HOW TO BOOST TRAFFIC TO YOUR HOTEL WEBSITE AND INCREASE BOOKINGS

So you have a website for your hotel, but you don’t get many people visiting it or converting into bookings? In 2022 having a website online and sitting back and waiting for customers to just come and find you, just isn’t going to cut it! You have to be proactive with a marketing strategy.

Your own website is the best way to leverage the most profits, with that in mind before you start attracting people to it, you need to ensure that both the website navigation is seamless as well as the booking process. Afterall, a customer doesn’t want to visit a website, where they can’t find what they are looking for, the links don’t work, or pages take too long to load. In this day and age, your website has to be on point. And with over 70% of travellers researching hotels and travel via their smartphone, it’s even more important to ensure your website is mobile friendly.

A website that is being viewed on a smartphone, should load in 3 seconds or less. Make sure all the programmes and software that your website uses for display and functionality are smartphone and tablet compatible afterall, there is nothing worse than a broken looking site that customers are trying to use. With mobile in mind, ensure that all your links are easy to use on a small screen with a finger, everybody hates when you click on a small link and something else opens because your finger was half over something else too.

Ensure your website has great content on there, why not add the following too, hotel blog posts, information of local things to do in the local area, virtual tour of the hotel, photogallery or a video gallery

So now you have improved your website content, checked that it all works as it should, it’s now important to work on your online reviews. What do your previous guests really say about you? Don’t be afraid to look at your online reviews and see what you need to do to address any negative reviews you may have.

According to TrustYou and TripAdvisor, research shows that 96% consider reviews important when researching a hotel. 79% will read between 6 and 12 reviews before booking and 88% of travellers filter out hotels that have less than a 3 star review rating.

By ignoring your negative online reviews, you will find it harder to keep attracting customers online. Make it a company policy that every review you get, the good, the bad and the ugly, you respond to it! This publicly shows everyone you care about your guests’ experience at your hotel.

Remember each time a customer checks out of your hotel to ask them if they have had a great stay? If they say Yes! Then ask them if they would mind leaving a review online! This will help you create positive online reviews. People who have great experiences seldom shout about it online, compared to guests you have a bad experience and can’t wait to shout about their experiences from the rooftops!

So now you have sorted your online reviews out, now you need to look at your social media presence. How engaging is your content? Don’t obsess over how many followers you have, or don’t have! Concentrate on engaging content. Does anyone tap the ‘like’ on your content? Is anyone retweeting/sharing and/or commenting on your posts?……No? Then you need to work on your content. Also remember to engage with other users, post a comment to someone else’s post, build a rapport with others. With social media you get more engagement, if you ask questions for example;

Instead of “ Book a room from just £89 per night “ try “Are you looking to celebrate a special occasion? Check out our fantastic rooms from just £89 per night available at www.myhotel.com “ Also remember to include an image that draws the audience in!

If you haven’t done so already, make you have an email list of your guests who you can keep promoting your hotel too. An effective email marketing list is worth it’s weight in gold and will drive bookings to your website. Remember though to ensure the individual gives you permission to contact them and ensure you follow all GDPR rules in regards to this.

If you haven’t done so already, have a think about your business and how you interact with your customers another good way to see the experience your customers get, is to go undercover in your business! Yes, Mystery Shopping services is a great way to find any issues customers have to deal with when engaging with your business. You can no longer hide away from this.