Maximise your exposure with your online marketing campaigns for a minimum outlay.

In part one of our Online Marketing on a Shoestring Budget series we touched on five economical strategies for all types of hotels from small establishments to global chains to encourage repeat visits, increase occupancy rates and boost bookings and online revenue. Cheap doesn’t have to mean cheap and nasty – here are just five more ways you can enhance your bottom line in part two of our article.

Online reputation management

According to the OTX (now called Ipsos) – “The Traveler’s Road to Decision” study done on behalf of Google, 41% of people surveyed make leisure travel plans and 50% make business travel plans according to the reviews they read. There are many free and premium tools available for online reputation management (ORM). Google Alerts is a great starting point for small hotels and bed and breakfasts.

Online marketing tip: With so many travellers basing their travel decisions on reviews, it’s critical that a hotel knows what is being said about it online and how to respond to negative and positive reviews.

Google Places Pages

Just by optimising your Google Places Page will put you several steps in front of the competition who may not even be aware of what a Google Place Page is. With the introduction of Place Search late last year Google Place Pages started to blend with organic listings in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), making hotel SEO even more significant for internet marketing teams to reach the local market.

Online marketing tip: Once you have claimed your page, you can add new videos and images, seasonal menus, special offers and deals and so forth to optimise it.

Social Media

Social media marketing is another way that small online marketing teams can capitalise on resources without any initial outlay. Consumer-facing social media networks relevant to the hotel and tourism industry include Twitter, Facebook, foursquare, Google+ Business Pages and so forth. You can build relationships with new and existing customers, enhance brand awareness and drive traffic to your main sales funnel: your hotel website.

Online marketing tip: You can post videos and images of your hotel, offer special deals, stimulate discussions and respond to feedback with the end goal to improve traffic to your website and increase your conversion rate – read our article on Hotel Website Designers about Facebook – Hotel Marketing Tips.

Article marketing

Article marketing is another free online marketing tool you can use in several different ways. By syndicating articles or writing guest posts on respected industry blogs, you can position your hotel staff as industry experts and shape your online reputation as well as drive pre-qualified traffic to your site. As a link building activity you can boost the Search Engine visibility by including a link to your website when you post articles.

Online marketing tip: Choose directories or industry blogs for article submission very wisely. The websites need to be quality, credible and trustworthy as well as relevant to the hotel and tourism industry.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is one of the most popular analytics and free online marketing tools readily available on the internet. You can use these reports to tweak your marketing strategies and plan your next promotional campaign as well as see how people are using your site and for how long. You can also monitor and assess your keyword strategy and find out who are the highest referrers of traffic to your hotel website.

Online marketing tip: You can set up a filter so Google knows not to include traffic from your company network, your SEO company or other affiliated sites so they do not skew your research data.

This is part two in our Online Marketing on a Shoestring Budget series. These marketing ideas may be a cost to a hotel in terms of time and resources but if you’re willing to put in the hard work, they can bring huge rewards to a small to medium sized establishment. Contact our consultants at Hotel Internet Marketing to help you put together a comprehensive online marketing strategy to increase your hotel occupancy rate and boost conversions.

Make your hotel online marketing dollars stretch even further with these five almost free promotional ideas.

Whether you’re running a small bed and breakfast or boutique hotel or managing a chain of international hotels, there are budget-friendly online marketing strategies that you can employ to build your brand image, drive traffic to your website, improve your hotel vacancy rate and boost your revenue. In part one of our two-part series, we show you five ways you can achieve this without making a huge dent in the marketing budget.

Hotel SEO

As more travellers look to the internet to research and book accommodation, it is critical for a hotel’s financial viability to have high search engine visibility. Some smaller hotels are not ranking highly even for their own business name let alone relevant keywords for their property. You may incur the initial cost of an SEO company but in contrast to pay-per-click advertising, you can index your website on a Search Engine for free.

Online marketing tip: Educate yourself on the SEO process by reading SEO blogs to get helpful tips and advice so you can work confidently with your website optimisation and maximise your return on investment.

Off – page profile (link building and citations)

An important part of Search Engine Optimisation is your off page profile. When you have citations or back links from quality and relevant websites, this is seen as a validation by Search Engines that your site is a vital part of the online community. Building your off-page profile as part of your daily tasks is a free online marketing activity that can boost your Search Engine visibility significantly.

Online marketing tip: By putting aside half an hour per day, you can work on your citation or link building activities and supplement the work being done by your SEO company or in-house consultant (if applicable).

