In today’s digital age, your website is your flashiest billboard and your best shot at keeping occupancy rates higher. So, let’s talk about how you can get one with the help of a perfect hotel website builder.

But first, why exactly is a strong online presence the secret sauce to success? 

Imagine a traveler, phone in hand, searching for their stay in your city. They stumble upon stunning photos of your rooftop pool, virtual tours of your heritage suites, and mouthwatering descriptions of your in-house biryani. 

Bam! You’ve just got yourself a potential guest. 

But here’s the catch: not just any website will do. Choosing the right hotel website builder for your business can be tricky. 

So, let me shed some light on why it is important to have a digital footprint.

The Importance of Having A Strong Online Presence

Picture this: you’ve got a charming boutique hotel nestled amidst the bustling chaos of a vibrant Indian city. The rooms are spotless, the staff is as friendly as chai on a rainy day, and your rooftop restaurant boasts the most panoramic view of the Taj Mahal on this side of Agra. 

But here’s the rub: no one knows you exist. You’re like a hidden gem collecting dust in a forgotten corner of the internet.

That’s where a strong online presence comes in, my friend. It’s like transforming your hotel from a shy wallflower into the Bollywood star of the travel scene.

Fact check:

• 70.9% of travelers say online reputation influences their choice of accommodation.
• A whopping 81% say they always read reviews before booking a hotel.
• 27% of hotel bookings are made through the property directly, 25% through the hotel’s website, and 16% through online travel agencies.

See? That’s how important it is to be present online. It’s a fundamental necessity that can make or break your success in the hospitality industry. 

A compelling SEO-friendly website, engaging social media profiles, and positive online reviews collectively shape the perception of your hotel, influencing the decision-making process. 

Overall, investing in a website isn’t just about technology; it’s a strategic move to elevate your hotel’s presence, engage guests, stand out in this competitive market, and drive bookings.

Maximizing The Benefits of An SEO-Optimized Hotel Website

Now that you know how important it is to have a website for your hotel, you must understand not all websites are competent enough to drive the results you want. That’s where SEO comes in. 

Think of SEO as your magic potion for online visibility. It’s a set of secret spells (technical tweaks and strategic content) that make your hotel climb the search engine ladder like a monkey on Red Bull. 

The higher you rank, the more eyeballs you attract, the more rooms you fill, the happier your finances are. Now, let’s unlock the treasure chest of SEO benefits for your hotel website:

• Elevate Visibility in Search Results: A well-optimized hotel website ensures that your property is prominently featured in search engine results.
• Target Reach for Relevant Audiences: SEO optimization enables you to tailor your website content to match the specific interests and preferences of your target audience by optimizing for relevant keywords and phrases.
• Build Credibility and Trust: Appearing at the top of search results instills a sense of credibility and trust among potential guests. Many travelers perceive top-ranking results as reputable and reliable choices.
• Long-Term Digital Success: SEO optimization isn’t a one-time effort; it’s an ongoing strategy for long-term digital success. By consistently refining your website’s SEO elements, you create an enduring online presence that continues to attract and engage potential guests over time.

Bonus Tip: Regularly update your website, track analytics, and keep adding fresh, engaging content. Don’t forget to tailor your SEO strategy to the target audience. Highlight what makes your hotel unique, whether it’s stunning mountain views, your commitment to sustainable practices, or thrilling karaoke nights. 

However, not all websites are SEO-friendly. To build one you must have profound knowledge of SEO, Google Analytics, and some technical understanding. Otherwise, it’s all in vain. 

The good news is today there are a lot of hotel website builders available in the market that take care of your website and its SEO. But choosing the right one can be tricky, so here’s how to…

Choosing The Right Hotel Website Builder: Key Features to Consider

To make it easy for you, I am listing down all the features a good website builder must have. You can consider it as a checklist before you make your purchase. 

Multiple Templates to Choose from:

A website is the canvas of your hotel’s digital presence. So, opt for a website builder that offers multiple templates. You can choose the one that you like the most and reflects your brand image. 

User-friendly Interface:

Not everyone is a coding expert, and that’s perfectly fine. Look for a website builder that’s easy to use and has a user-friendly interface. So even if you don’t have any coding or technicality knowledge, you can easily create and manage your website.

SEO Features:

As I said before, SEO is the soul of your website. No matter how stunning your website is, if the SEO is not proper, it doesn’t work. But SEO is a complex thing and not everyone is well-aware of this. Modern website builders recognize this and come with all the features necessary to build an SEO-friendly website, ensuring your website outranks your competitors. So, check if the website builder provides built-in SEO features or allows integration with popular SEO tools. 

DIY & Customisation:

Your hotel is unique, and so should your website be. Choose a website builder that offers DIY with drag-and-drop options that allow you to tailor the look and feel of your site. From color schemes to font choices, the DIY option gives you the freedom to customize your website the way you want.

Dedicated Web Designers:

You cannot know the ins and outs of web designing and that’s perfectly alright. An ideal website builder assists you with a web designer to give your website a professional touch. The designer takes care of the technicalities and helps you create a website that meets industry standards and your expectations.

Free Hosting & SSL:

Choosing a website builder that includes free hosting and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) can save you additional costs. Free hosting ensures that your website is accessible to visitors, while SSL guarantees a secure and encrypted connection. Together, these features contribute to a seamless and secure browsing experience for your guests.

Fast Delivery:

Time is of the essence of your business. A website builder offering fast delivery ensures that your hotel’s online presence is established promptly. From initial setup to the live launch of your website, a swift delivery process helps you to make an instant impact.

Cost and Value for Money:

Last but not least, make sure to choose the one that offers the best value for money. Consider the one that has all the key features you need— SEO, web designer, templates— yet is light on your pocket. Analyze and compare thoroughly to see which builder offers the best overall value for your money.

So the next time you find yourself confused about which website builder to go with, look for a hospitality website builder that has all the above features.

The Best Website Builder for Hotels

Sorting through the many website builders out there can be a daunting task. However, there’s one that stands out in catering to your unique needs – eZee Panorama.

Made specifically for hotels and restaurants, eZee Panorama is your ultimate solution. Forget about coding or dealing with technical stuff; this website builder comes with its own web designer to handle everything for you.

It also takes care of the SEO of your website and makes sure it has good online visibility and ranking. Plus, it offers free hosting and SSL to keep your info safe and your site secure.

Picking a template that suits your business is the only thing you need to do. It’s that simple – choose, customize, and you’re ready to shine online.

The best part? eZee Panorama is super affordable, making it perfect for every hospitality business. Whether you own a hotel, restaurant, or any other property, this website builder is designed to fit your needs.

Don’t just take my word for it; it comes with a free demo. So, check it out before you invest. And if you do like it, don’t forget to thank me in the comments section below!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Choosing The Right Hotel Website Builder appeared first on eZee Absolute.

It’s because every time I go to a hotel’s website and book, I feel things are transparent and I get a vibe of the place I am going to stay at.

And I am pretty sure, there are a lot of people like me who choose a hotel website over any other platform.

But not every website is effective. And it’s because hoteliers don’t understand what makes a good website. They don’t weigh much on the hotel website features and other requirements. They feel, having a website (without any additional stuff or optimization) is enough to push their sales through the roof.

So, I have decided to put out some indispensable information about the hotel website essentials. And I hope all the hoteliers who are reading this blog implement the tips for a great hotel website.

Why is it Important for Hotels to Have a Website?

Before we jump right to the hotel website tips and essentials, let me address one of the most common queries — Do hotels need a website?

Well, the answer is YES! The importance of hotel website in today’s competitive world is immense. 

People nowadays always turn to the internet, even for the tiniest doubts. And if businesses (irrespective of the domain) aren’t making the most out of it, they are going to lag behind.

A hotel website makes it highly convenient for people to browse and search for the hotel’s information. And without an inch of doubt, it increases the chances of getting more bookings.

But, there’s more to it! Here are some of the benefits of having a website for your hotel:

#1 It’s the trademark of the hotel

A website speaks volumes about a business. And it’s no different for hotels. 

The main motive of a hotel website is to let the guests (even the ones who have never visited your property before) feel the vibe and atmosphere of the property. Be it through the content or images or graphics.

