Mobile technology is no longer something we are simply anticipating. The development of new technologies and ideas has brought about higher expectations from your potential guests. With the increase in smartphone use and android applications, it’s evident: the mobile trend is here…and it is here to stay.
This explosion of the mobile web over the last 10 years places an important burden on hoteliers to implement a mobile-ready website. Why? The growth of mobile usage among the travelling public is increasing at an astonishing rate. The statistics speak for themselves – the number of mobile subscribers will surpass 5 billion in 2010, over 70% of the population. Every day, more and more people are surfing the internet from their mobile devicefor travel related purposes. By not being a part of the mobile world, your hotel has limited exposure and will miss out on reservations. Research demonstrates that around 10% of hotel guests with mobile phones with data plans have used them to reserve rooms. Furthermore, mobile bookings are expected to exceed $1 billion in 2010.
Smartphone users are technically savvy and expect to be able to interact with your hotel via their mobile devices. If your hotel does not have a “mobile ready” website,you run the risk of losing business to hotels that do provide access to their information in a convenient and easily accessible format. Your hotel must therefore develop a mobile strategy in order to keep up with these growing expectations, as well as to reap the benefits this new technology brings with it.
The growth of mobile use within the travel industry means some hoteliers are left behind. How can you keep up?
“You can’t literally translate the conventional website for the wireless world,” Starkov said during the European Hospitality Technology Educational Conference. “There are many limitations, primarily (which) come from usability and the inability to organize huge amounts of content on your mobile Web.”
The trick is to keep it simple by getting a mobile-ready website designed and developed for viewing on mobile screens. Include only the most important information relevant to consumers on-the-go. It is vital that the functionality and navigation is clear and includes call-to-actions that give your site the best chance of converting your mobile visitor into a paying hotel guest. Presenting this information in an easy-to-read format and avoiding the use of multiple images is vital to keep your mobile audience engaged with the site. You must also consider the differences in mobile devices - some phones support Java, others don’t. Compatibility with iphone is important but make sure your website is optimised to work on any phone that has the internet.
A recent EyeforTravel report states that the use of mobile in travel distribution is “unavoidable” and is “the key to success of any travel business in the future.” Whilst a standard website is vital for desktop users, a mobile website is crucial for smartphone mobile users.
Mobile websites and applications are designed specifically for mobile use and are made so your guests can effectively navigate through your website. By ignoring this fundamental requirement, your hotel may be missing out on reservations.
About GlobRes
GlobRes provides hotel reservations and digital marketing solutions for hoteliers globally including mobile-ready websites.
Why choose a GlobRes.mobi website?
• Optimised to work on any phone and adapts to any screen size
• Easy-to-update by anyone via a content management system (CMS)
• Book via ‘click2call feature’ which allows guests to call the hotel direct from their phone
• Website visitors are automatically redirected to the mobile site when they navigate to your website via a mobile device.
To start with a .mobi website or ask additional questions, simply CLICK HERE and complete the short online form and one of our sales executives will contact you. Alternatively email marketing@globres.com for further advice.
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Showing posts with label hotel reservation tools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hotel reservation tools. Show all posts
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Create an online marketing strategy for your hotel to maximize your web exposure
Whilst traditional marketing in the forms of radio, TV, print advertising and public relations can be effective for brand promotion and brand reinforcement, the direct impact on generating hotel bookings is limited and the bookings it does generate cannot be measured accurately. Alternatively, online marketing allows you to target potential guests who are actively looking for hotels like yours. Online marketing encompasses varying activities ensuring you target potential guests based on their needs and requirements matched to your hotel offerings. Instead of casting your net wide you are pin-pointing your audience guaranteeing a return on investment that is better and measurable.
Online marketing includes a range of activities that should be considered for your hotel’s marketing strategy. Every hotel is different and needs to be treated accordingly; therefore a blend of website development, search engine optimisation, social media and pay-per-click advertising should be used where appropriate.
Hotel Website Development:
Your hotel’s website is the digital image of your hotel. With most travelers turning to the internet to find suitable accommodation, your website is the first impression a potential guest will get of your hotel. Therefore its importance to drive online sales must not be underestimated - hoteliers must cast a critical eye over the website, its design & format, content, page titles, and images. From a user-friendly perspective it must be easy to navigate around, from a technical perspective it must be search engine friendly and quick to load. I see hotel websites every day that are completely aesthetically unappealing – ranging from bad colour schemes, invisible page titles, poor quality images to overly flashy with no substance. In this “digital era” this is tantamount to internet suicide. Choose your website developer carefully, hotel websites should be designed by people who understand hotels and have experience working for or with hotels. Website development can vary in cost depending on your agency choice. The return on investment anticipated for a good website redesign means that if it is required, you should invest that money. In a HeBS case study a redesigned hotel website paid for itself within 3 months in online sales.