Special deals and offers

For a lot of properties hotel bookings are affected by seasonality and it is not always easy to maintain occupancy rates all-year around. However one way to try and increase vacancy rates during the off and on-peak season is by offering special hotel deals. You can create packages based on occasions such as Valentine’s Day, events such as movie launches, different seasons, indulgence packages and so on – the possibilities are endless.

Online marketing tip: To find out more about the types of specials and deals you can offer, read our Hotel Online Marketing – Creative Package Ideas article on our Hotel Website Designer website.

VIP memberships

A large part of an online marketing team’s activities is to focus on return visitors and increasing their retention rate. Creating VIP membership programs is a great way to encourage visitors to re-book your hotel. You can ask travellers to pay a nominal fee or run these programs for free. Separate guests into different categories such as business and leisure travellers and then individuals, families and couples for more targeted VIP campaigns.

Online marketing tip: Promote your VIP memberships on all your online properties including your homepage, email newsletters, social media pages, banner advertising and so forth to integrate your marketing campaigns and maximise exposure.

Video Search Engine Optimisation (VSEO)

If your sales team has existing hotel video content available, then for no additional cost you can use this as part of your VSEO campaigns to ramp up your online marketing campaigns. Firstly you need to decide on your strategy – you can host videos on your website and drive traffic directly to your site or upload them to a video hosting channel like YouTube to receive a backlink to your site and increase your Search Engine ranking.

Online marketing tip: Learn more on video search engine optimisation in our article Steps to Creating Hotel Video Content for Marketing on the Hotel Website Designer’s blog.

This is just part one in our Online Marketing on a Shoestring Budget two-part series detailing just a few ways a creative and inspired internet marketing team can promote their hotel on a limited budget. Whether you are running a boutique hotel or managing a large hotel chain, our consultants at Hotel Internet Marketing can help you plan your online marketing strategy from the initial design to the Search Engine Optimisation of your website.

Wishing you happy returns and even happier online returns with these internet marketing resolutions for 2012.

As your hotel internet marketing team looks ahead to 2012 it’s time to not only reflect on past successes and past failures but to also start planning for next year – there is always room for improvement. With the New Year approaching, you are also probably deciding where you will allocate your marketing budget, time and resources. Here are a few suggestions to enhance five key elements of your online marketing campaigns.

Hotel website design

Is 2012 the year you consider a new hotel website design? Hotel websites typically should be redesigned every four to five years to keep up with current market trends. The HeBS Digital 5th Annual Benchmark Survey on Hotel Digital Marketing Budget Planning and Best Practices reveals that hoteliers responded that 25.6% of business is generated from their hotel website. Here are just some of the website design strategies you an focus on:

• Redesign your website to improve conversion rates.
• Make your website design look more trustworthy.
• Design your website with mobiles and other portable devices in mind.
• Test your landing pages and redesign if necessary.
• Evaluate your site’s page speed.
• Add an online booking system (if it is not already incorporated into your design).

Hotel SEO

Search Engine Optimisation is always a priority for hotels but in 2012 this might be the time to put a renewed focus in your hotel SEO efforts. In the survey*, hoteliers believe that website optimisation produces the highest return on investment (ROI) with social media following closely behind. Following are some elements of your online marketing campaigns that you can focus on:

• Ensure your site is following SEO best practices.
• Concentrate on your link building campaigns.
• Proactively look for opportunities to build citations.
• Create keyword-rich content on your website.
• Put an emphasis firmly on mobile SEO and video SEO (see below).
• Optimise your Google Places Page.

Social media marketing

2012 is the year that you could put a strategic spin on your social media marketing campaigns rather than updating your accounts in an ad hoc manner. Even though hoteliers believed that search engine optimisation produced the highest ROI, social media introduced as its own category this year, was not far behind at 43%*. Strategies you can address in your internet marketing planning are the following:

• Create a social media strategy.
• Put together a social media policy.
• Define social media goals.
• Devise an online reputation management strategy.
• Start a hotel blog.
• Put together a calendar of content.

Hotel video content

Hotels can drive targeted and quality traffic to their websites and increase bookings through creating interesting and engaging hotel video content . 37.5% of hoteliers surveyed said that they have gone social and would create and post videos on YouTube as part of their online marketing strategy in 2011, interestingly down from 46.5% in 2010*. Here are ways you can enhance your VSEO efforts:

• Creating a content calendar of rich video content.
• Optimise videos – part of hotel VSEO.
• Promote hotel videos through traditional and non-traditional marketing channels.
• Analyse your video statistics.
• Showcase events.