Simply put, it gives your hotel a platform to spread the brand message and connect with your former and potential guests.

#2 It’s a source of communication and information

Your hotel website is also a channel through which people can reach out to you. 

However, when I am saying it’s a communication channel, it’s not just limited to a contact form or an email id or a phone number. 

Furthermore, your website also lets you deliver information to a wider audience. People get to know everything about your property on the website. 

You can deliver information that they might want to know through blogs, PRs, etc. We will talk about these aspects going forward.

#3 Drives direct sales

A website is the best source for driving direct sales or direct bookings. Hands down!

Many people tend to visit a hotel website and make a booking even after checking on an OTA. So, hotels need to double on that.

Not to mention, when you have a booking engine integrated, things get much better. 

Website Statistics You Should Know

Even though I have already stated the benefits of having a website, I want to include some concrete stats. And I am sure these will rest the case.

According to Graffiti9:

• 86% of visitors want to see information about the business’ offerings whenever they land on the homepage.
  (Meaning, you must have a website that contains important & useful information — from your brand story to details about offerings, prices, offers, etc.)
• 64% of website visitors always look for contact information.
  (As I said in the beginning, your website is a channel of communication)
• 52% of visitors also look for the business’ ‘about us’ section.
  (This is a great opportunity to spread your brand message)

Hotel Website Requirements You Must Meet

Now that we have learned about the importance of having a website for a hotel, let’s dive into the essential features of a good hotel website.

Here are some of the important things every hotel website must have:

#1 For Interface

Responsive and mobile-friendly design

According to a report, internet users are increasing at a rate of more than 7 percent (roughly 875,000 new users each day). And guess what, about 92 percent use mobile devices to go online.

So, building a website for your hotel, and writing all the information is just one thing. There are other hotel website requirements as well. You have to ensure that your website is both responsive and mobile-friendly.

When you have such a website in place, its layout changes based on the screen size of the device. It makes sure that the content fits well on the screen, images are optimized, there’s correct spacing, and more.

Great photographs of the property

The next (and one of the most important) thing(s) you should have on your hotel website is intriguing photographs of your property. Upload photos of the different types of rooms you offer, the ambiance, food, amenities etc.

Photographs provide your guests with the first impression of your property. They show people what to expect from the hotels.

Word to the wise: Always put up genuine photos. Do not upload stock images. Why? Because if someone makes a reservation after seeing your photos and the reality turns out to be completely different, then it might take a serious toll on your reputation.

Fast loading time

When it comes to hotel website requirements, load time plays a vital role. Search engines like Google highly consider page load time for ranking. Meaning, that Google shows people sites on search results that take less time to load.

That’s not all. According to a report, 40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds of load time.

So, you must invest an ample amount of time and effort in optimizing your website.

#2 For Conversion

Booking engine

Now that you have a website with all the intriguing photos, faster load time, and responsive, it’s time to convert those curious website visitors into satisfied hotel guests.

How? 

You need to have a booking engine in place. An integrated booking engine is one of the crucial hotel website features. It allows website visitors to book directly with your hotel right from the website. Not to mention, it also makes the reservation process a lot smoother.

Lead magnet

If you don’t know what a lead magnet is, it is basically a free item or service that is given away to acquire contact details.

eBooks, newsletters, product trials, etc. are good examples of lead magnets. And it is important that your hotel has this on the website.

Additionally, if a visitor doesn’t book with your property, you can still manage to reach out to him/her and nurture.

#3 For Branding

Social proof or validation

One can never overlook the importance of social proof or validation. Period.

Every time I visit a hotel website, I always check the reviews (or testimonials).

I am being very frank here; I always see the choices of others as a strong indication that a particular offering must be good. If it has worked for them, I feel there are chances it will work for me as well.

So, when you build a website for your hotel, never ignore this aspect. And if you’re wondering how to incorporate this into your website, let me tell you, there’s no rocket science. It could be as simple as a series of customer testimonials displayed on a web page. In no time, you’ll witness first-hand how this influences the buying decisions of your website visitors.

Blog posts

Blogs are one of the underrated hotel website features. Hoteliers must understand that it plays a crucial role in branding. With a blog page on your hotel website, you can start offering value to your former and potential guests, even before they start thinking about booking a room with you.

It gives you the power to expand on topics and attract like-minded people who could also become advocates for your hotel’s brand.

Not to mention, search engines also redirect people to pages that are living and breathing (rather than static ones).

Simply put, it’s about telling a story, delivering information, and fulfilling the needs and wants of those curious folks. This is what good brands do!

If you don’t give the market the story to talk about, they’ll define your brand’s story for you.

David Brier

Press releases/news/updates

Just like a blog section, your website must have a page for updates. It is a good practice to keep your audience updated with all the happening in your hotel.

For example: Your hotel has partnered with a well-known restaurant that is going to open an in-house restaurant at your hotel. Wouldn’t you want to spread the news to a wider audience? Obviously, yes! This is where such a section comes into the picture.

A page for local tourist attractions

When it comes to branding, you have to go the extra mile and ensure you’re doing everything possible for your existing/potential customers.

And one of the best things you can do is introduce them to your local attractions. Apart from just selling rooms, tell them about all the places they can visit, the activities they can do, the food they can try, etc.

Connect with them at the highest level possible.

#ProTip: When you’re working on your website and putting up all the content, do not forget to work on SEO. We have an in-depth blog on hotel SEO. You can read and master the art of ranking higher on SERPs.

SEO for Hotels: A Complete Guide

#4 For the backend

Tool for SEO

Now that you have learned about SEO, it’s time to get some tools. There are several tools available on the internet that can help you enhance your SEO efforts. Here are some of them:

• Ahrefs
• Google Search Console
• SEMRush
• Ubersuggest
• Google Keyword Planner
• Yoast SEO
• All-in-One SEO

Analytical tools

Another important aspect that you need to consider is monitoring and enhancing your website performance. For that, you need to have certain tools. Here are some of the tools you can consider:

• Google Analytics
• Spring Metrics
• Open Web Analytics
• Facebook pixel
• Kissmetrics

Security

Security is one of the top hotel website features. Period.

No matter what. You cannot compromise your and your guests’ data. Here are some of the steps you must take to ensure website security:

• Add HTTPS and an SSL Certificate
• Use a secure web host
• Record user access and administrative privileges
• Limit login attempts
• Change the default settings of your CMS
• Perform routine backups of your website
• Use a firewall

The post The Must-Have Hotel Website Features Checklist for 2024 appeared first on eZee Absolute.

In fact, 72% of visitors “CAN ACTUALLY” book directly if they get the best deal.

Pebble Design

But this can happen, if and only if you have an attractive and powerful website for your brand. Although I know, there are many do’s and don’ts surrounding this thought.

So to leave them behind, in this blog I’m going to break down all your misconceptions linked to it and guide you on the importance of owning a hotel website.

What are the myths and facts about having a hotel website?

It’s not unusual for people to get the wrong idea about having a brand website. But, my question stands, should it continue to be that way? Shouldn’t the truth be revealed?

Definitely a NO to the first and a BIG YES to the next. Right?!

If you notice, the sudden shift of digitalization has led people to spend more time on the hotel’s website; exploring its beauty, location, and amenities.

On the other hand, the COVID19 pandemic has left everyone to build their bucket list and explore everything on the web; thereby making online presence a pressing priority.

Without further ado, here are the nine crazy beliefs about owning a hotel website that you should stop trusting right away!

Myth #1: Brand websites do not provide any benefits

Nowadays most people search for products and services online. However, it’s untrue to believe that a web presence is essential if and only if you are one of them or sell such things.

Without having an online presence, you wouldn’t be able to represent your business properly; leaving a question mark on your trust factor as well.

A majority of hoteliers still feel websites are just a liability to their business as they are unaware of the importance.

Fact #1: Websites enhance your brand’s online presence

Online presence has become the talk of the town these days and it is no secret that online presence = brand awareness. 

Thus, if you don’t have one, you are definitely left behind by your competitors. 

In fact, most marketing experts agree, how you present your brand online will gain you similar outcomes. 

Creating an online brand presence is about capturing the attention of your targeted audience. And, a website is a driving factor that helps you to do so. 

