Making a website for your hotel is really important these days. It’s like having a digital front door that’s always open. A good responsive web design helps more people find your hotel and book rooms. It also shows off how great your hotel is. Let’s talk about how to make an awesome hotel website that will make people want to book with you!
How To Plan Your Hotel Website
Before you start building, you need a plan. Think about who you want to stay at your hotel. Are they families? Business travellers? Couples? Knowing this will help you make a website they’ll like.
For example, if you want families to stay at your hotel, you might want to show pictures of your pool or kids’ play area. If you want business travellers, you could talk about your fast internet and meeting rooms.
Also, think about what you want your website to do. Do you want more people to book rooms directly? Do you want to show off your hotel’s special features? Write down your goals so you can make sure your website helps you reach them.
Similarly, it’s a good idea to look at other hotel websites too. See what you like and don’t like about them. This will give you ideas for your own website design. When you look at other websites, ask yourself:
- Is it easy to book a room?
- Do the pictures make the hotel look nice?
- Can you find important information easily?
- Does the website work well on your phone?
Take notes on what you like. This will help you make your own website even better.
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Which Hotel Website Builder You Should Use
There are different ways to build a website. Some popular options are Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, and Shopify. Each one has good and not-so-good points.
- Wix is easy to use and has lots of designs for hotels. It’s like using building blocks to make your website. You can just drag and drop things where you want them. But it might not be able to do some fancy things you might want later. Check the Wix Help Guide here!
- Squarespace is good for showing off photos. If your hotel is in a beautiful place or has really nice rooms, Squarespace could be a good choice. It’s also pretty easy to use, but it might not have as many options as other website builders.
- WordPress can do a lot of different things but might be harder to learn. It’s like having a huge toolbox – you can do almost anything, but you need to learn how to use all the tools. Many big hotel chains use WordPress because it’s so flexible. Check the WordPress Help Guide here!
- Shopify is great for online stores and can work for hotels too. If you want to sell things from your hotel, like souvenirs or local products, Shopify could be a good choice.
Pick the one that feels right for you and can do what you need for your hotel website. Don’t be afraid to try out a few before you decide. Many of them let you try for free for a short time.
How To Create A Hotel Website
Important Things Your Hotel Booking Website Should Have
Your hotel booking website should have these important things:
- A way for guests to book rooms online. This is super important! People should be able to see which rooms are available and book them right on your website. Make sure it’s easy to use.
- A responsive design that looks good on phones and computers. More and more people use their phones to book hotels. Your website needs to look good mobile friendly and work well on all devices.
- Lots of great photos of your hotel. People love to see where they’ll be staying. Show off your rooms, lobby, restaurant, and any special features your hotel has. If you can, get a professional photographer to take the pictures.
- Reviews from happy guests. What other people say about your hotel matters a lot. Include some nice things that guests have said about staying with you.
- Your hotel’s address and contact information. Make it easy for people to find you and get in touch. Include your address, phone number, and email. You could also add a map to show where your hotel is.
- Details about your rooms and prices. Clearly show what types of rooms you have and how much they cost. Don’t forget to mention things that come with the room, like free breakfast or Wi-Fi.
- Any special deals you’re offering. Everyone loves a good deal! If you have any special offers or packages, make sure to show them on your website.
- Information about your area. Many people choose a hotel because of where it is. Talk about interesting things to see or do near your hotel.
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How to Build Your Hotel Website
Now, let’s build your website! Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Get a website address
This is like your hotel’s online address. Choose something easy to remember, like your hotel’s name. For example, if your hotel is called “Sunshine Inn,” you might choose www.sunshineinn.com.
Step 2: Find a place to put your website
This is called hosting. It’s like renting space on the internet for your website. Look for a hosting company that’s reliable and has good customer service. Some popular ones are Bluehost, SiteGround, and HostGator.
Step 3: Choose a way to build your site
Pick from the options we talked about earlier, like Wix or WordPress. Remember to think about how comfortable you are with technology and what features you need for your hotel website.