Integrated internet marketing campaigns

2012 will see multi-channel marketing become the norm and the foundation for clever direct online channel planning. With an integrated marketing strategy all your online tools work together to create a synergy and cumulative effect. Branding your hotel website is essential to build credibility and trust and people want to book hotels they trust. Here are strategies to develop a cohesive online marketing campaign:

• Create clear branding goals and a consistent brand message.
• Develop uniform visual branding.
• Build a distinctive brand personality and identity.
• Integrate social media into your website design.
• Analyse your Google Analytics to tweak your internet marketing campaigns .

The survey revealed hoteliers increased their website re-design/design (20.2%) and website optimisation (13.7%) budgets this year and showed a shift from offline marketing to online marketing*. If you are starting to plan for 2012 and would like more information about website design, hotel SEO, social media marketing or any other internet marketing strategies, please contact the team at Hotel Website Designers.

* 5th Annual Benchmark Survey on Hotel Digital Marketing Budget Planning and Best Practices

Don’t underestimate the power of a content management system (CMS) in the role of hotel SEO.

Hotel SEO relies heavily on the technical infrastructure of a website with the CMS playing an integral role. Choosing a CMS is something your web developer needs to think about very carefully. It needs to give you the ability to modify your website without needing to call your web developer each and every time. Website CMS’s are not created equally – we show you how to take back control of optimisation of your site.

Title tags, headings and descriptions: Not all CMS will allow you to customise the URL, title tags and meta descriptions on a page per page basis. This is critical to your hotel website’s Search Engine visibility. An ideal CMS should advise you how many characters you need to enter for the title tags and descriptions. Once a title tag is entered, some CMS even do a duplicate check and see if there are any replicated title tags in the system.

URLS: Some CMS may dictate the URL structure of your site and create automatically generated and dynamic URLS like http://www.mywebsite.com.au/articles/thread.php?threadid=8794&sort=date. Take back control of the optimisation of your website and choose a software that will allow you to create custom keyword rich static URLS such as http://www.mywebsite.com.au/articles/hotel-seo.

Body content: Search Engines have a preference for websites that are continually updating their sites with fresh and original content. A Search Engine-friendly CMS allows you to be able to easily add, edit and delete content as you need to. Hotel websites need to update their copy all the time whether you are uploading new seasonal promotions and offers, information about local attractions, media releases and so on.

Anchor text: The anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink eg ‘Search Engine Optimisation’. Search Engines look at the number of quality and authoritative links back to your website as a validation that your site is trustworthy and has high authority. Anchor text should be keyword-rich to boost your Search Engine ranking for that particular keyword or keyword phrase.

Image handling and ALT tags: Hotel websites are usually very image heavy and a component of hotel SEO which is often neglected is image optimisation. Google images is starting to be a huge referrer of traffic so the importance of image SEO cannot be underestimated. Find a CMS that will allow you to easily add keyword-rich ALT tags to images. This is the best way to tell a Search Engine what an image is about.

Custom HTML tags enabling: A Search Engine-friendly CMS should offer the function of putting <hx> tags for headlines and sub headings or “nofollow” tags on links. These features can be built into the menu or be allowed through manual editing of the HTML in a text editor window. Ask your web developer about this functionality for your CMS when you are deciding on a hotel design or redesign.

301 redirects: An SEO-friendly CMS should allow the proper re-direction of content where necessary. A 301 redirect instructs Search Engines that a URL’s name has changed permanently with the link profile. 301’s are essential when new pages are created, content expires or you are creating a whole new website so this is something you should look for when choosing a CMS.

Sitemap generator: An XML sitemap is a map of your site specifically built for Search Engines that lays out every URL of all pages on the website and tell them what pages to crawl. When thinking about choosing a Search Engine-friendly CMS, pick an application that has sitemap support and generates them automatically. Creating an XML site map will help you get the best return on your SEO efforts.

RSS/XML: The ability to add an RSS feed to your website can boost the optimisation of your hotel website whether it’s refreshing content on your website from other sources or it’s feeding of your website content such as special offers, news and updates and so on. Just like HTML web pages, with a SEO friendly CMS, RSS feeds can be optimised to perform better in Search Engine listings so look for an application with this capability.

