4 Reasons Your Hotel Website is Hurting Your Business

How to fix the most common hotel website mistakes

Could your hotel website actually be hurting your business? In these technologically inclined times, your website is often the first introduction that prospective guests have to your hotel. We’re not talking about a couple of guests here… Google’s landmark Travelers’ Road to Decision Study found that 92% of travelers now search online when planning their excursions. That means that any problems or difficulties with your hotel website, any deviation from the latest search standards or mobile-friendly features, could cost you big in bookings and hurt your hotel business in a major way. So how can you tell if you are one of the many hotel owners whose website is hurting their business? At Travel Tech Strategies, we’ve identified the top 4 reasons your hotel website is hurting your business, and provided digital hotel marketing solutions that can help you get your website back on track. Find out how your hotel website stacks up:

Reason #1: Your hotel website is hard to access and navigate on mobile devices

Today’s on the go travelers expect hotel websites to deliver flawless performance no matter how they access them, and they’re not willing to stay on a site that is a difficult to view or navigate. Of the 83% of leisure travelers who say they have encountered a travel site that was not mobile optimized or friendly, only 23% of them pushed through. That means that having a site that is not mobile-friendly could be costing you nearly a quarter of your bookings!

Solution: Upgrade to a mobile-friendly responsive hotel website design that performs perfectly on every type of device

Reason #2: Your hotel website has outdated SEO

SEO standards are rapidly evolving. Google enacted several key algorithm updates over the past year that have reshaped search standards and drastically changed many websites’ ranked search positions. If your hotel website hasn’t been updated to comply with the latest search standards or features any “black hat” SEO tactics such as keyword stuffing or purchased back links, it may have effectively disappeared from search results. Since online searches are how the majority of travelers find their hotel, this mistake could lead to a sharp decrease in new business.

Solution: Update your hotel website with the latest SEO

Reason #3: Your hotel website features copied or unoriginal content

Since Google’s last Panda update in 2015 the search engine has been penalizing any websites that feature copied or unoriginal content. Some owners of small hotel chains have found themselves in a world of hurt from this change, as they featured nearly identical content on each of their websites. They thought they were building a brand; Google thought they were copy cats. The result? Hotel websites that feature thin, overly promotional, or copied content have been penalized so they virtually disappear from search results.

Solution: Replace copied content on your hotel website with new, original content

Reason #4: Your hotel website lacks booking features

If your hotel website isn’t equipped with booking features, or has a booking engine that is difficult to use, many travelers aren’t going to pick up a phone to call you. They’re going to shift to one of the many OTAs that do have a booking engine to make their reservation instead. This can hurt your hotel business in ways both big and small.

If travelers book a stay at your establishment through one of the OTAs, you’re going to have to pay a booking fee of as much as 18% or more. Of course, once prospective guests move away from your website, there’s a significant chance that they may decide to stay at a different hotel that has lower rates or different amenities.

Solution: Add a robust booking engine to your hotel website so travelers can easily make a reservation

Isn’t it time to stop your hotel website from hurting your business? Let the dedicated marketers at Travel Tech Strategies solve your website woes with a mobile-friendly responsive hotel website design with all the features today’s travelers are looking for. We’ll make sure your website has everything it needs to help your hotel business grow, including easy to access navigation, content optimized to comply with the latest SEO standards, a powerful booking engine, and more.

Contact us at Travel Tech Strategies today at 954-779-2801 for an updated hotel website design that will boost bookings and help your hotel business grow!