Five Common Booking Engine Mistakes to Avoid for Your Hotel or Vacation Rental Website

Almost everyone in this environment is looking for ways to maximize revenue; from large hotel chains to independent boutique properties, hoteliers across the world are looking for ways to boost their sales. So it’s not surprising that in my conversations with operators, I am constantly being asked “What is the secret to success on the web?” I always respond with a question of my own: “How much attention do you pay to your property’s website booking engine?” More often than not, those looking for ways to increase their online sales have booking engine problems that can be fixed, without completing overhauling the property’s website.

Most hotel operators acknowledge that the company’s website is an important revenue generator, but rather than using it as the cost-effective and dynamic tool that it is, they lose focus and turn it into the equivalent of an online brochure. While brochures have their place in the marketing mix, they are not directly responsible for a hotel’s profits, whereas your website can be. By optimizing the booking engine, hoteliers can maximize bookings and revenues through this important portal.

First, though, hotel websites must avoid some of the pitfalls I see all too often that prevent a website’s booking engine from contributing positively to the property’s bottom line:

1. The Shy Little (Booking) Engine

When designing websites, I always try to present the website visitor with a one-two punch: first, the emotional reaction - “Oh, I want to go there!” - accomplished by beautiful images, often as a subtle slideshow. Right next to it, a very clear call-to-action: the quick availability and rate search. When these two aspects- which are the most effective at encouraging bookings- are the centerpieces of a successful web strategy, the property’s online revenues increase dramatically. An unobtrusive text link that says “Reservations” hidden in a corner will not make the grade; your home page is not the place for subtlety.

Remember, people make up their mind in seconds whether a website has the information they are looking for or not. Make it easy for them to find (and use) it. If they don’t see your call-to-action right away, their next click will be on the back button.

2. Popups be Damned

This is my biggest pet peeve. Next to email spam, popups are the most reported internet annoyance for consumers shopping for a hotel online. Just as you don’t want your most important online revenue generator to go unnoticed, you don’t want your booking engine to be scaring consumers away. The reasons for using popups vary and although there are ways to avoid being caught by a popup blocker, why take any chance that your booking engine will either annoy your customer or be blocked altogether?

3. Not Making it a Part of the Rest of Your Site

Before your booking engine can be the central feature of your website, it must first be fully and dynamically integrated into the website - as cleanly and seamlessly as possible. When hotel or lodging websites resort to popups, it’s usually because they lack a truly integrated solution. I believe that consumers expect a seamless booking experience similar to the one they have on third party sites like Orbitz or Expedia, and if they can’t get it through your property’s site they will go elsewhere. So what is the “right” way to do it? A consumer’s typical online purchasing process goes something along the lines of this:

Arrive at the home page, get rates for room types from booking engine.
Decide whether your rate and availability suits their needs– Is the rate too high? Are you booked solid through their travel dates? Then, especially in the current climate, consumers will search for specials and deals that may be available.
So the price is right and you have availability, next consumers want to find out what your property has to offer – pool, spa, golf course, restaurant, valet, etc. Don’t forget to include photos! Again, they have to decide whether what you offer suits their needs.
Hopefully, they’ve made it this far and they are happy with what you have to offer. So they click on the ‘book now’ button and once again, either reject or accept your cancellation policy, additional fees and security and safety of your site.
If you’re doing your job as web marketer, the consumer will then enter their credit card details and confirm the booking.

As you can see, even a person who is ready and willing to book their stay goes through multiple accept/reject check points. And at every one of these booking stages, you run the risk of losing the customer. If your site changes its look or there is a visual disconnect with what you are offering, forces a popup, includes broken links or incorrect data, or seems incomplete and difficult to navigate through any of the touchpoints, it is highly likely that you will lose the booking.

And always make sure the booking portion of the site looks like and is connected to the rest of the site: this is vital to create trust and high level of comfort. The unit description and booking pages are excellent opportunities for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) because they contain many of the keywords that people are likely to enter when searching for lodging online. If those keywords are found on a different site - as they would be if your booking engine was a popup - that is another lost opportunity to deliver this traffic to your site.

4. Not Spelling out the Specials

Today, most sites have some kind of search box and most website management companies can track the results. Guess which category is the most common? Sales, deals and discounts. The most effective specials are those that appeal to each traveler’s specific situation. For example, a traveler with a large family that needs three rooms might be hoping to get the third room at a discount. A late-booking visitor, knowing that your property has availability, might be looking for a last-minute discount. Offering specials to these willing customers and then clearly outlining them in rate quotes (and again during the booking summary) will increase conversion rates tremendously.

5. Asking for the Wrong Info at the Wrong Time

The online booking engine is a wonderful invention, appreciated by busy travelers who want to compare rates at 2AM and by hoteliers who want to sell their inventory in an effective manner. One of the challenges the online booking has always faced is trepidation - even sometimes hesitation - on the part of consumers to give out credit card numbers online. So be smart about how you ask for this information. Make sure your security certificates are up-to-date, visible and recognizable. Use the best encryption and information security practices available. Keep your potential customers’ privacy as the central factor in deciding whether to collect any information because you can be sure, if their information is ever compromised, that’s the last sale that your property will ever get from them.

If you have an effective reservation department that can follow up on email inquiries, ask for name, email and phone number in the step prior to the credit card details. If the user for some reason has second thoughts (we techies call these ”abandons”), you still have a hot lead that you can call back to help “complete the reservation”. Conversion ratios on abandons tend to be much higher than regular email leads, especially if agents are empowered to offers small discounts as part of the process.

Clearly, your property’s online success also depends on many other factors beyond just the specific booking engine: low traffic, poor search engine optimization, lack of brand recognition or subpar revenue management will be equally detrimental. The most important concept however (a new website mantra!) is this – you have direct control over your website and booking engine so if it’s not working, fix it! Rededicate your website to the purpose of not just driving sales or increiasing leads, but creating revenue. Help your booking engine contribute to your bottom line, rather than ruin it.

I’d love to get your feedback. What works for your company? What doesn’t? Have questions? Need advice. Email me at rob@bookt.com and let’s chat. Maybe I could even include your comments and ideas in my next article – coming soon!

This article first was published online on HotelExecutive.com

Posted by Rob Käll on 11/6/2009 4:33:46 PM 0 Comments