Adding functionality: Platforms such as WordPress allow you to easily add plugins like the All in One SEO which gives your CMS greater SEO functionality and automatically optimises your WordPress blog for Search Engines. A hotel redesign can be expensive so when you are considering what CMS to use for your site, you should look for a software that has the ability to adapt to the changing needs of your hotel.

Choosing the right CMS is not child’s play but it should be simple and easy to use without needing a degree in computer science. A CMS is one of the most important decisions of your design process and can make or break the Search Engine Optimisation of your website. Contact us to find out more about hotel SEO and how to find a CMS that will enhance the SEO capabilities of your website and grow with your hotel.

Drive the executive dollar further with online marketing campaigns that hit the business brief.

Online marketing teams need to cater specifically to the lucrative business travel segment which equates to trillions of dollars of revenue each year to hotels. Corporate travellers have specific needs to leisure travellers and this should be reflected in your online marketing campaigns. Here are eight ways to enhance your corporate travel marketing programs to attract and retain on the road warriors to your hotel.

Search Engine Optimisation

Some hotels do not rank for their own brand name let alone targeted keywords that are relevant to their business. If this is the case with your establishment, you may want to think about hiring an SEO company. They will help you develop your keyword portfolio, analyse the technical infrastructure of your site, create a link building campaign and optimise landing pages on your site to improve search engine visibility.

Targeted business packages

Executive travellers who are always on the go appreciate services that make their life easier and also make less of a dent in their corporate travel budget. Offer business packages with complementary services such as airport pick up and drop offs, internet access, valet parking, laundry and dry cleaning. It’s the little extras that sometimes make a huge difference. Promote these via the following online marketing tools:

• Optimised landing pages on your website and mentions on your homepage
• Social media networks
• Google Places Page
• Email marketing campaigns
• Pay-per-click advertising
• Executive VIP memberships

Business travellers are usually frequent travellers – reward this loyalty and attract new corporate customers with VIP schemes targeted specifically at this travel category. International hotel chain Crowne Plaza promotes loyalty schemes such as the Priority Club Meeting Rewards which gives discounts off hotel accommodation and so on; and Priority Privilege Membership rewards you for qualified meetings held at their hotels.

Mobile web design

A Forrester study found that 54% of online business travellers who have web-enabled mobile devices have used their mobile phones to search for travel-related information. As more executive travelers research and book their stay via portable devices, mobile web design and mobile SEO will become more of a priority to online marketing teams promoting hotels to business travelers.

Social media exclusive deals

Social Media is an opportunity for savvy hotel marketing teams to use these platforms as promotional and operational channels to not only win over new customers but also keep existing customers. Due to the nature of their roles, business traveller’s have a propensity to use the net to research hotels., Communicate to this target market via social media networking and offer exclusive social media deals that appeal specifically to corporate travellers.

Online reputation management

With more and more business travellers looking at online reviews when researching their hotel options via the internet, it pays to monitor your online reputation. Ask your satisfied business regulars to post positive reviews about their stay on websites such as Trip Advisor, which attracts more than 50 million unique monthly visitors* hungry for information about accommodation, restaurants, flights and anything travel-related.

Online market research

So what do business travellers want? Find out by asking them directly. Simple market research campaigns can be carried out via your social media pages and website. You may be surprised by the results. Online marketing agency LMA found for example in a recent executive traveller’s survey that most prefer hotels with complimentary internet access. Use this business intelligence to shape your online marketing campaigns.

Google Place Pages

In late 2010, Google introduced Places Search which merges organic search results with Place Pages. Once you have claimed your listing, Place Pages gives you the option of updating your page with seasonal promotions, special deals and offers that are targeted at corporate travellers to try and divert traffic from your competitors. You can post real-time updates to your Places Page directly from the Local Business Centre dashboard.

Hotel Internet Marketing have a proven record in partnering with hotel internet marketing teams from leading hotel brands to produce campaigns that appeal to the business segment, improve their local Search Engine rankings and increase their conversion and retention rate. Contact us to find out how you can capture the business segment through targeted online marketing strategies.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix, Worldwide, August 2011

The hotel industry is very competitive – we show you why every citation counts.

When people normally think of citations, they think of undesirable traffic infringements but in the context of Search Engine Optimisation, the more citations the better with the web references becoming increasingly more important in local SEO. Previously we have discussed Optimising your Google Places Page and Link building strategies. Now we show you how to find citation references to improve your local search visibility.

