discounts on metasearch engines or Google business profiles. But you can do this on your website in an exciting way.
Encourage site visitors to book a room directly on the website at a discount rate. Many hotels get returning customers in search of exciting offers.
It is difficult to do up-selling through distribution channels. But this is a breeze on your website. Suggest add-ons to maximize your sales and give an enhanced experience to your guests.
Unique offers on a hotel website encourage visitors to make a direct booking rather than on other platforms.
You can win the trust of a site visitor with various website elements. Most people reach a hotel website via distribution channels, Google, and social media platforms.
If your hotel information is similar and accurate across various platforms, it helps to rouse a sense of trustworthiness in your brand. Additionally, you can show client testimonials with photos on the homepage. It depicts the experience the guest had at the hotel during a stay in your hotel.
There are several ways to achieve returning visitors to your hotel website. You can sell more by creating blog posts on nearby tourist attractions, travel tips, etc. Add a rate comparison tool that visitors can use to find the best deals.
It is worth linking social media profiles to the website to get regular traffic. More high-quality traffic brings more sales.
Giving required information on rooms and amenities in detail on a third-party website is impossible. You have limited space to create a profile, info page, etc.
A custom-designed website offers all the space and opportunity to publish curated information. You can create a detailed guide for each room with relevant photos, videos, etc. A visitor is 100% sure about the amenities to expect before making a booking. It reduces the risk of cart abandonment and unnecessary cancellations.
A professionally designed website is not always affordable. It involves work, investment, and effort to keep the site running and functional. From technical details to content updates, webmasters do everything to keep the visitors hooked.
However, every dollar spent on web development is worthy to grow revenues in the coming time. Once you grow traffic on the website, it brings in commission-free direct bookings. It helps hoteliers cut the expenses on channel marketing.
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