Website Fundamentals for Innkeepers
The cornerstone of inn marketing is the inn’s website. The goal of the site is to convert website visits into reservations. Before the process of great website design and marketing can begin, you need to have some solid building blocks in place. These include your inn’s name, domain name, and branding.
Naming the Inn and Picking a Domain Name
If you are taking over an existing inn, don’t change the name. An existing inn has established marketing, web traffic, backlinks, domain history, search engine marketing, reviews, and social media following. Furthermore, Google Local relies on Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP); changing the name confuses your Google Local listing as well as the Yellow Pages (DEX) and 30 other directories. Established listings like these are important and give your site credibility. Changing the name means starting from the very beginning and throwing away years of previous work.
Helpful hint: When you buy an existing property, be sure to get usernames and passwords to all existing social media accounts. Tracking these down after the newly retired innkeeper is vacationing in Barcelona won’t be an easy task.
When creating a new inn, pick a good name. Research is key to this task. Look and see if there is already an inn or inns with that name or a similar one. An example of something to stay away from: anything with the name “rose” in it. There are literally 3,010,000 results for “rose inn” on the Internet. Why should that matter to you? If you use “rose” in your name, you will be competing with all those other indexed pages for placement when a guest is trying to find you. Find something unique but easy to remember.
Do not use your surname as your inn’s name. This hurts resale value. New owners may not want their inn named after you and, if they are savvy, they will know it is a bad idea to change it. Naming an inn after a historical figure or whomever built the building can be okay, just be sure to research it for competition, as mentioned earlier.
Once you have decided on the inn’s name, you will need to determine if the domain name is available. Your domain name is your website’s Internet address. Search for the availability of your domain name and what variation might be available by using the www.whois.com website. Pick something that is short, easy to spell and remember, and that includes your inn name or location. Avoid using hyphens because they can cause confusion and make it more difficult to give the web address verbally.
Logo design, branding, and personality are key features to your inn’s marketing success. A logo is more than a picture next to the name of your business. It is a symbol that represents your inn across all media: from your inn sign outside, to your website online. When branding your business, consistency is key. All of your marketing should represent your brand (your inn’s personality). Logo design, print work, and website design should all have a sense of belonging to each other. Branding your business is far more than having a logo, or even setting up standard fonts and colors. What you’re striving for is having your guests, customers, and website visitors remember your business’ personality. That means your marketing efforts need to speak with the same voice. Be sure you understand what you want your inn’s personality and brand to be, so it can be echoed in all your marketing.
Building a Website or Understanding an Existing One
The goal of a website is to attract visitors and convert them to bookings. Four major factors should be considered when building a website or understanding an existing site: website portability and ownership, responsive design, page speed, and the look and feel.
Website portability and ownership needs to be understood prior to signing a website contract. Some companies use proprietary software as a service. These are known in the industry as SAS sites. Many of these companies offer websites for “free” or for a monthly fee. These sites are built via templates, are hosted by the design or hosting company, and require their current server environment to function. This means you won’t be able to take your website to another company, should you choose to. You don’t actually own the website you’ve paid for. You’re simply renting it. If you decide to go with an SAS site be sure you are able to manage your SEO, and that Google Analytics are included. Many SAS companies will offer their own proprietary analytics but the numbers these analytics provide are not easily measured between websites. Analytics will help you to discuss your traffic with other innkeepers and industry leaders. By using the industry standard Google Analytics, you will be able to compare apples to apples with your analytics. Remember if you decide on a SAS, the fees you pay are a marketing expense, not an investment.
Responsive design is a must. If the company you are working with doesn’t design responsively, find a different company. Responsive design means your site will be coded to work seamlessly from desktop to a variety of mobile devices. Google holds nearly 70 percent of search market share, so when Google gives recommendations, it is important to listen. Google states that responsive web design (RWD) is its recommended mobile configuration and an industry best practice. Google prefers RWD because content that lives on one website and one URL is much easier for users to share, interact with, and link to than content that lives on a separate mobile site. RWD also makes managing your site and SEO easier, as you have one site to maintain and market. For these reasons, all websites should be responsively designed.
Page speed is also important to Google. Make sure the company you choose to work with tests their products with Google page speed to ensure they are meeting all of Google’s page speed recommendations. Ask to see how fast the site is at launch.