What is a citation?

Citations are web references or mentions of your hotel on the web which includes your business name, address (street) and phone number (NAP). Preferably a local number should be used rather than an 1800 or 1300 number. These details should be consistent across the web. An ideal citation would include a link back to your website with the name of the business in the anchor text and be listed on quality and relevant sites (see below).

Why are citations important?

Some experts such as local search expert David Mihm see citations as the new link and an important trust signal in local SEO ranking algorithms. Like a link, Search Engines see web mentions as a validation that your site is seen to be a trusted and authoritative site by the virtual community. All other factors being equal, hotel sites with a greater number of web references will probably rank higher than their competitors.

Where can you obtain citations for your hotel?

Due to the nature of the hotel industry and the onset of review sites, travel portals, hotel and food blogs and numerous hospitality websites, there are a lot of citation opportunities out there in cyberspace. When it comes to web references, you ideally should try and keep it localised to your target region. Here are ten creative ways for you to find quality web mentions across the internet.

Local directories: A great citation source is local directories that are associated with the particular target city or region. This will change depending on the area that you are targeting. Key local directories and trusted signals in the Australian market include www.whitepages.com.au, www.yellowpages.com.au, www.citysearch.com.au and www.truelocal.com.au.

Hotel focused directories: Industry association websites or specific hotel directories are another good place to obtain citations. Examples of these include Australian or regional websites such as the Australian Hotels Association NSW, www.visitnsw.com, www.hotel.com.au, www.visitgoldcoast.com and www.sydney.com. There are a lot of different directories that are local to your hotel – you just need to search for them.

Local business associations or directories: Research websites targeted at community businesses such as www.localbusinessguide.com.au, www.local.com.au and http://www.yourcity.com.au. You can drill down even further and find websites specific to your region such as the local chamber of commerce, geographic-based websites such as the eCityGuide and www.geelongaustralia.com.au in Geelong in Victoria for instance.

Tourism and hospitality review websites: This can be a lucrative source of citations for hotels and may even allow a full summary page for each business. Think beyond accommodation when it comes to reviews; these can also include restaurants, bars and dining. Tourism review websites include www.tripadvisor.com.au, www.hotelscombined.com, www.eatability.com.au and www.australiangetaway.com.

Local hotel blogs: As independent travel and food blogs grow in influence and become part of the mainstream, finding local bloggers in your city can be a way to source citations. These may include general local blogs about the region or industry-specific hotel or travel blogs. As part of your internet marketing strategy, you can offer influential bloggers free accommodation or restaurant meal in return for an unbiased review and web mention.

Social media sites: Social media sites like Facebook Places Pages and foursquare allow you to create listings for businesses with the name of the business, address and telephone number. Adding your address and phone number to your Facebook and LinkedIn account will also act as citations. Your Twitter account with name, location and URL also has a good chance at being a web reference.

Geotagging media: Another way to acquire references for your hotel across the internet is with image sharing and video hosting sites such as Flickr and Youtube. The image and video communities allow you to geotag your media with specific location details and this is another quality citation prospect. Make sure to put your targeted keywords in your title as part of your local SEO strategy.

Online marketing tools: One of the best tools to find citation opportunities is the Whitespark Local Citation Finder. All you need to do is enter a local keyword phrase such as ‘Sydney luxury hotels’ and the tool will compile a list of websites for you relevant to the phrase. The free online tool is limited to one per IP address but there is a premium version called Pro Local Citation Finder which can expand your results.

Competitors websites: Like link building, it’s always a good idea to look at your top competitor’s websites and see what citations they have – as they say, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. You can check them on their Google Places Page or you can use premium tools such as the Whitespark Local Citation Finder which can perform a competitive analysis of the top ranked businesses and their mentions across the web.

Partners and alliances: A lot of hotels partner up with different suppliers such as wedding photographers or videographers, wedding cake makers, entertainment specialists and so on. You can ask these different companies to list your details in return for a reciprocal mention on your website. You might even consider working with local non-profit organisations and groups in return for a citation.

Find out more about out Google Maps SEO packages, how we can drive traffic to your website and how you can capture the local market through targeted hotel SEO strategies. At Hotel Internet Marketing we have a dedicated team of SEO experts and Link Building Analysts who work with clients everyday to optimise their Place Pages and attain high local search visibility through obtaining citations and link building activities.

Inspire trust and confidence in visitors booking your hotel through your hotel online marketing activities.

