How to make a Hotel website to accept booking in 2021.
Are you looking to make a hotel website to accept booking?
In 2018, owing to the increasing cost of doing business with OTA, there was a greater push to book direct on the hotel brand website. In 2021, it is even more important to have a direct booking channel.
Direct booking as a percentage of hotel revenue is the most cost efficient channel and if you do not have a plan to improve hotel booking on direct channel, this article can help .
This guide if for you if you wish to have a hotel website. It can help you to identify, what goes in to making a website, and have a productive discussion with the web designer or developer.
If you want to make the website yourself, use WordPress. WordPress is a Content Management Systems, that powers 37 % of the world’s website. It powers high traffic website like ecommerce stores and other news publications and can be used efficiently for your hotel website.
Here is an overview of what you need to do to make a hotel website to accept booking.
- Choose a domain name – Your brand name
- Choose a Hosting – Where your site lives
- Choose a website theme
- Choose a booking engine and other addons to customise your site
- Add the content, photos and videos in pages
So how much can a website cost?
The answer is it depends. It can cost anywhere from Rs. 12000 per year for a functioning website able to handle decent traffic to enterprise site that can cost Rs. 20 lac per year.
However to setup the website, expect to spend some initial money to buy the domain name and get the basic website made.
I would recommend if you are an individual operator looking to start with a website, to start small with a basic site with a booking engine and add the features as the traffic grows to the site.
This way you will save money and minimize potential losses by avoiding overspending.
To begin making the website, just follow along and you will have a professional looking website in the end.
Lets get started.
Step 1 – Choose a Domain Name
A domain name is simple. It is your brand name and your address on the web. This is what the users will type to get to your hotel website. So you will need to spend some time thinking about it right. You may find that the name you want is not available or the .com extension is not available. In those times use an .in extension if possible or check out the list of other available extensions.
Make sure the name matches your hotel name or company name. Often you will find that the name is available for a premium. In those cases, buy it as it is a one time premium expenses and then yearly payment will be quite nominal.
You may also find other extensions. However note that not all extensions may work for you. So spend some time on this step before you move on to the next step.
Step 2 – Choose your hosting
Hosting comes in many flavours. You can get shared hosting for as low as Rs. 199 per month from Bluehost or managed hosting from Cloudways for as low as Rs. 700 per month.
Obviously having managed hosting requires some technical competence so for most people to start off with as shared hosting from Bluehost is enough.
Bluehost is one of the largest hosting company and very reputed in the hosting space. It is also enough to get started.
Step 3 – Choose a website theme
A wordpress website consists of a theme in the front. You can use a specific theme for your hotel website by purchasing one among the many from the Themeforest Marketplace. They have a wide range of themes to get your website started.
A premium theme will help you make a good impression of the website.
Step 4 – Choose a booking engine
A booking engine is what will convert your static website to a money making one. There are many companies that provide online booking engine for a fee.
Some of the booking engine providers are given below. You can find more about the company in our vendor directory.
- Djubo
- FX booking engine by IDS Next
- Synixis booking engine by Sabre
- Resavenue by Infibeam
- Booking engine by Staah
While selecting a booking engine, also consider the overall booking flow. You will need to make sure the booking engine, channel manager and property management system you plan to use. By integrating the 3 services, you can create a powerful booking engine on your website.
Step 5 – Add content in pages
A website should give complete information about the hotel and its facilities. Once you integrate the booking engine, you must then add informational pages and link the site together. Updates about the facility, dining options, banquets facilities etc. must be prominently written and explained.
These internal pages are important from Local SEO practices as well and help you to rank your hotel website on google.
Add property images, videos on the website as well to complete the site.
In conclusion
Having a website for your hotel in 2021 is ever more important. Your website must be able to sell your hotel to potential guest and visitors.
So it is very important to design it well and integrate a booking engine and channel manager.
By working with Bluehost and by selecting a domain, you can take a first step to making a website.
Use our business directory to find vendors who can help you with various task as you set your hotel. That way you can make a hotel website to accept booking and improve your hotel revenue.