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4 Hotel Web Design Tips for a More User-Friendly Site

September 12th, 2008 by Jade

Your website is your link to the world. It is the frontline of for your hotel online booking system. As such, your hotel web design should be one that is attractive and convenient for your online visitors.

As more and more hotels make their presence felt in cyberspace, your website becomes not just a tool that provides information, shows pictures and flaunts room rates of your hotel. Indeed, a hotel website has evolved into an instrument that can turn website visitors into firm bookings.

You may think of your website merely as a part of your hotel online reservation system, but in reality, it is the difference between pulling through and falling short in the hospitality industry. In a ruthless, sink or swim enterprise, a user-friendly hotel website can serve as your buoy. So if you are just about to have your website created or you already have a live one, keep in mind the following key pointers that will allow you to make the most out of your website.

1. Make Yours Search Engine-Friendly

Search engines are the gates to the Internet. Through these channels, potential bookers and other consumers are searching for the perfect accommodation or services. So if you want your website to be found by your target market, you need to put hotel search engine optimization in place and ensure that you are listed among the top search results. The way to do this is to improve your website design and content. Try to incorporate the essential requirements that make websites more functional and search-friendly.

2. Speed Has Its Rewards

Ever tried to click on a website that takes forever to load on your screen? Well, it’s simply annoying, especially if one is using a hotel online booking engine. So don’t do that to your website visitors. If your website takes too long to load, visitors will definitely go to other sites and you lose potential guests. Make sure that your website is ready for action in the blink of an eye or within five to ten seconds at most. Ask your web designer how you can speed up your website’s loading time.

3. Always Go for Professional Design

If you think you can put just about anything on your website, think again. All aspects that you see on your screen, from background color and fonts down to character spacing, should match and fit together if you plan your website to be compelling enough for your visitors. As much as possible, you should use complementary colors, clear and concise copy, and easy-to-read fonts among other things. It is also a good idea to keep your web pages short and put all the important information in the first virtual fold of the screen.

4. Don’t Turn Your Website into a Maze

A rule of thumb when it comes to hotel web design: Make it easy for visitors to find the information they need. Here, you can try to improve navigation on your site such that visitors won’t lose their way. Put several links on the homepage and other pages so that online users can go to all your pages quickly and easily. Remember, unlike in a book, online readers rarely visit each web page in the order or sequence that you have designed your website.

A hotel website can truly translate to more sales. But while it is important that your website can attract as much traffic as possible, it is not just about having an increasing number on your website counter. You need visitors to convert into firm reservations. And the only way to do that is have a user-friendly and well-optimized hotel web design.