In an industry built on word of mouth, repeat business and referrals, accommodation facilities cannot afford to put a virtual step wrong when it comes to hotel online marketing. Customers book hotels they trust and they keep on coming back to these same places time and time again. Here are 10 ways to build an online community, promote a culture of openness and transparency and foster brand loyalty.

Social media marketing

Establishing an online presence is a great way for hotels to build a community and bridge the distance between the customer and the management team. With social media marketing, you can start a rich dialogue with customers, interact with them one-on-one in real time and inspire trust in your hotel property. For social media networking to achieve the optimum results, accounts need to be monitored and updated regularly.

Hotel blogs

This is very much an under-utilised but very successful hotel online marketing tool to position your hotel brand in the marketplace as trustworthy and credible. By opening up comments to visitors and responding promptly to feedback, you can start to build a strong network that can be strengthened both online and offline. Bill Marriott, Chairman & CEO of Marriott International blogs regularly about goings on at the global hotel chain.

Online Reputation Marketing

As social media continues to grow in influence on traveller’s decisions booking hotels, it is important for a hotel internet marketing team to focus on online reputation management. There needs to be a procedure in place for internet marketing teams to know when and how to respond to negative hotel reviews. Reviews can make or break a hotel so it’s important to monitor what is being said about your company in cyberspace.

Membership schemes

Build trust and decrease customer attrition with VIP schemes designed to increase return visitors and reward customers for their brand loyalty. Special member offers can spike demand for hotel rooms, boost vacancy rates in off peak periods and acknowledge travellers who are spending more money at your hotel. You can have programs targeted at different groups such as business and leisure travellers.

Testimonial marketing

Displaying positive reviews of your hotel on every page of your site is a great way to establish your hotel as a quality accommodation choice. With testimonial marketing, you need to ask a person’s permission before you can use it on your offline or online marketing materials. Most people who have written a positive review will be happy to do this. You can source testimonials through the following ways:

• asking for testimonials from travellers who have stayed at your hotel
• inviting journalists to review your hotel
• offering free accommodation to influential people in the community in return for an unbiased review
• asking for testimonials from members of the hotel industry such as community experts and local authorities
• requesting testimonials from vendors and suppliers

Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is also an important consideration for hotel online marketing teams. Places Pages are merged with organic search results on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) when people look for a hotel in a particular city or region. In general people looking for accommodation believe that hotels ranked higher in Search Engine results are of a higher quality than a hotel further down the rankings.

Link building

Link building activities are an important part of SEO as Search Engines see quality back links to your site as a validation that your hotel website is of high value. Likewise, when your hotel online marketing team are participating on forums, commenting or writing guests posts for industry blogs and so forth, it also helps in positioning them as industry experts and enhancing the credibility of your establishment.

Quality website design

For people searching for hotels via Search Engines, the design quality is a big trust factor and may be the very first impression that they receive of your hotel. With a lot of other businesses competing for their travel dollar such as your competitors, travel agencies and travel portals, they will go elsewhere if the website is not seen as trustworthy. Certain design elements helps your site look more credible such as:

• quality copywriting (see below)
• integrated secure online booking engines
• multiple forms of contact (see below)
• about us pages
• testimonials/reviews (see above)
• partners and affiliations
• terms and conditions and cancellation policy
• privacy statements

Quality copywriting

Copywriting is also an important role of hotel internet marketing teams. High Search Engine visibility will drive traffic to websites but quality copywriting combined with great design will help convert visitors. People are more likely to return to a site which has fresh, original and continually updated material. Content should be checked regularly to ensure there is no outdated copy on the site such as events which have already run.

Multiple forms of contact

Booking travel can often be last minute and it can be very frustrating if you cannot speak to a real person on the phone. Customers will feel more comfortable with booking your hotel if they are given multiple forms of contact. Some people will prefer to ring your hotel directly, others will be happier to write an email or fill out a contact form. For travellers on the go, having a click-to-call option on a hotel mobile website is essential.

Internet marketing strategies are often the first point of contact that a customer has with your hotel. Your website is often the bridge between these campaigns and conversion. It is important to capitalise on these campaigns and earn the trust of travellers. At Hotel Internet Marketing, we have a proven record in working with leading hotel brands to improve their conversion rates through hotel online marketing.

Seeing is believing – here are arguments to put forward to your management team as to why you need a new hotel web design.

