in 2021, 8 out of every 10 travel-related bookings were completed through a website or an app. and 9 out of every 10 tourists wish for a personalized web experience when booking a hotel
if you already own a hotel or you want to join the hospitality business, the above stats are highly effective for you.
What significance can you emanate from the above data? Well, there are two inescapable insights for you to draw.
- Your hotel requires a website developed for it.
- The website has to be developed upholding the needs of your potential consumer group in mind.
But how can you have such a site developed for your hotel?
If you go to an agency, what do you describe them? What features should there be on your hotel website? In this conversation, we are going to address these in detail.
Must-have features for best hotel websites
let us disclose to you some compulsory features a brilliant hotel website must-have.
1. Stunning visuals
All the hotel websites must be graphically rich with videos, images, animations, and other content that capture the attention of the visitors.
Analyses have found that incorporating high-quality graphical content boosts the possibilities of booking by 225%. This data reveals that the “seeing is believing” principle functions absolutely in the hotel industry.
Here we can notice that Magic Castle Hotel in Los Angeles ranked number one on TripAdvisor. It has a big number of images(716 to be accurate) on the platform. These many images would keep visitors engaged for a more extended period and ultimately convert.
2. Easy to find CTAs
Call to Action or CTA is a button that allows the visitors to take a straightforward action. For a hotel website, these activities could be “Book Now”, “Have a virtual tour” etc.
According to our experience, easy-to-find CTAs are the most common web design element not just for superior hotel websites but any conversion-focused website.
A website visitor with a booking purpose must discover it easier to check hotel availability and make a booking.
3. Implementing the UX best practices
Creating a hotel website that pushes sufficiently traffic is crucial. Remember, a website functions just like a salesperson for your hotel.
The website of your hotel would need to provide an unforgettable and pleasurable user experience to convert the traffic. Such an experience is another method to stand out among competitors in the industry.
One of the most crucial aspects of a hotel website is to be mobile-friendly. It is discovered that 70% of last-minute hotel bookings are accomplished via mobile devices, and the hotel app has an effective influence on buying judgment.
Let’s have a look at the following graph that compares average traffic sources for hotel websites.
4. Easy to navigate
Visitors are not likely to waste their precious time on your website unreasonably. So web design of a hotel site must be done in a way that the visitors find it more comfortable to navigate.
This way, the overall session time of the website will grow, and the bounce rate will drop significantly.
Here is an excellent example of an easy-to-navigate hotel website:
5. Visible and clear marketing plan
The hotel and Hospitality industry usually offers discounts and package deals throughout the year.
Incorporate these offers into the website in a way that it gets the required attention of the visitors. Create the offers lucrative and transparent to the audience so that they don’t find the announcement unclear.
6. Review of former guests
Most superior hotel websites contain reviews from former guests. These act as social proof and help site visitors make judgments with comfort.
7. Clear address and location information
Including a location on a website is a must for hotels. It helps the brand appear trustworthy to its visitors.
For the tourists, it is important to know. They usually tend to book a hotel that is closer to all the tourist attractions. It saves them time and travel costs.
Having location data is mainly important when there are chains of hotels in various locations.
For example, Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, a Swiss chain of hotels clearly displays its 37 branches in 17 countries on the website.
8. Easy contact options
The comfort of reaching a hotel via their website helps a brand bond with prospects quickly.
Genuine methods of contact can be to put the business phone on the website with a direct call option (people would be able to click on the number and place a call).
Another trendy option is to place the live-chat option powered by a chatbot.
Wrapping Up
In the hotel business, owning an interactive and adequately functional website is important. This is where you get to show your hotel in the best light possible.
Your website has to be inviting enough to intrigue the minds of the. Having effective visual elements, outstanding copy, and proper positioning of CTAs can raise the booking possibility of the website significantly.