Search Engine Optimisation:
Having a search engine friendly website is the first step towards search engine visibility. Ensuring you have a search engine friendly website means the search engines are able to index every page. It is the indexing process that determines the sites value and relevance for search terms. Therefore, you must go further than simply making your site index-able. You must proactively encourage the search engines to return to the site by updating your website with fresh and exciting content regularly. You must also create inbound links to your website from other relevant sites – if no other sites are linked to yours the search engines will register that no other sites find your website valuable or important. Distributing PR about your hotel to destination related websites and a selection of social media and travel blogs is a quick, easy and effective way to start. Hotel SEO can be managed and delivered in-house if you have the resources, but for most hoteliers handing over these activities to professionals means time is better spent elsewhere.
Social Media
Online conversations regarding your hotel continually reinforce its online presence to your target audience. Therefore the importance of tactical social media activities cannot be ignored. Hotels are finding out the hard way that conversations about them are happening online and online communities can be breeding grounds for speculation and rumours. Using social media to manage this risk and to deliver positives to counteract any negatives can be more than just effective in terms of negating any bad press, but also to build your positive “brand noise” and create “brand buzz” around your hotel’s website. Social media is personal and it’s interactive. By utilising this 21st century means of reaching a target audience hoteliers can build deeper relationships that last longer and customer loyalty is reinforced rather than a thing of the past. The Layana Resort in Thailand uses a Facebook page to keep its “fans” updated. The page attracts past and potential guests alike and allows them to share experiences and pictures. It is also the perfect arena for the hotel’s manager to advertise special offers and promotions. This online community is growing daily and is the digital alternative to “word of mouth” the power of which is endless.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising:
Developing a paid search campaign gives your hotel an instant presence in the search engine page results. Best of all you can control where your adverts are positioned on the page with your bid price per keyword. Making your adverts attractive and relevant to the search is imperative to attract the visitor. You must also ensure the landing page of the advert is the most relevant page of your website, and if you have adverts in different languages, the landing page should be the webpage in the corresponding language. For hotels with a global client base cultural search behaviours and buying patterns must be incorporated into both your website and marketing strategy. Pay-Per-Click requires budget investment. It is certainly worth establishing how much you need to be spending to get relevant traffic to your website. Google actually provides you with an online estimator where you can choose your keywords and see how much it costs. Using a professional hotel pay per click agency to plan, develop, optimise and manage your campaigns means you can let the professionals do the work and be kept updated with detailed reports and statistics.
About GlobRes
GlobRes provides the best hotel central reservation systems and hotel Internet marketing services for hotels around the world. Connecting hotels with their guests through increased exposure via all channels including GDS, IDS, Digital Marketing and the hotel’s own website. GlobRes operates a fully serviced support centre, offering assistance to hotels in English, Italian, German, Spanish and French. GlobRes is also offering hotel website design for free when purchased with the web booking engine.
Complete our online contact form for more information.
Editors Note: Please direct all press queries to Samantha Hasler. Tel +41 41 500 0111 or email marketing@globres.com www.globres.com
Online marketing includes a range of activities that should be considered for your hotel’s marketing strategy. Every hotel is different and needs to be treated accordingly; therefore a blend of website development, search engine optimisation, social media and pay-per-click advertising should be used where appropriate.
Hotel Website Development:
Your hotel’s website is the digital image of your hotel. With most travelers turning to the internet to find suitable accommodation, your website is the first impression a potential guest will get of your hotel. Therefore its importance to drive online sales must not be underestimated - hoteliers must cast a critical eye over the website, its design & format, content, page titles, and images. From a user-friendly perspective it must be easy to navigate around, from a technical perspective it must be search engine friendly and quick to load. I see hotel websites every day that are completely aesthetically unappealing – ranging from bad colour schemes, invisible page titles, poor quality images to overly flashy with no substance. In this “digital era” this is tantamount to internet suicide. Choose your website developer carefully, hotel websites should be designed by people who understand hotels and have experience working for or with hotels. Website development can vary in cost depending on your agency choice. The return on investment anticipated for a good website redesign means that if it is required, you should invest that money. In a HeBS case study a redesigned hotel website paid for itself within 3 months in online sales.
