Building a website for your hotel is an excellent move toward gaining online visibility. A well-thought-out internet presence is an indispensable component of every modern-day business that helps develop confidence among customers.
Moreover, a website is one of the best digital marketing tools that directly impact lead generation, resulting in sales and, eventually, increased revenue.
Remember, a website is also a guest’s first impression of your hotel. Consequently, one must invest in creating a visually appealing and informative site. For this task, hiring a digital marketing agency with knowledge about the industry can prove highly beneficial.
There are several aspects to website development that a digital agency will help you decide on. However, it is imperative to know a few points before building a hotel website to help streamline the entire process. These factors reflect and define your business’s core values, expectations, and branding and are thus an integral part of any hotel website.
Consumer Demographics
Consumer demographics are one of the main points to know before building your hotel website. For a hotel to succeed in this day and age, it needs to carve itself a niche. To do that, you should be aware of your target audience.
While there are hotels that cater to all, most establishments fit into one category or another. Is your hotel ideal for business travelers wanting to be close to the airport or for tourists who prefer a city center location? Do you have facilities like a kid’s playground that bring-in families, or are you more of a couple’s retreat?
Furthermore, a general idea of your customer age group is equally helpful. You may attract a younger crowd if you are near the city’s nightlife district. In contrast, a hotel with a vintage appeal will appeal to slightly older guests who prefer a quiet atmospheric abode.
Once you know the above, the digital agency can then work on creating a website that will specifically attract that particular customer base.
Unique Selling Points
Your establishment’s USP is among the key points to know before building a hotel website. Narrowing down on your hotel’s eccentric and eclectic aspects will allow the digital agency to place these features in the front and center of your website.
But what exactly is a USP (Unique Selling Point)? Well, these are facilities and services that differentiate you from your competitors. The good news is that they can cover any facet of the hotel, from location to interiors.
Some examples of up-and-coming trends hotels include to stand out are restaurants serving local farm-to-table meals or individually decorated thematic rooms. If your hotel is in an idyllic locale, the website should have beautiful photos glorifying the views.
Moreover, your digital agency can further highlight boutique features like turntables and artisanal coffees in the room that are a huge attraction among contemporary travelers.
Branding
Irrespective of your hotel’s size, branding your business is now a quintessential step for successfully marketing your property. It is also one of the principal points to know before building a hotel website. The brand eventually becomes your identity that customers can instantly relate to and trust.
Hotel branding, again, involves using the services of a professional digital agency. From finalizing a hotel’s name to creating a logo and tagline, every aspect of branding plays an important role.
Furthermore, your website developer can assist in prominently featuring your brand’s values and philosophy on your website. Doing so helps strengthen the bond between your business and your customers.
Neighborhood Information
A good hotel website doesn’t always focus on selling. To entice customers to return to your homepage, it should act as an information hub for the neighborhood and city.
Therefore, in-depth knowledge about your surroundings is essential before building your hotel’s page. To share the facts you collect, the digital agency can create a blog, updated regularly with fresh content. You can have mini-guides on the hotel’s mobile app. This further helps with the website’s on-page SEO resulting in better online visibility.
Environmentally conscious tourists nowadays also love hotels that work with local businesses. So, before starting on the website, see if you can collaborate with other independent traders, like eateries, barbers, and bookshops in the neighborhood. Your hotel website can then promote them while simultaneously getting backlinks from their websites.
Direct Marketing Basics
A crucial point to know before building a website is that achieving online visibility is not instant. Every professional digital agency will tell you that using legal, white-hat SEO (Search Engine Optimization) practices takes time to show results.
Therefore, you need to start immediately with SEO, like keyword use, simple user experience, link optimization, mobile integration, and other such techniques. More importantly, one must continue to apply the same regularly to stay visible.
Additionally, from the beginning, you should invest time and content energy in creating and maintaining a social media presence. Links to your social media should feature clearly on the website.
Lastly, be aware of your competition and offer deals encouraging guests to book directly through your website from the very start.
Click here and discover more digital marketing ideas and solutions to spearhead your hotel business to the next level.
