subject: How To Successfully Use The Internet To Increase Hotel And Guest House Business [print this page] Many hotels have websitesMany hotels have websites. Most of them do not offer maximum return on investment. Here we look at some key improvement areas, offered by a company that has a wealth of experience in this arena.
1. A good design.
Within the first few seconds of a visit to your website you need to create a great impression. Otherwise the visitor will click away which is known as bounce rate. Good quality photographs and clean easy navigation are imperative.
2. Booking System.
A good hotel website will bring increased occupancy if you give the user access to a real time online booking system. Rescources are wasted if a visitor comes to your website ready to buy your services but is unable to. If they are overseas or wish to book during unsociable hours then they will need to be able to book online.
3. Links to review sites.
This can be scary for any hotel proprietor as it is likely that at some stage you will get a negative comment. Fear not. One hundred per cent positive reviews looks very false.
According to Trip Adviser online, 87 per cent of users researching hotel accommodation will read reviews on a hotel or restaurant. Links to these reviews should be posted or embedded into your website.
4. Galleries and Virtual Tours.
A strategically placed gallery of photographs will help sell the hotel to visitors to the website. If a hotel is situated in an pleasant area with amazing views and beautiful scenery then sell these features by showing virtual tours.
This will give potential customers an accurate and interactive view of what the hotel has to offer. As part of a social media drive you would allow customers to upload their own images to a page on social sites such as facebook.
5.Contact Details.
Confirm any bookings made online by telephone or SMS and keep a database of customers and people who have made enquiries for future marketing campaigns.
Hotel bookings are the number one sale on the internet. If you have a website and your occupancy is low then you should consider heeding the tips here.