Being the first point of contact to know more about your hotel; it creates an identity that is bigger than you to engage, acquire, and attract more guests online. 

Myth #2: You do not get any conversions from a website

Hotel owners suffer from a misguided expectation that their website will automatically start attracting visitors the moment it is published. 

Also, some are of the view that it is difficult to gain visitors online, as OTAs have more power and it is tough to compete with them. 

This is because they expect that, since they’ve invested money to build a website, bookings should naturally start flowing in. 

But, it’s not that simple! Marketing for any brand does take time. And, once your website goes live, it’s time you start promoting.

Fact #2: Hotel websites drive direct bookings and generate higher revenue

Every hotel’s goal is to sell more rooms and maximize their profit. Having a stunning website helps you to drive in more visitors to it and eventually turn them into bookers.

The websites created with a website builder solution, often comprise a lot many features namely looker to booker widgets, promotional discounts to highlight, themes, and more.

Making the right use of them and integrating your website to a booking engine makes it even simpler for you to drive more direct bookings and thereby enhance your revenue.

It gives your visitors the freedom to check rooms, availability, and rates on a real-time basis thus allowing them to book their stay directly from your hotel’s websites.

Myth #3: Website requires a lot of maintenance

As a hotel owner, you would want to use your time wisely. And, many have the false opinion that, once their website is built they’d have to invest a lot of time and effort in maintaining it.

Also believing that, they would’ve to regularly check and update its content, photos, videos, as well as nurture its online presence.

All the more, their biggest concern lies in the to and fro to contact the web designer for minor changes and the additional cost that is incurred behind it.

Fact #3: Website creators are easy-to-use and user-friendly 

Nowadays, creating a website and maintaining it is just like a walk in the park. Thanks to the newest technology and the emerging option of DIY (do it yourself).

This means anybody who has little or rather no knowledge about coding can easily manage their website and make updates as required.

The website builder solutions provide you a simple and user-friendly option of drag and drop that requires no added costs, time, and efforts.

It allows you to add or remove any page you wish to on your website, showcase any new offerings, and promote your business in the best possible manner.

TIP: eZee Panorama is one such solution that provides all of these features.

Myth #4: You get poor search engine results 

If you think you can get your website ranked on the first page of the search engine results overnight, then you’re surely fooling yourself. 

Consider your business to be very lucky if you quickly rank as the number one website. Besides, getting a better ranking is just like playing in the stock market.

The traffic patterns are hard to judge and you cannot expect that once you’ve built your website you would naturally rank well and improve your reach without any marketing efforts.

Fact #4: Having a brand website enables stronger organic reach 

Building a strong website definitely has an edge over your competitors as it provides you to acquire better SEO results.

Currently, website makers are offering on-page SEO to help you rank better and improve your brand image. 

However, the organic value of your website will need some time and marketing to pick up the steam.

Besides, it makes your website become more discoverable if you promote and link your social media channels correctly to it.

Myth #5: Custom made websites are better than template websites

Many people are afraid to create a website because they lack the required knowledge and imagination. 

Apart from that, most hoteliers believe, customized websites are expensive and give more value to their business than the pre-designed templates. 

This is because many other businesses might be using the same templates, that won’t help your brand to stand out from your competitors.

They prefer to create a website from scratch believing that customized websites are adaptable to the hotel’s requirements.

Fact #5: Pre-designed templates provide a better look and feel to your website

The reality is, these pre-designed templates are exclusively created by experts who have good knowledge of your business and consider all your requirements.

They make such options available to save your time and energy in designing a completely new website from scratch. 

Templates are the simplest way to get a beautiful website built with a design that perfectly reflects your brand personality.

Website makers provide you various options to choose from and allow you to select or combine any of the templates you wish to.

Not only that, but also they give you a broader idea of what all features your website should include.

Myth #6: Websites are not responsive on all devices

A well-designed website might be visually appealing, but it won’t necessarily account for an increase in sales unless it is responsive on all devices.

Hotel businesses cater to an ample number of customers who could make their booking from any type of device they use.

And, often while they experience low bookings, they blame their website’s unresponsive design. 

They believe the clickable elements which look great on a desktop might not be as appealing on other smaller devices like a phone or a tablet.

Fact #6: They look best on any device and deliver a better visitor experience

At present more than half of the web traffic comes from smartphones. Thus, solution providers ensure to design a website that adapts the layout, content, and design of any device.

This enables your websites to attract and convert more guests online by giving them a delightful experience.

Adding on, these days most software providers give a free demo on how your website would look like on all types of devices such as a desktop, mobile, laptop, and tablet.

Myth #7: No ownership on your website data

Data security has always been a big concern for hoteliers. By creating a beautiful website for the brand, their main question lies upon “Who has the control on my data?”

What if I want to make any updates or remove any information from my website, will I have the power to make such changes? 

And there arises double thoughts on owning a website, believing that they have no ownership on their data information.

Fact #7: You get complete control over your website and data

You don’t necessarily have to worry about your hotel’s data. With the fear of a security breach, most website makers provide an SSL certificate to secure your online information.

Besides, they give you complete ownership of your website and the freedom to perform any edits on your own.

Be rest assured as your content is 100% yours – from the images to the domain, forms, links, and everything in between.

Myth #8: You can’t build a beautiful website without appointing a professional web designer

Often we assume, nothing turns out fruitful unless you invest in it. Likewise, this belief isn’t wrong.

Instead, most small businesses overlook having their own brand website, because of the additional investment of a web designer.

But, considering Fact #5, with pre-designed templates it becomes much easier to create a perfect website for your brand.

On the contrary, 

Fact #8: Website makers design and deliver a perfect website for your brand

Understanding the additional expense of a web designer, most website builder solutions now come with a dedicated web designer all-inclusive in their pricing plans.

They guide you through which templates could look best for your brand, the themes that resonate with it and build a perfect website that your needs.

eZee Panorama is one such solution that completely takes care of all these requirements and ensures to deliver the best website for your brand.

Myth #9: Website builder solutions are expensive than local web designers

Hoteliers commonly believe that website builder solutions include many features and so are more expensive than local designers or web design agencies.

On the other hand, such designers can help you to create and maintain brand identity; but are definitely unaware of your target market as well as the domain knowledge.

To give you a broader idea, here’s a comparison chart on why website builder solutions are better than local web designers.

Fact #9: They provide you various features at an extremely affordable price

It’s just the hype which makes hotel owners believe that purchasing a software incurs more expenses. 

But, the fact stands that, these solutions provide you higher benefits and are exclusively designed as per your brand requirements.

Besides, in reality, website builder solutions are much lighter on your pocket compared to other local designers. 

They are easy-to-go and deliver your hotel’s website within less than a week; covering all your technical aspects as well.

By far, I hope I’ve been able to debunk all your myths on owning a hotel website, although I understand that these might leave a few unanswered questions in your mind.

Let’s get them solved.

FAQs

Conclusion

My personal advice would be to leave all your myths behind and give your brand its own unique identity. 

I know, before making any decision, research is important and you would definitely do that; but do not wait any longer.

Creating an online presence usually takes months or even years to really establish, so better late than never. 

Remember one thing, in the end, all it requires is trust. Trust yourself that you’re making great decisions for your business to walk on the right track.

I hope these facts have tickled your mind. Do let me know how this turned out for you (via comments), and if you need any guidance to understand them better.

It’s time to give your brand, a new face!

The post 9 Biggest Myths and Facts About Owning a Hotel Website appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Well, that’s exactly how urgency tactics work. They are techniques used to create curiosity or scarcity in order to encourage people to take action quickly. 

As a hotel owner, driving bookings on your website is a critical aspect of your business’s success. But with so much competition online, it’s really difficult to persuade website visitors to choose your hotel exclusively.

Don’t worry! We’ve covered everything you need to learn and implement, in this blog. 

Read on to know how to use these tactics to drive more bookings and maximize revenue.

Why using urgency tactics are an effective strategy for hotels?

Urgency tactics are a powerful tool for increasing hotel website conversions. Think about it – we all have busy lives and endless options to choose from when it comes to accommodations. Thus, urgency tactics are mostly used to capture attention and make searchers realize that they could miss out on an incredible experience if they don’t act fast.

