Discover how we create our clients' websites

First step: Creating the homepage in the main language

Before we start, we decide which template we are going to use. Although we have several models uploaded on CloudHotelier, we are always preparing new templates, so if you are not convinced by any of them, write to us and we will show you what we are working on.

When choosing the template, you have to take into account the type of hotel and your preferences. If at the beginning you are not sure, that's OK! As we develop the homepage you will start to have clearer ideas. In this step it is important that you provide us with photos and the logo of the hotel so that the website takes shape and we can decide on the colours and fonts.

Normally our Homes are made up of these sections:

1. Main photoslider, there can be texts or not, it depends on each hotel. The aim is to make an impact on the visitor, as if they were looking at an advertisement in a magazine. We are looking for this reaction: "Wow, this is promising".

Welcome: this is a brief description of the hotel. The objective is to achieve affinity with the visitor and keep them browsing your website. We are looking for the reaction: "this is what I was looking for".

3. Highlights: These are the things that provide a differential value. Through photographs we link your website with articles about the area, for example, what activities can be done near your hotel, is it near a popular place? Through this section you get the reaction: "Aha, this interests me!

4. Customer comments: We are looking for affinity and empathy with the visitor, we want them to see themselves reflected in the examples. We usually look for what the hotel's clients value most in the booking.com comments, and we put it in the comments. We look for photos that identify with the typical hotel customer. The reaction we look for in the visitor is "yes, this is for me, that's precisely what I'm interested in from this type of hotel".

5. Culture / lifestyles: In this section we try to reflect the values of the hotel, what type of tourism we propose, sport, beach, relaxation, luxury, nature, gastronomy, etc. We must try to give the hotel as much personality as possible. This is the theory, in practice it ends up being a bit freestyle.

6. Direct booking advantages: This section is used to encourage customers to book on the web, to offer advantages over booking, or at least to match the same conditions. Normally the most typical advantages are: priority in room allocation, premium breakfast, welcome pack, water in the room, etc.

7. Contact information: We usually add a map linked to google maps but it is up to the client to decide. There must be a telephone number and email address.

Once the client has approved the home page, we move on to the interior pages.

Second step: Make the website in the main language.

Now that we have the homepage finished, it's time to define the interior pages.

The client chooses how many sections he wants, and how he wants them to be organised, on different pages or on the same one.

The sections that cannot be missing are:

1. The Hotel: On this page the hotel is described in detail, what it is like, what facilities it has (restaurant, swimming pool, sauna...), the services, the views... Photographs are very important in this section so that the visitor can see the type of hotel.

2. The rooms: This section can be done separately (with its own tab within the Home), or as part of the Hotel page. Here photographs are included and all types of rooms or flats available are described.

3. The surroundings: This describes where the hotel is located, what is around it and what activities are recommended as experts in the area.

4. Contact: It is important to have a contact form so that visitors can communicate with the hotel. Name, email, subject and message are requested. We take care of connecting the form with the client's email address so that no message is lost.

There are other sections found in our templates that are completely optional but which we recommend as they tend to improve the appearance of the website by far.

5. Availability: This tab shows a calendar by months with the availability of the hotel, how many rooms are available on those dates, the price per night according to the days booked... This section makes the page more trustworthy to the visitor and makes him interested in booking.

6. Offers: There are hotels that are dedicated to creating offers to attract the attention of their visitors, this tab serves to have all the discounts and offers sorted.

7. Gallery: Photographs are never superfluous, a good gallery with the best photos of your hotel can be what convinces the visitor to book.

8. Blog: You can write articles about the experience you sell in the hotel, although it is not usually a necessary section.

When designing our templates, we always think about the elements that will be present in all the tabs of the website. These elements are the most important. In the header we have the telephone number of the hotel, in the centre is the booking form so that the visitor can book from any section of the website. At the bottom of the page we have the hotel contact, and the map with the address.

Third step: Making the website in the other languages

Once the website is finished, we create it in the other languages chosen by the client.

Translating a page is simple, we do it from within Joomla. The important thing is that it is specified from the beginning which languages they are going to be, as it takes quite a long time to translate the whole website because you have to go element by element. We recommend a minimum of two languages.

Once they have been chosen, we start the website with the rest of the languages. Normally the translations, as well as the rest of the texts, are provided by the client. It is very important that when translating, it is done by a person and not by a translation programme, because if the visitor browses the page with the translated language and finds errors, it is most likely that he/she will not make a reservation.

Fourth step: Preparing and launching the booking engine

Once the website is finished, there is one last very important step before it can be published. The booking engine needs to be set up.

To use the engine, we do it through the CloudHotelier panel, to which the client has access so that he can manage all his bookings at first hand. Within the panel we create the hotel, the types of rooms it has and open the availability per room. From here, the client can add or limit availability if changes are made to their hotel, without the need to contact us.

This section specifies the standard price per room per night. The cancellation policy, reservation policy, etc. are also written here. There is a section to write the offers, discounts, specify the high season... Thanks to our CloudHotelier panel, the client obtains all the independence he needs to manage his hotel.

Once all the data has been filled in, we link the website with the booking engine.

Step 5: Putting the website online

So far we have been working from the inside creating the website, but once it is finished and with the client's approval, we publish the website online.

You know how we create the websites for our clients, don't you think it's easy and comfortable?

If you are interested in improving your 2001 website or starting one from scratch, you know where to find us!