Search Engine Optimisation:
Having a search engine friendly website is the first step towards search engine visibility. Ensuring you have a search engine friendly website means the search engines are able to index every page. It is the indexing process that determines the sites value and relevance for search terms. Therefore, you must go further than simply making your site index-able. You must proactively encourage the search engines to return to the site by updating your website with fresh and exciting content regularly. You must also create inbound links to your website from other relevant sites – if no other sites are linked to yours the search engines will register that no other sites find your website valuable or important. Distributing PR about your hotel to destination related websites and a selection of social media and travel blogs is a quick, easy and effective way to start. Hotel SEO can be managed and delivered in-house if you have the resources, but for most hoteliers handing over these activities to professionals means time is better spent elsewhere.
Social Media
Online conversations regarding your hotel continually reinforce its online presence to your target audience. Therefore the importance of tactical social media activities cannot be ignored. Hotels are finding out the hard way that conversations about them are happening online and online communities can be breeding grounds for speculation and rumours. Using social media to manage this risk and to deliver positives to counteract any negatives can be more than just effective in terms of negating any bad press, but also to build your positive “brand noise” and create “brand buzz” around your hotel’s website. Social media is personal and it’s interactive. By utilising this 21st century means of reaching a target audience hoteliers can build deeper relationships that last longer and customer loyalty is reinforced rather than a thing of the past. The Layana Resort in Thailand uses a Facebook page to keep its “fans” updated. The page attracts past and potential guests alike and allows them to share experiences and pictures. It is also the perfect arena for the hotel’s manager to advertise special offers and promotions. This online community is growing daily and is the digital alternative to “word of mouth” the power of which is endless.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising:
Developing a paid search campaign gives your hotel an instant presence in the search engine page results. Best of all you can control where your adverts are positioned on the page with your bid price per keyword. Making your adverts attractive and relevant to the search is imperative to attract the visitor. You must also ensure the landing page of the advert is the most relevant page of your website, and if you have adverts in different languages, the landing page should be the webpage in the corresponding language. For hotels with a global client base cultural search behaviours and buying patterns must be incorporated into both your website and marketing strategy. Pay-Per-Click requires budget investment. It is certainly worth establishing how much you need to be spending to get relevant traffic to your website. Google actually provides you with an online estimator where you can choose your keywords and see how much it costs. Using a professional hotel pay per click agency to plan, develop, optimise and manage your campaigns means you can let the professionals do the work and be kept updated with detailed reports and statistics.
About GlobRes
GlobRes provides the best hotel central reservation systems and hotel Internet marketing services for hotels around the world. Connecting hotels with their guests through increased exposure via all channels including GDS, IDS, Digital Marketing and the hotel’s own website. GlobRes operates a fully serviced support centre, offering assistance to hotels in English, Italian, German, Spanish and French. GlobRes is also offering hotel website design for free when purchased with the web booking engine.
Complete our online contact form for more information.
Editors Note: Please direct all press queries to Samantha Hasler. Tel +41 41 500 0111 or email marketing@globres.com www.globres.com
Friday, July 3, 2009
Your Hotel’s Website is your Ultimate Sales Tool!
Your hotel website is vitally important in acquiring reservations. It is the first and more often the last experience a potential guest may have of your hotel. Hoteliers must therefore cast a critical eye over the website and address the fundamental question: Is your hotel website doing its job properly? To reveal the true performance of your website, you must identify the number of reservations you generate through your website. The easiest way to measure your site’s production is to look at your web booking engine’s analytics. This will tell you in detail how many reservations you have received over a particular time period. I would recommend that you use web analytics for the website as a whole, to identify how many visitors you have received to your site and where they have come from. Most website analytic software will also tell you at the very least how long your visitors remain on the site, the pages looked at the longest; it will even tell you what pages received the highest bounce rate.
You can pay for many web analytics softwares and systems, or you can use Google Analytics for free. For use in its simplest form, Google analytics will allow you to see the total number of visitors to the site and where the visitor came from. When used comparatively against your reservations statistics, these numbers will give you a conversion rate. This rate is vital in determining the performance of your website.
Of course, we must not ignore other factors that can have an impact on reservation rates. Amongst others, room rates, room availability, value and convenience will all play a part. These are also important considerations and must be viewed so when analyzing the data from your analytics.