Plus, urgency tactics help you stand out from the competition and show your guests that you’ve got something special to offer. These strategies are all designed to create FOMO i.e. Fear Of Missing Out, which encourages lookers to act quickly and secure their reservation. 

Urgency tactics can be in any form, from pop-up messages to countdown timers. They can be triggered by a variety of factors, such as limited-time offers, low stock levels, or high demand. Whatever the form is, it’s all about creating excitement to book with you before they lose the opportunity. 

If this sounds complicated, I am here to help! In this blog, we’ll explore some effective urgency tactics that hoteliers can use to drive more bookings on their hotel websites.

6 Urgency Tactics hotels can use to increase website conversions

1. One-Time Offers

One of the most popular urgency tactics is to offer a limited-time promotion. By setting a deadline for the offer, you create a sense of urgency that encourages customers to act quickly.

You might have seen OTAs using those “Book now and receive 20% off your stay” or “Upgrade to a suite for free if you book within the next 24 hours” on their websites. Undoubtedly, these encourage website visitors to book then and there.

One-time offers are also effective when targeted to specific audiences, such as previous guests or email subscribers. By offering an exclusive one-time offer to these audiences, you can build customer loyalty and encourage repeat bookings.

2. Special Discounts

Let’s say you signed up for a website and it was a 25% discount for first-time buyers. Isn’t that appealing? I mean, who wants to miss this one-time chance? When new searchers visit your website, they may be hesitant to book without some incentive. Offering a special discount for new bookers can encourage them to take action quickly.

Similarly, by using language such as “Summer special price” or “Exclusive offer for new customers,” you can create an immediate need that encourages new bookers to make a purchase before the deal expires.

However, it’s important to ensure that the discounts you offer are sustainable for your business and align with your overall marketing strategy.

3. Countdown Timers

Have you ever had the urge to buy something because of the ‘Deal Ends In 00:02:14 min’ timer? It’s true, we are usually attracted to anything that is visually expressive. A countdown timer is one such visual element that displays the amount of time left before an offer expires, such as a discount or limited-time deal.

You might have seen e-commerce websites using this tactic, as it works really well. Similarly, with countdown timers on your hotel website, you can build excitement among your potential guests.

By showing them exactly how much time is left before an offer expires, you encourage them to take action quickly and make a booking with you.

4. Direct Messaging

Direct messaging or sending notifications to your website visitors or subscribers is always a plus as you can communicate with your potential guests on a more personal level and provide them with a personalized experience. 

One of the ways to use direct messaging as an urgency tactic is to send automated messages to potential guests who have abandoned their booking process.

Using personalized or automated messages, and real-time updates not only increase your website conversion rate but improve your brand loyalty as well.

For example, notifying subscribers about your loyalty programme. Loyalty members might receive exclusive discounts on room rates or complimentary upgrades. This can encourage customers to join the loyalty program in order to receive those benefits.

5. Use powerful words

What impacts the mind of searchers? Influencing words like “quick,” “fast”, ”best price guarantee”, “hurry” and many more. By using these words strategically in your marketing messages, your website visitors will be encouraged to take action quickly, ultimately driving conversions on your hotel website.

You can also use powerful words in your call-to-action (CTA) and encourage potential guests to take action quickly. For example, using CTAs like “Book now” or “Hurry” to encourage a sense of anticipation for potential guests to reserve a room quickly.

6. Low availability alerts

It’s human nature. People are more motivated to act when they perceive something as being in short supply. Notifying your potential guests that – only a few rooms are left or that the room they are interested in is in high demand will make them urge to book with you instantly.

You can display alerts on the website when there are only a limited number of rooms left available for a particular date or at a particular rate. This can stimulate a sense of demand and encourage customers to reserve before the rooms are sold out.

Additionally, you can also encourage your website visitors using popularity notifications such as ‘185 booked this in last 10 days’ or ‘25 people are viewing this right now.’ These can also encourage visitors to book with you promptly.

The post Increase Your Hotel Website Bookings with 6 Powerful Urgency Tactics appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Fun Fact: ChatGPT has crossed 619 million users as of February 2023 and more than 25 million users visit their website daily!!

With increasing dependence on technology, ChatGPT is an innovative tool that hoteliers can use to improve their customer service and save costs. In this blog, we will discover the true potential of ChatGPT for hotels and explore how this innovative technology can transform hospitality businesses.

But first things first, let’s understand what exactly ChatGPT is.

Everything A Hotelier Must Know About ChatGPT

ChatGPT, or Generative Pre-trained Transformers, is basically an AI-based chatbot that uses its natural language processing feature to create human-like conversations. 

Simply speaking, it is a computer program that can chat with you like a person. This tool uses artificial intelligence to understand what you’re saying and respond accordingly. It’s a chatbot, but smarter and more human-like.

ChatGPT can engage in real-time conversations with your guests, give a personalized experience, improve efficiency, provide recommendations, book reservations, and even process payments. It can also be used in various areas of a hotel’s operations, such as customer service, marketing, and operations too. 

Benefits of Using ChatGPT

ChatGPT comes with several benefits that set it apart from other similar chatbots. Let’s discuss them in detail:

• Save Resources: By implementing ChatGPT in your hotel, you can save on resources by reducing the need for additional customer service staff. It can handle a large volume of customer inquiries, allowing your staff to focus on more complex tasks that require human intervention.

• Increase Customer Satisfaction: By providing 24/7 customer service, personalized recommendations, and timely and accurate responses to customer inquiries and amenities, this powerful software can enhance the customer experience and increase customer loyalty.

• Automated Responses: This AI-based tool can help automate common customer service inquiries, such as booking reservations and providing information about local attractions. By automating these tasks, ChatGPT can improve operational efficiency and reduce the workload.

• Ideas: With the ability to process large volumes of data and generate ideas based on customer interactions and preferences, ChatGPT can help hotels come up with fresh and innovative ideas for campaigns that can help set them apart from their competitors. 

How Can Hotels Use ChatGPT?

Now, let’s cut to the chase, how can you being a hotelier use ChatGPT? Well here’s what I have found out—

• Chat support system: 

The first and most basic way to use ChatGPT is as your chat widget. You can integrate it with a chatbot platform or use it as a website chat widget and train the ChatGPT model using your website’s FAQs or commonly asked questions about your property or its location. 

This will help the tool understand and respond to user queries more accurately. You can further integrate it with the chatbot platform and set up the chat widget on your website. The chat widget will allow users to interact with ChatGPT and get their queries resolved in real-time with zero involvement. 

Additionally, its natural language processing feature enables it to understand native languages and respond in the same, thus giving a seamless user experience.

• Marketing

No AI or software to date has come this close to excelling at marketing like ChatGPT has. Therefore it has become an indispensable tool for hotels to enhance their marketing efforts.

As a hotelier, ChatGPT can help you create online content for marketing purposes. Social media captions, property descriptions, ads, email campaigns— name it and ChatGPT will create unique content for your campaign. 

ChatGPT also allows you to generate customised content for a specific target audience based on your marketing needs. Additionally, this AI-based tool even answers customer reviews on various platforms and creates images for your campaigns!

• Website content

ChatGPT can also be your assistant in optimising your website content. It can help you write room descriptions, the amenities you are serving, taglines of your property, success stories, and a lot more. 

This can not only improve your brand message but also ensure you have the same brand outlook on all your online platforms including your website, OTAs, and social media– resulting in a better customer experience and more conversions. 

• SEO Suggestions

If you want to get inputs on website SEO, ChatGPT can give you basic suggestions on that. From searching for keywords to updating your page titles and description, this AI tool can be your friend. 

It can help you improve your website ranking, list your property, and increase your overall SEO performance. 

• Generate Menu

ChatGPT can suggest popular cuisines based on the location of your property and the target audience. You can ask questions such as “What are the most popular dishes for a seafood restaurant?” or “What are some popular vegetarian dishes?”

You can also use it to create descriptions for your dishes, that will help your guests understand what they are ordering. But you must remember while ChatGPT can provide some guidance and generate ideas, it’s important to have a human touch in creating the menu to ensure that it aligns with your hotel’s vision and goals.