There are many reasons why a new hotel web design might be needed. As more people search for accommodation via the internet, a hotel website is like your electronic calling card. If the design quality is not reflective of your business, it doesn’t offer you the functionality you require, it is not user friendly or it cannot be found on Search Engines, it might be time for some fine-tuning. Here are 10 reasons why you may consider updating your website.

Your website is not Search Engine-friendly

More often than not, people are researching their accommodation choices via the internet and if you cannot even be found, you’re not even in the running. Some hotels do not rank for their own name let alone hotel-related keyword phrases such as ‘bed and breakfast: St Kilda’. If your hotel has low Search Engine visibility, you may have to call in the big guns, i.e. a web designer and SEO company to help you.

Your website needs a major style update

Like clothing, hotel web design does go out of fashion. In general, it’s good to review your website design every four to five years. There are certain design elements popular in the 90s that can still be seen on websites for older bed and breakfasts, boutique hotels and smaller accommodation sites such as background music or video, animated cursors, blinking fonts, intrusive advertising, invasive colour schemes and so on.

Your website doesn’t look trustworthy

People book hotels they trust. Your hotel web design is an online extension of your physical property and it needs to reflect the quality of your establishment. A badly designed website can give the wrong impression about your hotel. If they think your website is poorly put together and presented, then they may believe this may also mirror the way the business is run and administered. First impressions count for a lot in hotel web design.

There is no lead generation from your website

While it is natural to obtain leads through all different sources such as phone calls and emails, your website acts as a major sales funnel for your hotel. If there is no lead generation, there are several reasons for this; it could be the general look and feel of the website, the navigation could be confusing to visitors, the path to conversion may be too long or too difficult or it may not appear to be trustworthy. A site review is in order.

You have a high bounce rate

A bounce rate in simple terms according to Google is the percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page. Even the best designed and optimised sites have got a bounce rate up to 20% so you are not looking for perfection. Your web designer should start to get concerned at bounce rates over 30% and if it is over 50%, a major redesign may be in order.

No visible calls to action (CTA)

Alternatively you may have a low bounce rate but also a low conversion rate and this isn’t good either. Customers may want to enquire about your hotel or make a booking but they just cannot find a CTA such as a phone number or booking form on the site. Make it easy for your visitors. Features such as online booking engine on every page of a hotel web design have been proven to significantly increase conversion rates.

Slow loading times

Slow page speed is not only a concern for visitors to your site but also Search Engines as it is now included as a signal in Google’s algorithms. Large image sizes are often a factor in sluggish loading times for hotel websites. Yahoo! has released 35 best practices for making website pages load faster. You may have to make a few changes to your website or have a design overhaul to increase your site’s speedability.

You don’t have all the functionality you need

As your hotel has developed over the years, there may be extra functionality that you may wish to incorporate into the design such as an online booking engine, an easy-to-use content management system (see below), a company blog or a feature gallery and you don’t know how to easily add them on your site. This work really calls for an experienced web developer to make major changes to the site.

You cannot easily update content on your site

This is one of the major reasons for a hotel web design – previously some web designers would create websites without thinking about the long term maintenance by their clients. Hotel visitors and Website visitors have a preference for sites that are continually updated with interesting and relevant content. If you cannot edit information on your site without calling upon your web developer, it may be time for a refresh.

You cannot find anything on your site

Websites even created only five years ago have numerous levels of navigation with people wading through pages of information. Today, best practice website guidelines prevail that a visitor should only navigate three levels of your website before they find what they are looking for. If travellers cannot find what they want within three clicks, they may just exit your site especially if they are using portable devices.

Admittedly redesign may be expensive and you might have to get buy-in from top management to approve an overhaul of your website. However done well, a hotel will reap the rewards of increased website traffic and an improved return on investment. At Hotel Internet Marketing, we work with high profile clients every day to create a beautiful hotel web design that is a celebration of  both form and function.

Work smarter, not harder – follow these internet marketing tips to drive pre-qualified traffic to your hotel and increase your conversion rate.

In the competitive and cut-throat hotel industry, clever hotel teams need all the internet marketing tips they can get to stay ahead of their competitors. Not only are you competing with other hotels, you are also competing with travel agencies, affiliates and other travel companies who are selling your rooms. Here are seven ways that savvy hotel teams can boost their conversion rate all-season round.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

As more people book hotel accommodation online, SEO is critical to the success of your internet hotel marketing campaign. Hotel bookers rarely search beyond the first three pages of a web search. A hotel website needs to have high Search Engine visibility for the key terms it is targeting. Design every web page as a landing page optimised with for a different keyword with a strong call to action to encourage people to book at your hotel.