As a 21st century hotelier weathering the all too apparent recession, you must realize the importance of the internet to sell your hotel rooms. To be unaware of the ratio of visitors to reservations is akin to burying your head in the sand. Your website should be treated as a sales tool and measured as such.
Unfortunately, during the last 10 years there has been a changing fashion in website design. This can arguably be held responsible for the all too “flashy” hotel website that is difficult to navigate, contains little general information about the area and has a distinct lack of presence in the search engines. Hotel websites should be designed by people who understand hotels and have experience working for or with hotels. A hotel website should look great, but to the detriment of its content, usability and search visibility? Certainly not.
Research indicates that travelers choose a destination, attraction or activity first and foremost. Specific hotel choice is a secondary consideration; the chosen hotel will usually fit criteria in line with the destination. Therefore, it is common sense that a hotel website should include information about the destination. Travelers are very much looking for value as well – not just best rates, but value in terms of convenience.
Search visibility is also of the utmost importance for a hotel website. What is the point in having a great website if no one can find it? The importance of visibility on leading search engines should not be underestimated. Best practice Search Engine Optimisation must be incorporated in your website, and that is just to get you started. Remember, updating your content regularly will encourage the search engines to keep coming back and re-indexing your page. Send out press releases and articles about your hotel to other websites to form in-bound links to your site. Remember, relevant links are key. They serve to increase your site’s position over time and they will enable you to receive traffic to your site from new sources as well. Using social media to promote your hotel will equally increase your inbound links and is great for creating communities engaged with your hotel brand.
The clear message to take from this is that your website is your most important sales tool and should be evaluated, amended and re-designed if necessary. Your hotel’s website should be your potential guest’s first of many experiences of your hotel, not the last and the only experience.
About GlobRes
GlobRes provide hotel reservations and marketing solutions for hoteliers globally. GlobRes offer hotel website design for free when purchased with hotel reservation systems. Complete our online contact form for more information.
Editors Note: Samantha Hasler leads the Digital Marketing Team at GlobRes www.globres.com pleased direct all press queries to marketing@globres.com
You can pay for many web analytics softwares and systems, or you can use Google Analytics for free. For use in its simplest form, Google analytics will allow you to see the total number of visitors to the site and where the visitor came from. When used comparatively against your reservations statistics, these numbers will give you a conversion rate. This rate is vital in determining the performance of your website.
Of course, we must not ignore other factors that can have an impact on reservation rates. Amongst others, room rates, room availability, value and convenience will all play a part. These are also important considerations and must be viewed so when analyzing the data from your analytics.
As a 21st century hotelier weathering the all too apparent recession, you must realize the importance of the internet to sell your hotel rooms. To be unaware of the ratio of visitors to reservations is akin to burying your head in the sand. Your website should be treated as a sales tool and measured as such.
Unfortunately, during the last 10 years there has been a changing fashion in website design. This can arguably be held responsible for the all too “flashy” hotel website that is difficult to navigate, contains little general information about the area and has a distinct lack of presence in the search engines. Hotel websites should be designed by people who understand hotels and have experience working for or with hotels. A hotel website should look great, but to the detriment of its content, usability and search visibility? Certainly not.
Research indicates that travelers choose a destination, attraction or activity first and foremost. Specific hotel choice is a secondary consideration; the chosen hotel will usually fit criteria in line with the destination. Therefore, it is common sense that a hotel website should include information about the destination. Travelers are very much looking for value as well – not just best rates, but value in terms of convenience.
Search visibility is also of the utmost importance for a hotel website. What is the point in having a great website if no one can find it? The importance of visibility on leading search engines should not be underestimated. Best practice Search Engine Optimisation must be incorporated in your website, and that is just to get you started. Remember, updating your content regularly will encourage the search engines to keep coming back and re-indexing your page. Send out press releases and articles about your hotel to other websites to form in-bound links to your site. Remember, relevant links are key. They serve to increase your site’s position over time and they will enable you to receive traffic to your site from new sources as well. Using social media to promote your hotel will equally increase your inbound links and is great for creating communities engaged with your hotel brand.
The clear message to take from this is that your website is your most important sales tool and should be evaluated, amended and re-designed if necessary. Your hotel’s website should be your potential guest’s first of many experiences of your hotel, not the last and the only experience.
About GlobRes
GlobRes provide hotel reservations and marketing solutions for hoteliers globally. GlobRes offer hotel website design for free when purchased with hotel reservation systems. Complete our online contact form for more information.
