Hotel website optimization priorities: 43+ questions to ask yourself while designing
by Josiah Mackenzie on August 17, 2010
13 Comments
13 Comments
Redesigning your website? It’s the perfect time to optimize for effectiveness. Here are 43 design questions that will help you create a powerful web presence:
Big questions
- What’s the #1 action we want people to take after viewing this page?
- How can we avoid clutter and focus on this #1 priority?
- Have we developed guest personas to help us decide what types of content to publish?
- Do we understand site visitors don’t care that much about us, but just want their questions answered?
Sales optimization
- Is our telephone number prominently featured at the top of each page?
- Is the booking form on also top of each page?
- Is our offer front and center – extremely clear?
- Do we have a strong call to action on each page?
- Do we have a best rate guarantee button in place?
- Can we create and display some other type of risk-reversal guarantee?
- Is our booking engine completely integrated with the site?
- How can we cross-sell and upsell to maximize revenue?
- Should we setup multiple domains for mini-sites our sales team can use?
- Do we have multiple landing pages planned for our various marketing initiatives?
- Are we creating multiple versions of important webpages so we can run split-tests for optimization?
Page content
- Do we know the most common guest questions, and are we proactively answering them?
- Could we “let them say it for us” by using guest quotes in page headlines and elsewhere?
- Are our pages formatted with the understanding that people won’t read, but scan, the contents?
- How can we feature press coverage or awards?
- How do we plan to keep this site frequently updated with fresh, new content?
- Can we build on a platform such as WordPress that allows us to publish updates ourselves?
Visuals
- Where should we use video or compelling visuals to convey emotion that is hard to show through written words?
- Could we crowdsource photos and other media from our guests?
- Do the people in photos look towards your page copy?
- Do we really need to use flash?
Social integration
- Which social networks do we want to emphasize?
- Can we include a Facebook page widget on the homepage?
- Can we include Facebook Like buttons on each page?
- Could we include live Twitter updates?
- Should we put a “retweet this” button on select pages?
- Could we make guest feedback and testimonials more credible by posting hand-written notes?
- Could we include YouTube videos or Flickr photos taken by guests?
Search optimization
- Have we created a list of keywords important for our hotel?
- Have we mapped one keyword phrase to each page on the site?
- Is this keyword phrase prominently placed throughout each page?
Service
- Is it very easy to contact us? Do we provide multiple communications channels?
- Are our email contact forms short and simple?
- Could we provide contact info for each manager at the hotel?
- Should we offer live chat support?
- How will we use Google maps to provide custom directions (and even activity recommendations)?
- Should we provide support for multiple languages?
- Should we go beyond translation to offer localized (unique) content for each market we serve?
- Are we providing a mobile-friendly version of the website?
This checklist is from the Insider’s Circle library. If you want Josiah on your team as an unbiased advisor to help you through a website re-design – or to work on any other part of your digital marketing program – contact us today.
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Article by Josiah Mackenzie // August 17, 2010
Josiah helps hospitality organizations use technology and the social web to provide better service and generate more profits.
+1 347 422 6784
Hi Josiah.
Really great questions here to ask yourself for either optimizing your Hotel website or blog.
One idea or tip here for you, since you have bigger audience then I do. What about starting a blog series ’31 Days To Build A Better Hotel Website/Blog’.
Series like this is really been pulled of with great success for bloggers. I did participate in Darren Rowse’ course which is the origin behind the ’31 Days To..’ and I have his workbook.
And the programs I participated in had requirements like sign up through email. Plus then you get some great input through comments. And maybe some new connections also here.
There are other ideas also that can come out from this, its all about our imagination and creativity.
Cheers.. Are
Hi friend . I agree with u . Thank you so much, nice info for me.It’s more interesting.
Great questions, J — I know you save your most useful, actionable content for the Insider’s Circle, but it’s so fun to see it out in the open every once in a while
Localization is an interesting idea. I’d love to see and hear about a successful example of that, online … *hint hint*, readers
Also, “Do the people in photos look towards your page copy?”
I’m going to notice that everywhere, now!
Lots of good tips here.
For me it’s organizing the information on the page so that it is easy for potential hotel customers to quickly find out what they need is the key.
The one thing all hoteliers should be especially concerned about with their SEO, is that they totally overlook ORB – on-line reputation building and management. SEO will get them only so far, but ORB takes them vastly farther, while at the same time policing their reputation overall. All it takes is one bad review on a major website to crush business during certain periods, and few have any idea how to repair such damage. Every hotel should have a reputation building in their pocket, that tailors a ORB campaign specifically for each client. But beware, there are plenty of overpriced services out there. The average hotel should never have to pay more than about $2k per month for such services. After all they’ve built the business, but keeping their Perfect Reputations is as important as a great rate or service!
I totally agree with Katie here…this stuff is so precious, it’s a wonder you let it seep out of the Insider Circle
Unfortunately, I only tick one of the boxes (Can we build on a platform such as WordPress that allows us to publish updates ourselves?).
But I shall not rest until I can honestly answer the other 42…
I’ll keep you updated…
Cheers
Mihir
J + K
How did I fare ?
http://mitaroygoahotel.com/2010/08/23/the-hotel-website-optimization-test/
Cheers
M
This is great stuff, Josiah. As usual you’ve covered all the bases and demonstrated that you really get the hotel biz. Thanks for sharing, you rock
Thank you very much, Daniel!
Thanks very much for your support, Daniel!
Good tips. I think there are more questions than answers though. I’ve been working and consulting for some 300 hotels starting with their websites and then onto social media, pay per click campaigns etc. There are not too many points that make a hotel website successful:
1. Large visuals
2. Nailing what’s special about that hotel and placing that prominently on the home page.
3. Keeping text to the necessities, not a bunch of waffle about the hotel but facts that the guests will want to read to know what is available in the room.
What I’ve often found out on hotel marketing and website design is that hotel owners want to flatter their own ego with their website and forget that they are not the public.
BRILLIANT MARTIN, ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT !
I think long Flash intros and fancy websites are the direct result of hotel owners wanting to flatter their own egos, instead of providing what is of essence – INFORMATION.
I would like to simplify your points even further:
The 3 points that make a hotel website successful are:
1. Pictures
2. USP
3. INFORMATION
That’s it !
Cheers
Mihir
Good presentation of this blog, uses more function with good linking for the viewers. Information are supportable for the article. Best luck for the next article.Thanks