Your hotel website is your online calling card – it defines your brand and helps to showcase exactly what you have to offer customers who make a booking with you. A great hotel website design company can help steer you in the right direction, but what should you look out for when building a successful hotel website? Read on for some top tips on all the essential elements to include…

As browsing on a mobile device becomes more and more important to web users, it’s important to make sure your hotel site has a fully-responsive design. Travellers might be using more than one device at a time, or their only exposure to your company could be via a mobile device – and if the website doesn’t work as it should, they’re unlikely to return and try again – they’ll simply move on to another hotel which has a responsive website. This is as much about inspiring trust as it is about aesthetics.


Great Visuals

Paint your customers a picture of their hotel stay and make sure this is part of your brief to your hotel website design company. Painting a picture can be achieved through great copy – but one of the most effective ways is simply through the use of enticing (and relevant) photography. Display your hotel rooms and any other key areas of interest with high quality images which give guests a chance to imagine themselves within the same setting. Even the most basic of hotels can help alleviate any concerns over room or facility quality with great photography, showing how high your standards are. Other ideas for visual content include video graphy or virtual tours, letting customers put themselves in the shoes of a hotel guest before even making a booking.

One of the most off-putting aspects of any website is being unable to find what you’re looking for. Get into the mind-set of a prospect looking to book a hotel room. Do you want to spend hours trying to work out what rooms are available? A millennia trying to find the booking engine? A clear navigational structure which translates well from desktop to mobile is key to creating a great website. This doesn’t have to mean scrimping on creativity – quite the opposite. But without knowing how to find what they’re looking for, your site could test the patience of even the most enthusiastic potential hotel guest. Keep it simple.

A hotel is one service you cannot try before you buy – but potential guests can certainly turn to the opinions of those who have previously booked with you for help in making their decision. It is reassuring to hear realistic opinions on a hotel prior to booking, so why not include a few well-selected guest testimonials to incorporate into your website? If effective, they can be used sparsely to great effect.

All of this activity getting your website into great shape amounts to little if your customers can’t make a booking. Investing in a great booking engine is a top priority. Customisation is great –but make sure the booking process itself is simple and straightforward to ensure the best results.