Once you’ve ensured that standards are met and the system behind the scenes is what you want, it’s time to have fun! The look and feel, or personality of your website is what sells your experience to the visitor. It’s important to capture their attention quickly while also giving them a clear picture of what they can expect at your inn. Some inns have a fun casual vibe, while others may be more traditional and elegant. Figure out who your target market is and grab their attention with a site that appeals to them, while also staying true to your inn’s personality and brand.
Website Design for Success
Professional photos set the stage for great website design. The best designer will struggle with poor photos and your website investment will not be as worthwhile. Professional photos with attention to setting the room and the mood are a must. It’s best to choose a photographer with an understanding of the innkeeping industry. If you choose to use a local photographer or real estate photographer, be sure to show them examples of websites that capture the feeling and look of what you are after. Setting the rooms is also key: fresh flowers, fires lit, and glowing bedside tables all help create a warm and inviting feel. Professional inn photographers will assist you with room staging.
Well written, unique content written in a conversational voice can further show your inn’s personality. Providing the visitor with concise and accurate info about your inn and area also makes you an expert on helping them plan a great getaway. Unique content text that hasn’t been copied and pasted from another source is important because Google penalizes sites that use content from other sites.
A clear site map (navigation of your website) is key in providing organized, easy-to-read information about your inn and area. Recommended top navigation includes around six links. Too many top level choices can make your site look cluttered and be too much for the visitor to process. The following is recommended as top level navigation (you can have additional pages appear as dropdowns):
(a)
Home (this can be your logo; if your logo is your home link, it is fine to have six additional top level links)
(b)
About the Inn (c) Guest Rooms (d) Specials
(e)
Event Facilities (if you offer these)
(f)
Reservations (a direct link to your reservation system)
A Contact Us link is not recommended because the goal is to have your visitors click your reservation link to book a room. Having a Contact Us button only adds confusion. Instead, we suggest having your contact phone number and reservation link clearly visible at the top of your site. Your address, e-mail, and phone number should also be clearly listed in the footer of your site. Should a visitor want to contact you, they can e-mail or call, but if they want to make a reservation, it will be clear to them to click on Reservations.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO is a very complicated process and should be completed prior to launch by your website developer. Proper SEO requires knowledge of the optimal keywords and terms for your business and area and incorporating them naturally into your site’s text.
To blog or not to blog? BLOG! A blog is NOT an option but a necessary tool that should be included as part of your website. Blog posts are seen as pages to be indexed by search engines. They can then be called up by the search engine via organic searches: someone looking for a property to stay at or an event to attend in a particular area. If a visitor turns to the Web to find info on the local garlic festival and you’ve written a great post about it on your blog, you’ve just gained the chance to capture that visitor as a guest at your inn. Your blog not only gives you credit with Google for providing good content, you’ll also gain the respect of guests for being so knowledgeable and helpful with your area’s information.
Include a Virtual Walkthrough—Create quality videos highlighting and explaining the property’s amenities, grounds, and rooms.
Hosting is the final step in launching a website. Hosting is the rented space on the Internet where your website lives and is seen by visitors. It is extremely important that you choose a trusted host who will keep your site safe from hackers with appropriate security measures and software updates on your server and site as part of your hosting package. This service is called managed hosting. If you do not choose a managed hosting company, you will need to pay for security updates or be responsible for them yourself.
In conclusion, knowing what you need and how to ask for it makes navigating the jargon-laden world of websites a far less daunting task. The insights laid out here will help you on your way to successful website marketing for your inn.
Takeaways
Don’t be afraid to hire professionals. Your website will do better in the long run if you hire someone who does websites for a living to help set up or optimize your website rather than doing it yourself. Professional photos also make a big difference, giving your property an air of professionalism.
The most successful websites have regularly updated blogs. They keep your website current and drive traffic in.
Before naming your property, Google search the name you’re thinking of. If you’ve inherited a property, see what kind of buzz you already have.
Additional Resources
Mary White: Running a Bed & Breakfast for Dummies
Travel Expert blog—Peter Greenberg: http://petergreenberg.com
Innkeeping Consultants—Peter Schermann and Rick wolf https://bbteam.com
Hospitality Expert blog—Vikram Singh: Wordsofvikram.com
For SEO and Local Advice https://moz.com