Editors Note: Samantha Hasler leads the Digital Marketing Team at GlobRes www.globres.com pleased direct all press queries to marketing@globres.com
Monday, June 15, 2009
Do you read your Hotel’s reviews on Trip Advisor? If not, it’s certainly time you did…
The explosion of consumer generated content on the web means that more than ever hoteliers should monitor their brand online and respond to reviews and forum posts accordingly. Statistics show that over 24 million consumers are reviewing hotels on Trip Advisor every month! Here is a little advice on making Trip Advisor and other hotel review sites work for you rather than against you.
Many hoteliers feel animosity towards Trip Advisor believing it to be a breeding ground for disgruntled ex employees or competitors writing bogus negative reviews. In truth these types of occurrences are few and far between and Trip Advisor has put measures in place to ensure the validity of the reviews that are placed on the website. One measure is to show users previous reviews by the same reviewer making it easier to gauge a real review against a fake one.
Hoteliers must accept that Trip Advisor is not going anywhere, it is time to engage with the website and work the system. In doing this you ensure that you are aware of what your guests are saying about you, responding publicly to these comments and therefore interacting with your online community. You can upload images, factual information about your hotel and upload new content. If you feel you wish to respond to a review, write a “management response” this could be an explanation, a correction or if appropriate, a compliment to a reviewer. It enables you to give your side of the story as well as give your potential guests confidence because you are demonstrating that you care enough to monitor what your customers say about you. A well crafted management response can go a long way.
Some hoteliers have been caught trying to cheat Trip Advisor and write their own reviews however there is monitoring practices in place to detect this activity. If you really want to positively influence your hotel’s ratings do it the best way possible – truthfully! You may send Trip Advisor any missing articles and reviews on your hotel, why not ask your guests to write a review? If a guest leaving the hotel drops a complimentary comment your way ask them to share this on Trip Advisor. Over time this activity will add up to a profile on Trip Advisor that reflects your hotel fairly.
Don’t bury your head in the sand, your guests deserve better! Use Trip Advisor to your advantage. The power of online reviews should not be underestimated – good reviews mean more reservations.
About GlobRes
GlobRes provides the best hotel central reservation systems and hotel Internet marketing services for hotels around the world. Connecting hotels with their guests through increased exposure via all channels including GDS, IDS, Digital Marketing and the hotel’s own website. GlobRes operates a fully serviced support centre, offering assistance to hotels in English, Italian, German, Spanish and French.
Editors Note: Please direct all press queries to Samantha Hasler. Tel +41 41 500 0111 or email marketing@globres.com
Many hoteliers feel animosity towards Trip Advisor believing it to be a breeding ground for disgruntled ex employees or competitors writing bogus negative reviews. In truth these types of occurrences are few and far between and Trip Advisor has put measures in place to ensure the validity of the reviews that are placed on the website. One measure is to show users previous reviews by the same reviewer making it easier to gauge a real review against a fake one.
Hoteliers must accept that Trip Advisor is not going anywhere, it is time to engage with the website and work the system. In doing this you ensure that you are aware of what your guests are saying about you, responding publicly to these comments and therefore interacting with your online community. You can upload images, factual information about your hotel and upload new content. If you feel you wish to respond to a review, write a “management response” this could be an explanation, a correction or if appropriate, a compliment to a reviewer. It enables you to give your side of the story as well as give your potential guests confidence because you are demonstrating that you care enough to monitor what your customers say about you. A well crafted management response can go a long way.
Some hoteliers have been caught trying to cheat Trip Advisor and write their own reviews however there is monitoring practices in place to detect this activity. If you really want to positively influence your hotel’s ratings do it the best way possible – truthfully! You may send Trip Advisor any missing articles and reviews on your hotel, why not ask your guests to write a review? If a guest leaving the hotel drops a complimentary comment your way ask them to share this on Trip Advisor. Over time this activity will add up to a profile on Trip Advisor that reflects your hotel fairly.
Don’t bury your head in the sand, your guests deserve better! Use Trip Advisor to your advantage. The power of online reviews should not be underestimated – good reviews mean more reservations.
About GlobRes
GlobRes provides the best hotel central reservation systems and hotel Internet marketing services for hotels around the world. Connecting hotels with their guests through increased exposure via all channels including GDS, IDS, Digital Marketing and the hotel’s own website. GlobRes operates a fully serviced support centre, offering assistance to hotels in English, Italian, German, Spanish and French.
Editors Note: Please direct all press queries to Samantha Hasler. Tel +41 41 500 0111 or email marketing@globres.com
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