• Translator

As ChatGPT supports multiple languages, it can be used as a language translator for your hotel. If you create a list of commonly spoken languages at your hotel then you can determine which languages you need the AI to translate. 

You can use ChatGPT to translate common phrases and sentences that are often used such as greetings, room service requests, and directions to nearby attractions. 

Additionally, you can provide a list of key phrases in each language that your staff should be familiar with. This will help them communicate with guests who may not speak English or their native language fluently. 

It can also be used to generate multilingual versions of hotel brochures, menus, and other marketing materials (if required).

How to Deploy ChatGPT?

With so many advantages, you must be thinking using ChatGPT must be rocket science! No, it isn’t. It is as easy as using any chatbot on a website. 

Just visit the OpenAI website and create an account. Navigate to Try ChatGPT and type in your questions. You can also specify the content you are looking for like blog, social media captions, etc. edit the responses as per your need and you are good to go. 

Setbacks

Just as every coin has two sides, ChatGPT also has some. Let’s check them out below:

• Lack of basic knowledge: While ChatGPT can generate coherent responses based on the input it receives, it does not have the basic sense that humans possess. This can result in responses that are technically correct but do not pass the right context of the conversation and often lack the human touch.

• Biased responses: Like any machine learning system, ChatGPT can be trained on biased data and may generate biased responses as a result. This is particularly problematic when it comes to sensitive topics such as race, gender, or politics.

The post ChatGPT for Hotels | How can it help hoteliers boost their business? appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Hotels often experience something similar to this when their prospect guests visit their website but do not make any bookings. This aspect of hospitality businesses is measured as the “look-to-book ratio”.

Let’s understand this in more detail.

In today’s digital world, users always scrutinize every service and product they are likely to purchase. That is what travelers do while booking their accommodations. They surf through the internet, various hotel websites, and OTA platforms to find a perfect stay at an affordable price.

I bet you don’t want your hotel to be just a part of their surfing process. Rather you’d like the guests to stop by your website and find it a perfect fit to book.

However, earning an instant booking from your website visitors is not easy. You have to set up proper strategies to hold your guests’ attention and to even out your hotel’s look-to-book ratio effectively.

But worry not. In this blog, I am going to discuss it all step-by-step.

What Is the Look-To-Book Ratio?

As the name suggests, the look-to-book ratio (also known as the L2B ratio) is a comparison between the number of people who visited your website vs the number of people who made a booking.

This ratio is one of the key performance indicators for your hotel and its website. It gives a reality check of your website’s quality and tells you if it is effective enough to make good sales.

What is an ideal look-to-book ratio?

After understanding the look-to-book ratio, as a hotelier, you might want to achieve the best value of it. So, let’s address the real question now – “what is the value of an ideal look-to-book ratio for hotels”?

You might think it is 1:1 but it can happen only in hypothetical situations. It is clearly an unrealistic case where every person that visits your website ends up booking a stay.

To be honest there is not any particular value that hotels should run after. Instead, through constant efforts, they must try to improve their ratio day by day.

So, let's say your look-to-book ratio is 30:1. Meaning, out of 30 people visiting your website, only 1 is booking. Now your next goal can be 25:1 or 20:1. You can even aim to achieve 10:1 in the long term (though it is not a cakewalk).

Yes, it seems easy to write and read these values, but achieving them is a whole different game altogether. However, it is not impossible. And this is why I am here to guide you through perfect strategies to help you reach your goals.

How to Improve Your Hotel’s Look-To-Book Ratio?

To improve your hotel’s look-to-book ratio, the sole strategy is to make your online presence more appealing.

When your guests reach your website they should feel connected. If the website visitors can relate to your website, its content, and your property then you are halfway through.

In this section, I am discussing all the strategies you must note and follow to improve your L2B Ratio.

1. Make your website visible

If you want people to book your hotel, the primary step is to reach them. For that, your website should stand out from the pile of the internet ecosystem.

To do so, you must work on the content of your website. Research on the current customer behavior, how they search on the internet and other platforms, and what they are actually looking for.

In technical terms, note down the SEO keywords (search engine optimization) and include them in your website content.

By using effective SEO for hotels you will get acknowledgment in the search engine to become visible to the world. With time, you will start driving more customer visits to your website.

2. Track your target audience

Let’s just face the truth, you can’t please every visitor. What you can do is attract a particular niche. According to your hotel and its facilities, you must figure out what is an ideal guest persona for your hotel.

Once you track down your audience, you can use effective techniques to pull them in. You should know how to impress them on their first visit to your website.

As we know, hitchhikers and solo travelers will look out for a fun and carefree experience. Whereas families will look out for a whole package and comfortable stays.

So, to hold the attention of your ideal guest, your website should give them the particular vibe they desire. If they do not get excited about their stay just by looking at your website, then they will barely book you.

3. Keep your audience engaged

People do not always visit the hotel’s website to make a booking. Sometimes they just make future plans and casually lookout for travel and vacation spots. (To get that adrenaline boost:D)

In these cases, it is important to make an ever-lasting impression on your audience. They should have a strong image of your hotel so that whenever they plan to book, they will remember you.

To establish such an impact, you must connect with your audience personally besides the basic advertisements. For this, it is important to have your presence on social media sites. 
Recently, hotels are also using WhatsApp business tools to connect well with their guests.

Due to WhatsApp’s popularity among all segments of society, it helps in better reach. With its catalog tool, hotels are able to share their offerings with a single click. It helps build a strong pre-booking connection with guests, eventually resulting in an increased number of bookings.

Explore more benefits of WhatsApp Business 

4. Build an authentic and appealing website

One thing that users lookout in your hotel website is accurate information. While creating it, ensure you are not keeping the details vague and hidden. Always give out the full and right information to your visitors.

This unveils transparency and adds authenticity to your hotel’s image.

However, it does not come solely through the content, the design and color scheme of your website are also inclusive. These can seem to be the less important factors but the visuals do impact a lot on the conscious as well as the subconscious minds of your guests.

So, for bringing a genuine aura to your website, along with its content, you must build it with eye-pleasing and exciting visuals. 

An effective website builder software can help you do so. You can check out eZee Panorama, which helped many properties build their dream websites and improve their L2B ratio.

5. Keep the booking process smooth

Once you build an appealing website, ensure that it also functions smoothly. If there are a lot of hurdles while booking and getting its confirmation, then your website will instantly lose its charm.

The first thing you must look out for is an effective booking engine. It should be highly receptive and instant in terms of functioning. So that, your guest gets a wide range of platforms to connect with your hotel easily. Moreover, it should notify you immediately to track your bookings and assist your potential guests.

You can check out eZee’s Booking Engine which handles all these affairs ideally.

Besides this, the process of booking should be kept short and simple. Do not make your booking box a registration form for some entrance exam. Your guests may feel it is too extensive and may leave without booking.

6. Put up amazing offers

One of the prominent ways to improve your hotel’s look-to-book ratio is by offering great deals.

Your guests surf the internet just to find the best deals. So, if your website has reasonable prices and great offers for them then they will definitely book you.

This is why putting up different offers in festivals and seasons become important. Giving special offers on repeat bookings, discounts on group bookings, and great deals on packages – are some excellent ways to persuade your audience for booking.

7. Provide instant assistance

“Never keep your guests waiting!” This goes for pre-booking as well. The moment you put your guests on hold, you lose them, especially in the pre-booking phase.

Nowadays, people are reckless in terms of doing activities or taking decisions. Gone are the days when they used to have patience.

So, if they have any queries, you better guide them instantly, or else they will move on to your competitors in no time. It is important to be available for your guests whenever they contact you otherwise you lose a booking. This will eventually reflect on your L2B ratio.

8. Shield well from negative reviews

Reviews have become an important source for website visitors to check your hotel’s authenticity. Hence, it is necessary to manage them wisely.

If your prospective guest checks your website and reads a bad review then they become skeptical. It reduces your chances of earning a booking.

Therefore, keeping your website clean and sober in terms of reviews is a must. But it can get a little challenging too.

For making it easy, your hotel can use a reputation management system to deal with the reviews on your website. eZee also provides you with Free Review Response Templates so that you can respond to positive or negative reviews in an ideal and safe way.

