Time to Improve your Hotel Website, ready for 2023

Download our five ways to improve your hotel website PDF to get you started. Now is the perfect time to get your Hotel Website ready for 2023. With the Festive Season done, and the quiet winter months ahead. Now is the perfect time to look over that neglected website and marketing plan.

Tip 1. Clearly describe how you help…

You have anywhere between 5 seconds and 15 seconds to convince your reader that they should stay on your site and read on (though people don’t actually read all much!) Web surfers are skimmers. They are overwhelmed with content and often end up skimming sites, searching for the content they are looking for. If you are not clear in your opening description that sits above the fold (What you can see when the website loads without scrolling down) you are losing customers. Above the fold, have one clear message describing what your service is and how you can help. Don’t make it cryptic. Be specific and clear.

Tip 2. Content in simple bite sized chunks.
Skim Readers need a hook.

A huge block of text (like this one) is not a hook. It’s a turn-off. You keep readers interested by keeping content short and easy to read. To start, you need to reel your reader in by telling them about the problem you are solving for your customer… Customers are not interested in your back story (well, not yet, anyway). They want to know if you understand the problem they are seeking the solution for. Stick to the main problem your service solves. Listing endless problems you only create noise and clutter on your site. Only once you define the problem should you go on to explain how your service helps with that problem.

Tip 3. An Email Capture Tool

Another way to improve your hotel website is that no site should be without a tool to capture a reader’s email address. The most effective and simplest way to do this by offering a downloadable guide (Did it work?), a video lesson or other content of value that a reader will exchange for an email address. Without one, you may make it to a reader’s short list; with the content on your site, you may be saved on a favourites tab somewhere, but if your reader leaves you their email address, you have the most effective way of keeping your service front of mind!

Tip 4. A Call to Action Button

If you just leave the reader to contact you by email, with no clear structure on what to ask for, or just leave your number on your site for them to call you on. They simply won’t. You need a Call to Action button; in fact, several all over your website. There should be one in the top right-hand corner of your page and repeatedly in the middle of your page as scroll down. If it links to a contact form, that needs structure to it, so your reader doesn’t have to think too hard to fill it in.

Give your reader’s brain too much to do, and your reader will defer you to the ‘To-do, Later’ (or never) list.

(Other Calls To Actions are also available.)

Tip 5. Customer Testimonials

Nothing is as powerful in converting your readers to customers as the testimonials and referrals from your other customers. This makes a huge difference in improving your hotel website. These referrals build trust with your visitor that you, your service or your product are a credible person to do business with. Without customer testimonials, your reader needs to take a huge leap of faith; for many, it’s simply too far.

If your looking for more tips, then check out this blog post: Five Tips for your Hospitality Marketing Plan