There isn’t any doubt that user experience is integral to website design. If you have to think of one industry where user experience is the most important, it is hospitality. In the field of hospitality, you have to match and exceed the expectations of your guests, right from the moment they are in touch with you till they leave your establishment. 

In the digital world, the very first moment your guests come in contact with your hotel is your website. Direct booking, what every hotel strives for, can be achieved if the user experience of the website is good. Here are four tips for designing websites for hotels:

1. For more conversions, improve flow of booking

If you want your hotel website to make more conversions, you need to improve the flow of booking. Think about how your hotel website can make it easier for guests to book rooms online. For example, you should ensure the booking window is visible at all times to anyone who uses your website. When users are on hotel websites, they will compare the rates of different types of rooms, to make decisions. You need to ensure the rates are visible and the rooms have sufficient visuals. When the users have to check out, make sure they have to provide the least amount of information. Show the summary of the booking clearly.

2. Make website mobile-friendly first

It’s a given that every website should be mobile-friendly. However, you should always focus on making the website mobile-friendly first. In the hotel industry, guests don’t have a lot of time in their hands as they make decisions on the go. Hence, it is always better to have a website design that is stable, rather than focusing on functionality. Also, it is ideal that mobile users have the same functionality as web users. If you can’t make this happen, you can always show them a link to the complete website.

3. Use a lot of visuals

When guests have to book rooms through hotel websites, they will want to see what the hotels have to offer. If you want to increase the chances of online booking, you need to make sure there are high-quality photos of every inch of your hotel. For example, there should be photos of the facilities, the rooms, exterior, interior, and hotel grounds to name a few. Users tend to check a lot of websites before booking rooms because they want to see if the hotel has provided accurate information. However, ensure the website loads quickly, despite the high-quality content as users don’t like waiting for more than three seconds.

4. Boost customer experience

Customer experience and user experience go hand in hand, in website design. If you want your guests to have a great experience from start to finish, you need to focus on the design of your website. You can beat aggregators if your website has personal guest service. Ensure that the customers can contact your hotel with the help of your website. You can provide live chat, landline, mobile number, contact form, and Skype ID for special requests and inquiries related to a reservation.

Follow these four tips when designing the website for your hotel to increase conversions!

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