9. Handle cancellations like a pro

One thing that can’t be overlooked here is when your guests confirm a booking with you and then cancel it.

Cancellations are the silliest way to lose your bookings. They snatch away your hopes for a better L2B ratio. However, it can be handled well.

If your booking terms are feasible and flexible to suit your guest’s requirements then there are fewer chances of cancellations.

Still, if it happens, you can earn it back by keeping the rescheduling window open for your guests. Or by asking about their genuine issues and trying to amend them.

The post Master the Aspect of the Look-To-Book Ratio for Your Hotel appeared first on eZee Absolute.

• There are 70,000 Google searches per second
• Google controls 90% market share of the global search engine tools
• Mobile devices account for 63% of global search

Source: Review42

Hence, it is quite evident that the hotel industry can’t be an exception. A report by Forbes states that almost 57% of hotel bookings happen online. That’s quite a number, isn’t it?

Thus, hotels must increase their online presence to tap on the growing digital population. At the same time, there is no reason to run from pillar to post or spend a fortune to increase your online presence.

Google is more than a search engine, there are a slew of Google tools for hotels that enables them to gain online prominence.

Why Should You use Google Tools?

Have a quick look at its benefits

• Makes the property discoverable and improves its SEO ranking
• Builds brand identity and enhances visibility to attract potential bookings
• Gets more number of people interested in your property
• Track and manage the reputation of your hotel and also engages more with your guest

But knowing the benefits alone isn’t enough, you should be aware of the most effective Google tools for hotels. No worries, you need not conduct extensive research. 

In this blog, I will walk you through some of the most useful tools that help in acing the hotel business like a pro.

What are the Most Useful Google Tools for Hotels?

These tools by Google for hotels increase productivity and attract more travellers to hotels. And on top of that, some of them are free. You need to use the right tool for the right job and you are good to go!

#1 Google My Business

Did you know Google My Business for hotels is the most effective tool for hoteliers? It is free, essential for SEO, and makes your hotel appear as a result of local search queries.

Google My Business lets your hotel gain prominence in searches that have the ‘near me’ section. It gives more information on Google Maps about hotels so that travellers are tempted to book them.

Key Benefits

• Travellers can get accurate details about your business along with a plethora of information like phone numbers, opening hours, special amenities, photos, directions, reviews, and a lot more on Google Maps and search

ProTip: To stand out in the crowd, add good quality photos of your property, 360-degree views, videos, engage with your guests, enable chat options so that potential customers can connect with you at ease.

#2 Google Analytics

Like other free tools, Google Analytics for hotels is one such effective tool that helps businesses track and analyse web traffic. It helps you find the acquisition metrics, conversion metrics, or behavioural metrics.

It is as simple as finding out who visited your website, how much time they spent, and the kind of search terms that they used. 

Once you have all the insights you can fix the areas which aren’t functioning well, optimise the website, offer an excellent user experience, and gradually increase conversions.

It is like “A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved.”

Key Benefits

• Enables you to gauge your visitors better and offer an awesome user experience
• Helps you find out which channels bring more travellers to your property’s website
• Let’s you build a result-driven website with data optimisation

#3 Google Search Console

Search Console provides hotels with crucial insights. With the help of Google Search Console, you can find out how your hotel’s website is performing. Search Console gives Google access to your content so that it is monitored well. It also helps you submit fresh content so that Google can crawl it and reflect the changes while removing the old.

Key Benefits

• You can measure your search traffic and performance, fix the bugs, to make your site stand out from the rest
• It helps you analyse your site’s impressions, clicks, and position on Google search
• You may submit sitemaps and individual URLs for crawling for travellers to discover the new content

ProTip: At regular intervals upgrade your site’s content to generate higher rankings. Work on content as per the customer demand to gain more traction

#4 Google Keyword Planner

The specialty of Keyword Planner is that it is linked to your Google Ads account. Using this free tool you can find out the most-searched keywords that are specific to your industry.

Key Benefits

• Helps in creating keyword-rich content which improves search results
• Benefits small and mid-sized hotels since they can craft content with ease taking into account the most-searched phrases or keywords

#5 Google Hotel Ads

Have you ever wondered whenever you plan a trip which is the first place you begin your search? Probably not!

If you think a little you will realise that it is none other than Google.

This is where Google thought of leveraging the opportunity and came up with Google Hotel Ads in 2011. It is a meta-search platform. When you use this tool, the room rates of your hotel are displayed comparing them to other booking engines or OTAs. It helps hoteliers to display their hotel to travellers across devices.

If a hotelier submits up-to-date information in Google such as room rates, availability, and room types, it shows relevant ads to future guests looking for hotels in Google search or Google Maps. However, this is a paid service wherein the advertiser needs to make payment only if the ad is clicked upon and the booking process is accomplished. Also, the ad will appear only when the description of your property matches the search criteria of the traveller.

Key Benefits

• Increases the likelihood of direct qualified traffic to your website
• Gives an opportunity to own guest data and nurture future relationship with them, 
• Increases revenue because by the time the user comes to your website they have already found you after setting certain filters 

#6 Google Free Hotel Booking Links

Recently,Google has launched a Free Hotel Booking Links program for hotels to display their direct booking rates and availability on Google Hotel (Meta) Search and Google Maps.

The free booking links display similar information to the paid ads but the only difference is that it is free. So you have the opportunity to connect with more potential travellers without shelling out a penny.

If you are an existing Hotel Center Partner and already participating in Hotel Ads or listed in Google My Business you become eligible to show free booking links. You need not pay any amount for clicks on the free booking links and the minimum bid is only to indicate eligibility. At the same time, bids won’t have any impact on the ranks of free booking links.

Key Benefits

• Property site can appear across Google when people are looking for hotels
• Can connect with more travellers
• Drive more bookings at no cost

#7 Test My Site

Did you know that almost 88% of travellers switch to a different site in case one does not work well? Isn’t the figure alarming! It is indeed! 

Are you thinking about how to hold on to your potential customers? The answer is simple. Build sites that are mobile-friendly. In case your site isn’t mobile-friendly and takes time to load, chances are high that you will lose half of your visitors. Google’s Test My Site is a free tool that allows you to gauge whether your site is compatible with mobile devices. It is an excellent developer tool that gives hoteliers crucial insights.

Key Benefits

• Understand the potential loss of visitors due to slow load time. 
• Have access to a detailed report about ways to increase the speed of your website and attract more visitors.
• Check the loading time of your peers to have an idea of where you lie in the competition
• Gives a list of instant fixes such as AMP, cache optimisation, or image

According to a report,

#8 Google Trends

Don’t you think unless you figure out the requirements of your guests you can’t cater to it? This is exactly what Google Trends does. This free tool helps you determine the kind of marketing copy for your website to ensure higher conversions. Once you start using the tool you can plug-in various search terms, compare them, and get maximum insights as per specific geographic locations.

Key Benefits

• Helps you make informed decisions about your content or the marketing copy based on the search term that has a wider interest. 
• The icing on the cake is you get specific insights based on each of the search terms.

#9 Think with Google

In the hospitality industry staying ahead of the curve isn’t just desirable, it is essential. This tool from Google can be used by hoteliers to gain valuable insights about their potential customers. When you have the latest data and information about your target audience, it becomes easier to strategise your marketing plan. Unless you have a robust marketing plan in place you can’t meet success but using Think With Google you can almost read the mind of consumers. Voila! That’s quite a bit!

Key Benefits

• Ensures high-level insights that are powered with Google research and search engines
• High-quality understanding of industry trends, consumer behaviour, marketing insights, and so on

#10 Travel Insights with Google

Travel Insights with Google is a  newly launched tool that is like a magic wand for the ones involved in the hospitality industry. Decision-makers in the hospitality industry can gain insights about travellers at every stage right from planning to booking flights or hotels or exploring the local businesses. 

The tool will show the trends in the travel industry. Specifically, it will cater to two types of data, namely the Destination Insights and the Hotel Insights.

With the help of the Destination Insights tool, people involved in the hospitality industry can gauge the top sources of demand of a destination and the top destinations about which travellers are more interested.

