TECHNOLOGY : WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
MOBILE MUST-HAVES
Opinions differ over just how extensive and complex hotel mobile sites the user click over to the equivalent
every page of the mobile site that lets
ought to be , but they should at the desktop version . Mobile sites are least include three basic features : tapto-call , allowing the user to talk to a a smartphone user may want to delve
designed for speed and simplicity , but sales agent within seconds ; tap-tomap , making it simple to navigate to In the case of multi-property
deeper into the site .
the property while on the road ; and a groups , mobile sites should use geolocation to automatically direct mobile-specific booking engine .
Unlike on desktop or tablet devices , mobile users to an information page the booking engine for mobile should for the nearest hotel , with that night ’ s be as brief as possible — require only rate prominently displayed . The a name , email address or phone number , and a credit card . Requiring too — m . lq . com — includes a one-touch
mobile site of La Quinta Inns & Suites
much input on a mobile device could “ Hold ” button that easily reserves frustrate the user into abandoning the a room under the user ’ s mobile reservation . Also , include a link on phone number .
digital strategy and distribution .
Recent upsell campaigns from Kempinski include the Suitely Sensational offer that focused on higher-category suites to increase ADR through the brand site , and the Summer à la Carte offer that bundled add-ons — champagne , F & B vouchers , massages — for guests who booked higher room categories . The Suitely Sensational campaign increased suite category bookings by 25 % year over year .
More pictures + optimized content Five years ago , e-marketing consultants were emphasizing big , bold property images that were crisp and quick to download . Pictorial volume and quality has improved dramatically since then .
Terry Kane , brand director of digital strategy for Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts , Dubai , believes strongly in the value of hotel websites that deliver deep , comprehensive information . “ Through excellent content , Jumeirah online is focused on establishing [ itself as ] a long-term authority on luxury hospitality and expertise at our destinations ,” Kane says . “ This is done through our destination guides , our recommendations on activities — inside and outside of Jumeirah hotels — and our newly introduced Everyday Experiences pages . And , of course , the consistent development of social networking ensures that we can not only promote but also geo-locate . Through excellent content our guests get to know us better and naturally want to find out more .”
There is such a thing as too much content , though . Although search engines reward content-rich websites , too much content can overwhelm the user and disrupt conversion , so hotels are keeping text blocks concise .
The quantity of textual content is ultimately less important than the quality , says Robert Cole , the Wisconsin-based president of travel technology consultancy RockCheetah . The objective is for the page content to be relevant and structured so that it is easily readable and understood , and longer content should be tagged properly with headlines for sub-topics . Search-engine optimization is an important consideration , but of course the end goal is to sell hotel rooms . “ Nobody should build a site based solely on pleasing the Google algorithm ,” Cole says . “ It needs to please the community of humans it serves .”
Want a cookie ? Cookie tracking — identifying users by web-browsing history and other digital indicators — was once viewed by many consumers as an invasion of privacy , but it has become an accepted — and even expected — online marketing technique .
Use cookies to appeal to different demographics . What interests a business traveler from China will be different than a leisure traveler from Brazil , and a 25-year-old man will be enticed by something different than a 65-year-old woman . Cookies will not always deliver that degree of demographic precision , but they can make decent assumptions , which can in turn deliver targeted , dynamic content that
54 HOTELS October 2013 www . hotelsmag . com