3 key e-commerce principlesto optimize your hotel websiteStart thinking of your hotel website as an e-commerce business.

If hotels want to succeed in a digital economy, hoteliers will need to embrace the key principles of e-commerce and apply them to their

hotel websites.

THESE PRINCIPLES INCLUDE

User Experience Conversion Triggers Traveler Booking Funnel

E-commerce principle #1: Mastering user experience

User experience refers to how users utilize and interact with your hotel website to achieve the intended outcome.

Simple, intuitive design across all devices

This is important given the amount of travel research and bookings that now take place across various devices.

Clear Navigation Easy-To-Find Information A Strong Call To Action

THIS MEANS HAVING:

Constant A/B testing

Websites need to be constantly updated and subtly tweaked to ensure

consumers remain highly engaged throughout the shopping experience.

A/B testing helps to improve upon the design and user experience.

A/B testing is the process that involves comparing different versions of the same page in order to see which one converts best.

Personalizing the shopping experience

Hotels can now explore the advantages of e-commerce personalization through technologies like embedded cookies

and marketing automation.

86% of consumers state that

personalization impacts that

purchases they make online.

E-commerce principle #2: Employing conversion triggers

Conversion triggers are powerful tools used at pivotal points in the booking process to convince travelers to make a booking.

A sense of urgency

Increasing the desirability of a product and making it

appear limited in supply is a powerful conversion

tactic that helps drive more bookings.

Beyond creating a sense of scarcity, letting customers know that a hotel is popular and in high

demand also acts as a form of social proof.EXPIRES IN 3 MIN

User reviews and social proof

Successful e-commerce sites

understand the importance of user

reviews and integrates them into the

shopping experience. According to

studies, 88% of customers look at

reviews before making a purchase.

Booking engine technology now enables hotels to take advantage of these types of conversion triggers,

including social proof and reviews.

Best rate guarantees

This involves offering to match, beat or refund thedifference of a lower price found elsewhere after the

booking has been made.

At the end of the day, consumers just want the best price.

Major hotel brands encourage bookings using best rate guarantees.

E-commerce principle #3: Understanding the traveler booking funnel

Understanding the traveler booking funnel is key in

driving your hotel website’s digital marketing strategy.

Even the most well-designed and well-optimized

hotel website means nothing if travelers can’t find it.

SEO’s role in travel research

This means:1. Following best practices for local SEO (different than regular SEO).2. Making sure that you’ve got plenty of reviews for your hotel.3. Keeping your Google Business Listing up to date.

As travelers research dozens of different hotels, it’s

important that your hotel is properly indexed so that it

will show up in key areas such as Google’s hotel search.

Ad retargeting to stay top-of-mind

This can be an effective tool for keeping your hotel top-of-mind for consumers while they are in the

process of making their final decision.

Travelers may take weeks or months to research hotels

before booking. During that time, hotels can target them

with ad retargeting, where they will see ads from hotel

sites they’ve visited as they browse other sites.

Closing the deal with SEM

By strategically bidding on the right keywords in SEM, hotels can boost their direct bookings on their site.

When travelers are finally ready to book, they will do

a Google search for the hotel name. Strategic search

engine marketing can ensure that a hotel lands in one

of the top positions on a search engine results page.

It’s time for hotels to becomee-commerce experts

If hotels want their websites to compete, they willneed to embrace the core principles of e-commerce.

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By finding the right technology partner that can help them understand the latest techniques and tools available, hotels can:

Strengthen their hotel website

Increase direct bookings

Lessen their dependency on OTAs