Similarly, with the Hotel Insights Tool it is possible to understand where the travel demand within the region comes from. The hoteliers can use this information to make their hotel business stand out.

Key Benefits

• Helps the tourism industry make the right decision at the right time
• Help the industry emerge out stronger during the recovery phase
• Understand the real-time evolving travel trends
• Provides valuable insights into people’s travel aspirations
• Create more modern, sustainable, and inclusive tourism

#11 YouTube

Did you know every day more than 2 billion logged-in users visit YouTube? This humongous figure is almost equal to one-third of the internet population.

YouTube is the most popular video hosting platform in the world and 70% of the YouTube audience come from mobile devices. Hence, YouTube could be the golden goose for hoteliers. And one of the effective Google tools for hotels to promote video content and attract potential guests. You can post catchy videos showcasing your property and lure more visitors to your property.

Key Benefits

• Posting interesting videos on YouTube can help your brand reach the target group
• Distributing video on YouTube offers direct results in Google’s Search Engine results page
• With videos that connect, hotels get an opportunity to further engage with the potential guests

The post 11 Most Useful Google Tools for Hotels For Business Growth appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Guests check the website before booking any property. It is one of the vital aspects influencing their decision. 

There is nothing better for any hotel than having an attractive website. And for that, you can invest in a certain website design templates. But with that, it also needs to be business oriented.

The main purpose of a website in the hospitality industry is to increase revenue through channelising direct bookings. But for a better conversion rate, it is very essential to invest in hotel website optimisation.

In this blog, I’m going to guide you through various tricks for hotel website optimisation.

Before beginning, let’s understand:

What is the importance of having a website in the hospitality industry?

Websites play a major role in this era of digitalisation. Expecting a high volume of online bookings without a website is like, waiting for fruits without planting any tree. 

As per stats by sabrehospitality.com,

21% of guests prefer to book via the hotel's website.

This shows, if you don’t have an optimised brand website for your property, you’d tend to lose around 21% of your annual revenue. Needless to say, you can self-estimate the loss incurred.

Hence, to achieve a better inflow of business, you must invest in a brand website.

How to optimise hotel websites for more bookings?

Just having a brand website is not enough. You need to ensure that it achieves its purpose of providing you with maximum bookings. 

Here are 9 easy ways for hotel website optimisation to achieve the desired results.

1. Focus on your hotel website’s design

An unattractive and unorganised website will drive your guests away. Thus, you should check if your hotel website is:

• Visually appealing.
• Easy to use, understand and navigate through.
• Conveys the right message.

To make your website appealing, try to use contrasting elements and themes. It should be eye-catching so that the guests would spend more time on your webpages. 

Do not overfill it with details. Ensure that it is organised and has a sitemap to help guests find the specific information they are looking for. It’s advised to have a decluttered website for ease of understanding and navigation.

So, to increase hotel website conversion rate during optimisation, you should check for white spaces.

In simpler terms, see if your website conveys the right message to the visitors. Ensure you don’t leave them baffled with too much input, just stick to one motive; that is – “Book with us”.

2. Use visuals 

It’s a simple truth, that you believe what you see. So is with the guests. 

High-quality photos are recommended for capturing guests’ attention. Most hoteliers invest in professional photography for this.

If you don't want to burn a hole in your pocket, simply use - ‘Capturing and enhancing process’. 

All you have to do is click some pictures from your smartphone, and use any photo editor to enhance them. But don’t overdo it, just adjust for clarity, sharpness, lighting and contrast.

Here are some of our recommended apps: Adobe Photoshop Express, Google Snapseed and Adobe Lightroom.

You can also use videos describing your hotel and nearby places. Try creating some vlogs (video + blogs) on your hotel’s YouTube channel and get them embedded on your website. 

Due to COVID-19, many hotels are showcasing their safety measures. You can record some small clips such as hotel staff wearing masks and gloves, sanitization of each guest and room before check-in or check-out and so on. 

You can use that video on your website. This will boost visitors’ confidence and eventually turn them into potential guests. It’s recommended to create a separate page to address how your hotel is ensuring maximum safety for guests after pandemic.

Our free COVID-19 website templates might help you here.

Moreover, you can record some small clips such as hotel staff wearing masks and gloves, sanitization of each guest and room before check-in or check-out and so on. 

This will boost visitors’ confidence and eventually turn them into potential guests.

3. Make it mobile-friendly

Generally, people avoid using a laptop or tablet to search for anything in the middle of a journey. Let it be searching for a hotel to stay in, checking reviews, or navigating to the destination, people mostly use smartphones. 

It’s necessary for you to optimise your website for being mobile-friendly. A hotel website with a desktop-only view will not work smoothly on a smartphone.

It’ll have multiple glitches such as irregular display of content, missing action tabs, improper functioning and so on. This will put a negative impression on your guests and hamper your booking flow.

A website optimised for mobile will be convenient to use, easy to navigate through and achieve its purpose of contribution in direct reservation.

4. Integrate with booking engine

What’s the point of having a website that can’t assist you with the bookings? 

Let’s say a guest visits your website and is interested to make a reservation at your property. He searches for a “Book Now” widget but is unable to find one. 

So eventually, he’ll visit any OTA, search for your property, and book a room from there. You end up giving a huge TAC (Travel Agent Commission) from your room revenue. This could’ve been avoided. 

Installation of a booking engine is a MUST. It will help in channelising your revenue flow by increasing your hotel website’s conversion rate.

5. Enable review widget

A review widget is a beneficial tool for hotels. It helps them in showcasing their positive feedback to guests.

Rather than searching for them on other pages, guests will find them on your website itself. You know that reviews do impact guests’ booking decisions.

You can opt for the TripAdvisor review widget. Most hotels prefer going with that. 

Just one or two reviews won’t help, it’s important that you collect enough reviews to promote them correctly on all the channels.

Having a review widget without enough reviews is similar to owning a hotel with zero guests.

6. Use chatbots

What if a visitor on your website has any query? Obviously, he would try to connect with you. But, you might not be available at all times. So, for such scenarios having a chatbot facility available on your website can assist them round the clock. 

It’ll enable you to capture all such leads and assist your guests with their inquiries. Nowadays, artificial intelligence-based virtual assistance guides visitors to book the hotel from the website itself.

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas introduced to its guests “Rose – Digital Concierge”. It is an SMS chatbot developed by R/GA, a known technological firm based out in the USA. As per the testimonial shared by the President of ‘The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’,

[Rose’s] playful personality has wooed hotel guests who booked directly into spending 37% more than guests who do not engage with her.

So you see, how having a chatbot installed can pave a way to boost hotel website conversion rate.

7. Develop quality content

Invest in better content. It could be anything from your hotel’s about us section to the description of rooms. Remember, if the content is not written well, it won’t have an essential impact on your guests.

Your content is not only responsible for convincing guests, but it also affects your SEO as it generates traffic for your website. 

Poor quality of content will have flaws such as lack of keywords, readability issues, unclear presentation of details and so on. Get your content written by any professional, as it provides better visibility which directly affects your revenue generation via the website.

Another thing you can do is:

Invest in blogs

I know, it may sound like a cliched thing, but yes blogs are a must-have on your website. I’m not asking you to go gaga over them. Just one blog per week would do good. 

There’s no such limitation to the topics. You can choose whatever subject you like such as local delicacies, famous sightseeings in your area or an event happening in your hotel and many more. 

Before publishing, check if it’s optimised for SEO. You can also put some images and if possible try interlinking them with your website.

8. Call to action on each page

In the hospitality industry, websites are a source of direct bookings. The ‘call to book’ option should always be available on the websites for this.

But having it just on a single page is not enough. Keep a check that all the pages highlighting your hotel’s facilities, room details and services should have this CTA (call to action) button enabled. 

Also, see if the landing page is accurately mapped with the link and is working properly. You never know what will trigger guests’ decision, be it any specific facility your hotel offers or the quality of room in the pictures. 

If focused on this aspect, it’ll help you to boost the hotel website conversion rate.

9. Optimise page loading speed

Nothing is as bad as a slow loading website. If your website’s page loading time is not up to the mark, it’ll not only hamper your guests’ experience but will also drop your search results ranking.

