In this post we explain the enormous importance of conversion for a hotel website, and the methodologies we have developed to increase it to the maximum.
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) is a set of techniques and methodologies that we can apply to a website to increase the percentage of visits that end up making a direct booking, that is, to increase the conversion rate.
The average conversion rate of ecommerce in Spain is 1%. This figure can be extended to hotel websites, which are nothing more than a special type of online shop.
The importance of conversion
Let's take an example. Let's imagine a hotel website with a traffic of 400 visits per day, and a low conversion rate of, say, 0.5%. This website will have 2 bookings per day, with an average amount of €750 per booking, which means a revenue of €1,500 per day.
Only by increasing conversion by half a point, to 1%, we would double the hotel's revenue from direct online bookings to €3,000 per day .
In contrast, a 20% increase in traffic, thanks to SEO and SEM, would increase traffic to 480 visits per day, resulting in 2.4 bookings, i.e. €1,800 per day.
This is a typical case, it could be happening right now to your hotel. A 0.5% impact on the conversion rate would mean a 100% increase in direct booking revenue, while a 20% increase in web traffic would mean only a 20% increase .
In other words: the results obtained by increasing the conversion rate of a hotel website by half a point can be equivalent to increasing traffic to double the current level, and that is assuming that with the increase in traffic the conversion rate is constant (which is completely impossible in our sector, except for exceptionally poorly positioned websites).
So why do all online marketing agencies talk about SEO and SEM, and none about CRO, especially in the hotel sector, where it is so difficult to increase qualified traffic to a hotel website?
The answer is that, surely, most online marketing experts do not have the technical capacity to influence the CRO of a hotel website, especially in the most complex parts, such as the booking engine.
In the end, hotel websites end up being two separate worlds, with engineers working on the engine, with little marketing acumen, and marketers working on "the web", with little technical knowledge. This is unheard of in other sectors, where ecommerce is a whole, web + sales tool.
CRO: increasing conversion
The conversion of a website is not improved simply by changing the colour of the booking button. It is necessary that the website is well designed, from the home page to the thank you page, and that the user experience is excellent, or at the very least, problem-free. Therefore, many factors are involved in CRO, from design and content, to technical aspects of usability, including the typical marketing elements, such as actionable content, and of course avoiding distractions and leaks.
A good hotel website has to have a first impact, presenting the hotel in the best possible way, like an advertisement. It should use messages relevant to its target, avoiding generic messages such as "enjoy your holidays".
The website has to reinforce the hotel's strong points, tell the user that it is where he/she should be, that this is the hotel he/she was looking for. It also has to convey a sense of security and control. This is not done with a "secure payment" seal but with order and cleanliness: we want the user to find everything where it should be.
Once the first impact has been made, the user must be accompanied towards the booking, subtly at first, and then more insistently at the end. The booking experience on the booking engine must be fluid and intuitive, and must allow the user to easily get the price and availability information they want, and to propose improvements and alternatives if what they were looking for is not available.
Free CRO audit
At WPH we have been dedicated to getting direct bookings for our clients for almost 10 years, which is why our websites are studied down to the last detail. The result of this knowledge is our CRO Index for hotel websites, thanks to which we can analyse in detail up to 50 key points of the conversion of a hotel website.
We are convinced that we can significantly increase the conversion of a hotel website by applying just a few improvements. Increasing direct bookings by 50%, 100% or 200% and up to 1,000% is possible, just by improving the conversion of your website.
Do you want to know why users don't trust your website and end up booking on booking.com? Do you want to know the weak points of your website? Would you like to know how we could improve your home page or your current booking system? Request a CRO audit right now, you'll be surprised!