Internet marketing tips: Optimise your website for long tail keywords – people making long-tail searches are often further along in the buying cycle and more willing to book hotels than people making generic searches, leading to a higher conversion rate.

Google Places Pages Optimisation

Optimising your Google Places page is another important hotel internet marketing strategy to further increase your conversion rate. Place Search was introduced in late 2010 whereby Google Places Pages started to blend with organic listings in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Typically when someone searches for a product or service and a location such as ‘hotels: cairns’, Google Places listings will appear (as per below).

Internet marketing tips: Read our article on Hotel SEO – How to Optimise your Google Places Page for great tips on optimising your page and improving your local search results.

SEO copywriting

Booking a hotel is often an emotional purchase. Well written hotel SEO copywriting drives traffic to your website but also tells a story and evokes a positive feeling about the property. Your website is a virtual extension of your physical hotel and the copywriting needs to reflect the quality of your establishment as well as be optimised for search engines. Creative ways to update your hotel copy include:

• writing a hotel blog
• updating the website with new creative package ideas (see below)
• adding pages about local attractions or events
• uploading media releases
• creating a news and events page

Internet Marketing Tips: Put a note in your calendar to review written material on your website to ensure that it is up to date and there are no expired offers or pages about events that have already taken place.

Creative package ideas

It does depend on the location and popularity of your hotel but most properties have seasonal periods where the occupancy rate is high and alternatively periods where the vacancy rate is lower. Your role as part of the hotel internet marketing team is to try to sustain hotel occupancy rates all-year round. One way to do this is to offer creative packages to entice travellers to book your hotel instead of your competitors:

• Developing packages for special occasions such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day
• Tying in packages with special events that are local to your hotel such as sporting matches, festivals or a movie premiere.
• Offering packages targeting certain types of travellers such as families and with children, business travellers and so on.
• Combining several services together such as an accommodation and restaurant deal or accommodation and spa package.
• Creating indulgence packages such as romantic getaways, weekend escapes or mid-week getaways.

Internet Marketing Tips: Create a separate landing page for each package so you can optimise the headings, descriptions and keywords and include a strong call to action to encourage booking.

Trustworthy hotel website design

Search Engine Optimisation may have done its job to drive traffic to your website but if you cannot see these numbers reflected in your conversion rate, one of the issues you may need to address is the hotel website design. Quality hotel design inspires confidence in people making bookings directly on your website. There are certain principles that can make your hotel website look more secure and trustworthy:

• Integrated online booking engines (see below).
• Clear, high quality images or videos of your hotel spaces including the hotel suites and bathrooms, foyer, front of hotel, amenities such as the pool, views from hotel rooms and so on.
• Quality SEO copywriting that is updated regularly (see above).
• Awards won by the hotel.
• Third party accreditation such as being part of a professional hotel association
• Contact details such as a phone number and/or physical address.
• Terms and conditions, returns policy and privacy statements.
• About us pages with pictures of key employees.
• Making sure there are no broken links or error pages on your website

Integrated online booking engines

Seamlessly integrating an online booking engine (OBE) your website can inspire confidence in the consumer and increase hotel bookings. People feel more confident booking hotels directly through the hotel website itself rather than being directed to a third-party supplier. An OBE allows the hotel to manage rate parity, reduce commission costs to hotel booking agencies and exert more control over the booking process.

Internet Marketing Tips: Integrating an online booking engine (OBE) on your home page and on every page of your site has been shown to significantly increase a hotel’s conversion rate.

Social media marketing

Another way for hotels to drive pre-qualified traffic to your website is through social media marketing. With more travelers researching hotels online, it is crucial that these become part of the social media sphere to stay relevant. Popular consumer-oriented social media sites to create brand awareness for hotels include YouTube as well as Facebook and Twitter where you can offer exclusive social media deals and promotions.

Internet Marketing Tips: Read our article Social Media Strategies for Hotel and Travel to find out how you can build trust in your hotel brand, develop an online community and increase sales leads via social media marketing.

With over 25 years collective experience in the hospitality industry and online marketing, Hotel Internet Marketing can help you learn how to drive potential customers to your website using these internet marketing tips and techniques and then convert customers to actual bookings through clever hotel website design and SEO copywriting. Contact us to find out how we can help you with your online hotel marketing campaigns.