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It important for customers to fall in love with your website because the longer they stay, the higher the chance they will book.
Welcome to another edition of Hospitality Property School.
I am your instructor, Gerry MacPherson and today, I am going to talk about “How to Create a Perfect Website”.
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Why is it important for customers and potential guests to fall in love with your website?
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[bctt tweet=”The longer visitors stay on your site the higher the chance they will book with you.” username=”KeystoneHDC”]
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Your goal should be to make your hospitality properties website a pleasure to look at.
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Whether you’re overhauling your properties existing website or creating your web presence from scratch, you should understand the crucial elements of a clean and functional website so that it looks honest, professional, and well-designed.
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I am going to look at some of the details you need to consider when designing your website.
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A website should be easy to use
If visitors are confused when looking at your website it will be a great way to dissuade them from making their booking decision.
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Ensuring your website is easy to navigate around will keep your visitors on your site for longer and increase the chances of conversion. Test the ease of use yourself by seeing how many clicks it takes for you to find a piece of information, such as your room descriptions or your list of facilities – if it’s more than three clicks, it’s probably too many.
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Your homepage
[bctt tweet=”First impressions count. You have less than 15 seconds to impress a visitor when they hit your website for the first time.” username=”KeystoneHDC”]
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Your website needs to build trust and show a user that you’re professional. You also have to make it clear that every piece of information can be found on your properties website, in an uncluttered way.
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The about us page
The ‘About Us’ section is the perfect place to tell your story, explaining why you love to host your guests, the kind of experience your property offers them, the history of your property, the local attractions, and a way to introduce your team.
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Delightful images
You only have to look at the statistics surrounding Instagram to realise how powerful images have become.
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Delightful imagery is more than just a passing trend, and hoteliers are well-placed to make the most of their aspirational surroundings.
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Quality content
[bctt tweet=”Content is King and your website needs lots of it.” username=”KeystoneHDC”]
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Interesting content helps to keep your prospective guests on your website longer. Content increases the rate of conversion, especially if it’s authentic, accurate, and informative.
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Ideas include:
- detailed descriptions of your rooms and other facilities
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- local attractions
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- history of your hotel
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- an up-to-date blog
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- guest reviews
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- your bar
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- dining room
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- spa
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Information
Information about your rooms, rates, facilities and amenities, room availability, contact details, your location and proximity to attractions, and things to do, to name just a few. Most of this information is viewed as standard, but your property can stand out from the competition by going that extra mile and supplying a comprehensive guide to what’s offered locally.
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Direct bookings
You can have all the great elements of a beautiful web experience but without a place for your prospective guests to book, it’s essentially incomplete.
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Your site footer
You can use the footer of your website to repeat the main navigation bar of your website which can help create a better user experience, and also help prospective guests find what they’re looking for more quickly.
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Google analytics
Building a website that tries to be everything to everyone is not a great strategy. The key is to really know your audience.
- Who is visiting your site?
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- Where in the world are they coming from?
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- What pages are they most interested in?
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- What do they click on?
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Analytics can help you become more targeted.
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Knowing the jargon
When you’re thinking about building a website from scratch, you need to know the difference between your XML and your HTML, or you could find yourself in trouble during the early stages of your build.
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Internal links
Links are key to drive traffic around your site. They are a necessity when building a beautiful web experience for your guests to help them navigation around your website more seamlessly.
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In conclusion
Now it is time to step back and look at your website as a customer would and to see where you could make changes to enhance their experience.
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With this in mind, we want to challenge you.
We want to challenge you to the 6 Day Challenge.
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We at Keystone HDC have taken our years of experience as hospitality property authorities and have produced the “6 Day Challenge”, a video series with many actionable tips & techniques that you can take and use to help improve your properties patronage and profit.
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And the most exciting thing with this video series– it’s 100% Free!
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This 6 Day Challenge will take you step by step through the process of operating a successful hospitality property, including:
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- Determining What Type of Owner/Manager You Are
- How to Set Up an Organisational Structure
- Secrets to Great Customer Service
- How to Market Effectively
- How to Benefit From Social Media
- How to Make Your Guests Want to Return
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Whether you are operating a one-room bed & breakfast or a 500 room luxury hotel, there is always something new you could learn.
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There is a famous quote says
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“Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching”
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It is important as a hospitality property owner or manager that you never stop learning.
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So, what have you got to lose? Are you up for the challenge?
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Visit
keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com/6-day-challenge-log-in-here
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Sign up and get immediate access to the first video.
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Good Luck!
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If you have any stories about “How to Create a Perfect Website” and would like to share or have any questions or feedback you can leave them in the comments section of the show notes.
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So, as always, let’s work together to put heads in your beds.
Until next time, have a fun day.
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⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY CONSULTING:
https://keystonehpd.com/KHDC110
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⇒ And don’t forget to join the “6 Day Challenge” here:
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RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
The Keystone HDC Training Tutorials
https://courses.keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com/
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Join our community in “The Hospitality Property School Group” –Check it Out for One Full Week for Only $1
https://keystonehpd.com/membership-site
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TWEET THIS VIDEO:
How to Create a Website
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Say hi on social:
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/KeystoneHDC
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/KeystoneHDC
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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keystone-hospitality-development/
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Listen to The Hospitality Property School PODCAST here:
https://keystonehpd.com/itunes-podcast
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https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/hospitality-property-school
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YouTube
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Hospitality Property School is a division of Keystone HDC
