The importance of having a visually appealing, easy to navigate hotel website cannot be understated. Not only is this the first impression being given to potential guests, but the ability to capture bookings directly from your website can drive more sales and ultimately, increase revenue for your property.
The investment spent in creating a website that is both optimized and well-designed will be a catalyst for your hotel, while keeping guests engaged will increase the likelihood they will book on your website as opposed to the OTA’s. With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the ways your hotel’s website can help increase conversions and improve your bottom line.
Increase Direct Bookings
With the increased costs associated with new cleanliness standards and protocols as a result of the Coronavirus, hotels are looking for ways to reduce expenses wherever possible. While listing your hotel on the OTA’s is a good marketing strategy, the fact of the matter is that your hotel is still leaving money on the table for each booking made through those websites.
With over half of all visitors who have viewed your hotel on an OTA likely to visit your hotel website directly, there is ample opportunity for your property to capitalize. In addition, websites that are mobile optimized also have a higher likelihood of leading to a conversion, as 52% of all global web traffic is now mobile.
Combined with easy-to-use hotel CRS software, developing an eye-catching website that is both fully functional and easy to navigate will go a long way to increasing direct bookings, which in turn will help your hotel capture valuable dollars given to the OTA’s.
Discounts & Special Offers
When visitors do reach your website, your hotel has the ability to market discounts and special offers to help increase the chances they will book direct. With a visually appealing website already in place, your hotel will already have a leg up on the competition; however, this does not mean the visitor will complete a booking on your website.
To take full advantage, one strategy is to provide the visitor with an incentive to book directly on the website. This can be done with in a variety of methods, such as a scrolling bar with an offer included or a pop-up call to action that displays the offer and a direct link to the booking page.
By navigating the guest through the buying journey, the chances of them utilizing the offer and booking directly on the website should increase. While the incentive may cost the hotel money, the offer could be in the way of ‘money-off discounts’ that are tied into other value-added services your hotel provides, which could help further increase revenue per guest as well.
Integrated Booking Engine
When a new website is being created, choosing the right booking engine can be one of the biggest decisions during this process. Often, this can be determined by discussing options with your property management software vendor.
Rather than selecting a completely different software, the best and most cost effective way to add a booking engine is to go through your hotel management software provider. The reasoning behind this is that the booking engine will already be directly integrated, which creates a seamless flow of information and will easily integrate with your hotel’s website. In addition, all bookings will directly sync into the property management system, allowing for real-time information to be displayed.
Another benefit is that hotel software vendors typically deal with the top booking engine providers in the market, who are consistently enhancing and improving their software, which stands to benefit the property as well. By reducing the commission per transaction to the OTA’s and incorporating an integrated booking engine, your hotel can earn more per direct reservation right from your website.
Interested in enhancing your hotel’s website and increasing direct bookings? Visit our Chorum Website Builder page to learn more about how we can create your new website specifically designed for the hospitality industry. Enhance your brand and boost conversions with Chorum Website Builder!
Very glad to see the Chorum website builder! It’s a great tool for using a hospitality tech platform to drive business sales and reservations with real integrated components. Nice job!