Hotel Chains Have the Worst Websites
If you’ve ever tried booking a hotel room from a hotel chain, you won’t be surprised that hotel chains score the cheapest on customer usability among travel-related websites. The report arises from eDigitalResearch, the outcome summed up by Travolution:
EDigitalResearch said hotel chain websites were too corporate for their leisure users. They lack key accommodation and destination information and don’t include customer reviews.
Online travel agencies are stealing direct reservations from hotels, and particularly chains, due to the poor usability of the websites. radisson qc Hoteliers must purchase their own, branded hotel website in order to retake direct online reservations from OTAs. eDigitalResearch took the following things into consideration when judging websites:
Ease of Navigation Information architecture (IA) could be the structure of a website–where information is placed. If your website has good IA, it is simpler to navigate. The most effective websites have all of the information, such as for example photos, rooms, locations and a reservation button, right where in fact the browser expects to get it. Websites with poor IA force the browser to look for the data he needs, which reduces his chance of actually booking a room.
Travel Inspiration What inspires a guest to book a space? Photos! Most individuals are visual learners. They have to see exactly what a hotel is like before booking a space so that they can make their decision. Hotel websites need large, glossy photos front-and-center on the homepage, immediately showing off what that hotel must offer. They want easy-to-find photo galleries with interiors, exteriors and local sights.
Social Media With social media booming–Facebook, Twitter and now Google+–hoteliers must embrace it, because that’s where in fact the guests are. It doesn’t matter how scary, intimidating or confusing social media is. You run a hotel, your hotel needs guests, and your guests are on Facebook. It’s as simple as that. Good web design incorporates social media into every page to ensure that guests can very quickly share your hotel using their friends and give you their thoughts.
Easy Booking Process
The worst thing a hotelier can perform is make the reservation process confusing. I’ve seen this on innumerable hotel websites. Calender pickers that don’t work or have unexplained prerequisites, reservation engines that offer sold inventory, unclear reservation confirmations, a reservation button buried beneath five sub-directories–and so on. Good web design simplifies the reservation process and places a reservation button on every single page, to ensure that guests can book a space wherever they are. This sounds obvious, but you’d be shocked exactly how many hotel websites completely miss it.
Contact Info
When guests have a question, hoteliers must be there to answer it, so they can secure a reservation. Having hidden contact info frustrates your potential guest and keeps him from booking a room. Instead, place your phone number, address and current email address on every single page, in the footer at the least, but in addition above-the-fold, if you can.
