As brand presence on the internet has become universal, the hospitality industry has become increasingly competitive. Securing brand loyalty is a constant challenge as online consumers easily click from website to website – heavily relying on price and location to determine booking decisions. But smart hoteliers and travel service providers are using their websites to get front and center within the consumer's brand consideration set and effectively differentiate themselves.
Below are ten important steps for hospitality website marketers based on iperceptions' research collected from over 75,000 hospitality and tourism website visitors.
Site responsiveness is the most influential factor in optimizing the visitor experience. If visitors encounter technical difficulties, not only will they go to your competitor's site, but they probably won't come back to yours.
Period. Visitors want the best rate and will go from site to site in order to get it. By consistently offering the best rate, you keep visitors on your site and avoid comparison shopping.
Most hotel websites do a decent job at providing relevant information. Where they fall short is in personalizing the visitor's experience by providing information specific to their needs. (Business travelers and leisure travelers look for very different information.) When visitors cannot find the information needed, they will contact the brand directly and the site becomes viewed as an inefficient use of time.
Allowing visitors to easily contact you in order to close the information gap goes a long way.
Many website visitors complain that they cannot find rooms online, yet are successful when they call. When they question the accuracy of the information on the website, it leads to negative brand perceptions and a lower likelihood to return to the website in the long-term.
Photo and video search has become an important way to explore travel options. It pays to invest in providing high quality images in order to give website visitors the best impression of what your establishment has to offer.
With searches for hotels on mobile devices increasing 120% and 306% on tablets, providing a mobile platform is essential to expanding a brand's footprint and capturing this growing market.
During the recent economic downturn many travel providers leveraged their loyalty programs in an effort to stimulate bookings and brand loyalty. However, this has resulted in travelers who are now members of multiple programs and loyal to none. Use your website as a way to convince travelers that your program is more valuable.
After price and location, travelers consider intangible assets such as brand reputation, which is often impacted by traveler reviews. Now more than ever, brands need to closely monitor what is being said about them and find ways to isolate brand champions, as well as properly manage those who have had negative experiences.
Consumers want to feel like they are getting the best value and price is only one aspect of the total value. Offering perks to their stay such as free meals, internet or discounts to local attractions are ways of increasing the value of staying with a given brand.
At the end of the day, visitors look to your website to be convenient and informative. The digital landscape means that creativity is key – the days of competing solely on price are gone. Optimizing and personalizing the website experience is instrumental in strengthening customer retention and maximizing conversion.
Find out how you can easily build a thriving customer experience program built on the foundation of an optimized website in this free 35+ page guide to CX.
Download "The Definitfive Guide to Customer Experience"