Google has certain algorithms for ranking web pages, and the loading speed is among them. Thus, do keep an eye on the loading speed of your page. If it’s not idle then consider this factor during the hotel website optimisation.

Conclusion

Having a website is not a big deal. But having a result-delivering website is important. For a hotel, it is responsible for making and breaking its image. 

It facilitates bookings as well as attracts your potential guests. It is better to opt for your hotel website optimisation for conversions. And if you’ve not started it doing it now, you know the repercussions.

The post 9 Tricks to Increase Direct Bookings Through Hotel Website Optimisation appeared first on eZee Absolute.

The travel industry, which came to a standstill, is opening up. But this time, things are different. The travellers would prefer brands over any local service provider. Because, they find brands trustworthy. And a critical need for a company to become a brand is to have a full fledged website. But, our experience says that hospitality businesses do NOT even consider importance of brand website, and avoid having it.

To be honest, I’d skip the thought of visiting a hotel or restaurant that fails to have an online presence. It’s a deal breaker for me. I am always eager to know everything about the place I’m staying or eating at, and a website helps me with it. 

This happens with the majority of travellers across the globe. 

70% of guests say they rely on website images.

Suffice to say, importance of brand website is undeniable to get guests at your doorstep. 

But now you’ll ask, what exactly is a brand website? What is the importance of brand website? I am covering it all in this blog. 

What is a brand website in the hospitality industry?

To define in layman terms,

A brand website is a collection of web pages helping you to create a unique identity of your business and share your brand story to your guests and readers. It assists you in connecting with your audience at a deeper level.

You’d be thinking, I already have a Google listing, my hospitality business is listed on all web portals, then why should I invest in a website? 

Let me answer that for you,

Why should hospitality businesses have a brand website?

If we consider the importance of brand website, you will find a plethora of reasons to have one. However, I’ll give you the 6 best reasons which will compel you to have one today, or rather, I am giving you 6 compelling benefits of a brand website.

1. Creates Trust Factor with Reliable Information

As I shared earlier, I don’t prefer to book a hotel without a website. Having a website gives credibility to the guest about your hospitality business. Let me explain this with a suitable example. 

Say, you are interviewing candidates for the position of General Manager. Now, would you just hire anyone based on their resume or appearance?

You won't. Right? Instead, you would check the portfolio, LinkedIn profile, skills, and recommendations to choose the right candidate.

Similarly, having a brand website is like creating your hotel or restaurant’s portfolio on the World Wide Web. It helps customers access the information they can rely on.

 Simply put, a website is a digital representation of your business. 

Restaurants on the other hand, have unique benefits of having a brand website. There is a well-known saying among chefs,

You eat with your eyes first. 

So, adding pictures of tantalizing food dishes on your website is an additional benefit. These pictures will make your customers decide their orders faster.  

Studies say that,

Millennials prefer to book hotels via travel agencies, but 52% browse the hotel’s website for more information.

Skift

It conveys that travellers do search for information about your property, and a website increases the probability of winning that booking. 

So you see, the benefits of a brand website are endless.

2. Increases Guest Engagement with 24*7 Availability

Ever wondered, why every travel or hospitality website has an inquiry form?
Simple, for travellers to post their queries.

This enables them to generate inquiries, prospective bookings and have a 24*7 availability leading to a better guest engagement.

The hospitality industry is quite dynamic. Every guest has a different question or doubt. Now, it won’t be possible for them to find an answer to those questions on the internet, everytime. So, they fill out an inquiry form. This is most helpful for queries generated when the reservation department is off-duty.

In addition, hotels can display pictures of their property, location, rooms and in-house restaurant to help guests get an idea of what they should expect.

Similarly, for restaurants, listing out an entire digital menu comes in handy. Your customers become aware of your offerings, and they can choose their food accordingly. Be sure to remove unavailable dishes from your website. This helps in avoiding a disappointing situation with customers. Nobody likes the unavailability of cuisine to be the reason for their order getting cancelled or replaced.

Businesses these days, use website chatbots to increase conversions. These chatbots capture the contact details of the visitor, and guide them to make a booking on the website. But the fun fact is, you are getting bookings without even engaging in these scenarios.

3. Encourages Guests To Book Directly with You

Here’s an interesting incident that happened with me. I went for a holiday in the mountains last year and booked my stay from a known OTA. In the evening, the hotel owner was enquiring about our booking details. I was shocked when he informed me about the offer running on his website. I could have saved 1000 bucks if I had booked from the hotel’s website. Since then, I’ve started checking for ongoing offers on the hotel’s website as well.

The point here is, hotels and restaurants these days are trying to list themselves on every booking channel. However, most of them neglect the idea of routing these bookings via their website. 

As per the report published by Skift,

More global millennial respondents said they use general travel sites (60%) for hotel bookings than U.S. millennials and 31% said they use hotels’ websites.

Skift

It’s no secret that every platform charges a certain amount for each booking provided to hotels. You can try to reroute some of them via your website. Websites these days have a booking engine and channel manager integrated with them. 

On the other hand, the in-house dining restaurants have their restaurant POS integrated with their website. It helps the guests to reserve a table with no hassle. If your restaurant is hosting an event, you can have that promoted and booked via the website as well.

Once you’ve got a fully functional website, you can run promotions such as weekend discounts, festival special offers, early bird concessions and many more on your website. This will encourage your guests to book with you directly or order their next meal from your eatery.

4. Increases Visibility and Brand Recognition

If I say ”Best Hotel / Restaurant in India”, the very first thing that would come to your mind would be a luxury hotel chain or a big restaurant brand. It could be Marriott, Oberoi, Taj, IHG, McDonalds, Starbucks and so on. 

But these companies didn’t become a brand overnight. It was a journey of decades. So how did they achieve this?

They created a brand with ultimate guest experience, invested abundant money and efforts, and grew gradually. Guests promoted them, initially offline and now online. Soon they became talk of the town. And the rest is history. 

For that reason, a brand website will speak your story and be a building block of your branding and marketing strategies. If done correctly, implementing the right hotel digital marketing strategies for your property’s website will help you in getting increased visibility. It means that you can be in the top search results by performing good SEO. And as simple calculation goes, appearing in top results will positively impact your business.

If you are stressed about the expenses, don’t be! A website is lighter on the pocket than social media marketing.

5. Earns you High ROI

As a hospitality business owner, you are quite cautious with your expenses. We all know, a major chunk of your revenue gets exhausted in marketing and promotions. Travel agent commission, running specific promotions on OTAs, maintaining social media pages are to name a few. 

But do you know, having a website costs way less than other online promotional activities? Yes, it is true. 

However, there is one biggest myth about websites, that creating a website is costly. In reality, it is not. 

Website builders, such as eZee Panorama help you create your website with zero experience and technical know-how. 

Once made, all you’ve to do is keep updating it with content. This could include travel blogs, articles on local attractions, new cuisines you are trying, guest testimonials, highlights of your property, and so on.

A website helps hotels in generating direct bookings. There are nominal payment gateway charges levied for every booking made on your website. But it’s a win-win situation. It still saves you from paying a hefty commission to travel sites. 

And, if your restaurant has an option of home delivery, having a website is a must for you. Like hotels, you also can avoid the charges levied by food delivery apps to some extent. And, utilize it to provide your customers with exclusive offers.

6. Increases your Guest Influx

Regardless of direct bookings or not, a brand website becomes the foundation of each of your bookings. Your guests identify and connect with you through your website and the information you share on it. 

After this pandemic, many hospitality businesses have got themselves certified for ‘Best Safety’. Highlight your safety measures in a video and share it on your website. It would create faith amongst your guests to place an order. 

Suffice to say, a website improves your guest influx by a large extent. 

I am sure, the reasons I gave establish enough importance of brand website.

In conclusion

I would say that not having a brand website is like having all ingredients of the recipe, but no fire to cook. The services and facilities of your hotel are the ingredients. A website is a fire, it helps spread the aroma of your qualities among people. 

The ones attracted to it will be your potential guests. All you need to do is, take a leap of faith and ignite a spark to light that fire.

The post Importance of Brand Website: 6 Undeniable Reasons for Hotels & Restaurants to Get it appeared first on eZee Absolute.