Step 4: Pick a mobile-first design for your site
Look for one made for hotels. It should look nice and match your hotel’s style. Most website builders have designs (also called templates) that are already set up for hotels. You can start with one of these and then change it to fit your needs.
Step 5: Make the site look like your hotel
Change the colours and add your hotel’s logo to make it look just right. Use photos of your actual hotel, not stock photos. You want people to see what your hotel really looks like.
Step 6: Add important pages
Your site should have pages for:
- Home page: This is the first page people see. Make it welcoming and show what’s special about your hotel.
- Rooms: Show pictures and information about your different room types.
- Booking: This is where people can reserve rooms.
- About: Tell the story of your hotel and what makes it unique.
- Contact: Make it easy for people to get in touch with you.
Step 7: Add a way for people to book rooms
Make sure guests can book rooms and pay on your website. There are special tools called booking engines that can do this for you. Some popular ones for hotels are Booking.com, Cloudbeds, and Little Hotelier.
Step 8: Make your site easy to find online
Use words people might search for when looking for a hotel like yours. For example, if your hotel is near the beach, you might use phrases like “beachfront hotel in [your city]” or “family-friendly beach resort.”
Step 9: Test your website
Make sure it works well on phones, tablets, and computers. Click on every link to make sure it goes to the right place. Try booking a room to make sure that works smoothly. Ask friends or family to test it too – they might notice things you missed.
Step 10: Share your new website with the world
Let everyone know about your great new hotel website! Share it on social media, tell your past guests about it, and make sure it’s on your business cards and brochures.
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Helping People Find Your Website
Getting your website online is great, but you also need people to find it! Here are some tips:
- Use competitive keyword analysis. These are words people search for when looking for hotels. Think about what people might type into Google when looking for a hotel like yours.
- Write helpful information about your area or travel tips. This could be a blog on your website. For example, you could write about “Top 10 Things to Do in [Your City]” or “Best Restaurants Near Our Hotel.”
- Share your website on social media like Facebook and Instagram. Post pictures of your hotel and interesting things nearby. This can help more people find out about your hotel.
- Ask happy guests to write reviews about your hotel. Good reviews can really help people decide to stay with you.
- Send emails about special offers to people who have stayed with you before. This is a great way to get people to come back.
- Keep your website updated with new information and photos. This helps more people find your hotel online and keeps them interested.
Taking Care of Your Website
Your website needs care to keep it working well. Here’s how to take care of it:
- Add new information regularly, like special offers or events happening at your hotel. This gives people a reason to keep coming back to your website.
- Update your photos when things change at your hotel. If you renovate a room or add a new feature, make sure to show it off on your website.
- Make sure and analyse backlinks on your website. Broken links can frustrate visitors and make your site look unprofessional.
- Pay attention to what visitors do on your website so you can make it better. There are tools like Google Analytics that can show you which pages people visit most and where they might be having trouble.
- Ask guests what they think of your website and make changes to improve it. Your guests can give you great ideas on how to make your website better.
Watch out for these common website problems
- Don’t make it hard for visitors to find what they need. Keep your website simple and easy to navigate.
- Make sure your mobile-first website design works well on all devices. More and more people are using their phones to book hotels, so this is really important.
- Don’t have pages that take too long to load. People might leave your website if it’s too slow. Make sure your images aren’t too big, as this can slow down your site. Check here to know how site speed impacts seo
- Keep your information up to date. If your prices or policies change, make sure to update your website right away.
- Use good quality photos of your hotel. Blurry or dark photos can make your hotel look unappealing.
- Make it easy for guests to book rooms. The booking process should be simple and quick.
- Avoiding these problems will help make your website better for your guests.
How Can We Help You
If you follow these steps, you can make a website that will impress guests and help your hotel do well. Keep working on your website and making it better, and it will help your hotel for a long time.
If you need help making your hotel website, UTDS Optimal Choice can help! We’re really good at making websites for hotels. Get in touch with us, and we can help make your hotel look great online!
