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How Your Website Guides the Guest Experience

How Your Website Guides the Guest Experience

Brian Fitzgerald
Brian Fitzgerald May 16, 2016
How Your Website Guides the Guest Experience

Often, your website is the very first experience potential guests have with your property.  You want guests who visit your site to have an experience that matches the high level of service and personalization they will experience on property.

If your website is lacking in these things, your hotel or inn may not create a positive impression on a potential guest.  A hotel website impacts the guest experience in many ways and can either generate a booking or send a potential guest running to an OTA.

A simple layout can direct guests to certain aspects of your site that you want them to see most.  A site packed with information will overwhelm and distract guests, forcing them to leave the site.  However, a simple, aesthetically pleasing site that is easy to navigate will encourage guests to explore the site further, leading to more direct bookings.

Placing a booking widget or a call-to-action, such as a “Check Availability” button in the top left or top right-hand corners of the screen will generate the most attention since we read from left to right and from top to bottom.   Making your booking engine prominent encourages guests to begin the booking process.

High quality photos of your property can influence guests because they can begin to imagine themselves relaxing by your resort’s pool or sleeping on one of your hotel’s luxurious beds.

In an article published on Hotel News Now, Vanja Bogicevic, Hyeyoon Choi and Milos Bujisic present a study they conducted on how guest room photos impact guests’ perceptions of a hotel.

The results proved that photos influence guests’ attitudes about the property and impacts how they expect to be treated during their stay.  An aesthetically pleasing site with high-quality photos will not only encourage the guest to look around the site, it will also allow the guest to begin imagining their incredible stay at your hotel.

Many guests use their smartphones to visit hotel websites.  Neglecting to create a positive user experience on your mobile site will alienate mobile users.

Creating a mobile app for your property can help you personalize your messages to the guests and can increase communication between guests and employees, improving the guest experience before they arrive.

However, even if you have a mobile app, many guests will still use your mobile website.  Create the same quality experience on your mobile site that is on your full website to provide the same level of service to mobile guests.

Your hotel website impacts the guest experience by encouraging them to explore the site, book a room, and gives them positive expectations of your property, making your site a worthwhile investment.

 

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