With most of the hotels’ bookings controlled by the online travel agencies (OTAs) it is essential that more hotelors get their clients to book directly through the hotel website as this increases the hotel revenue and profitability. Even though direct bookings do away with the commission costs, they also mean you do not have to rely on third party companies to get your bookings.

Here are ten effective strategies to enhance direct bookings on your hotel website.

Strategies to Increase Direct Bookings to Your Hotel

1. Improve Your Website for User Experience

This is why a professional and intuitive website design is one of the key factors of direct bookings’ success. Your web design should be user-friendly, responsive, and should have fast loading time.

The information that should be emphasized include such features as room types, amenities, rates and special offer among others. Hence, an easy-to-use booking system, which can be directly integrated with the website, should help drive less number of abandonments.

2. Exclusive Deals and Packages

Remind guests to book directly by creating special promotions only for bookings done on its website. They could be like rebates, free breakfast, higher room type, or the possibility of an extended checkout time. It will be very clear for guests to book directly through such offers posted on your homepage and the booking page.

3. Promote through Search Engine Optimization

Learn more about best SEO practices to enhance your web traffic and rankings on the different search engine. Utilize keywords that are relevant to the hotel and the geographical area, ensure that you write good meta descriptions and respond to the most likely questions that guests will ask. Better positions directly lead to more visitors and, respectively, the number of bookings.

4. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

Ensure that you engage in PPC advertising so as to be able to direct relevant traffic to your website. Services like Google AdWords enable you to make offers regarding keywords and promote your advertisements to individuals in search of an accommodation in your region.

When adopting Web 2.0 for advertisements ensure that such advertisements lead consumers to a page that is tailored in converting individuals for increased return on investment.

5. Implement a Loyalty Program

Satisfy clientele’s needs more frequently through the reinforcement of a VIP card or a special offer. In the same way, is important to provide an offer, a discount or an extra service for those who book directly thru the website. To ensure your loyalty program is effective, advertise it strategically and ensure that guests have to go through a few steps before they can join.

Also check out:

• 7 Winning Social Media Marketing Strategies for Hotels
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• Social Media Marketing Strategies for Hotels
• How to Attract Business Travellers in Your Hotels

6. Enhance Your Online Reputation

The general acceptance and reviews are determinants to booking choices. Get your clients to write a testimonial on your site and post it on social media sites such as TRIP ADVISOR, GOOGLE REVIEWS.

These testimonials should be posted on the website of the company to reinforce credibility among the clients.

Furthermore, the management should be sensitive to comments from clients on sites such as the TripAdvisor and should endeavour to reply to both positive comments as well as the negative ones in a bid to show the company’s concern for their clients.

7. Engage in Content Marketing

Develop and post high quality material that individuals in your target market will like. This means posts on your hotel’s blog, travel blogs, videos, and tweets about your hotel plus it’s attractions and events.

Thus, content marketing not only brings traffic to your hotel’s website, but it also helps to strengthen its position within the travel niche.

8. Utilize Email Marketing

Gather all the past and potential guests of the place and try to establish some form of contact usually in form of an email list. Develop a content upgrade to keep your audience updated with new offers, fresh news and newsletters regularly. Appealing through electronic mail is a useful channel to advertise and increase direct bookings on your hotel’s website.

9. Integrate Live Chat Support

Provide your clients with the opportunity to use the live chat support in order to solve their problems in the internet-site.

To lessen the apprehensions of potential guests and to continuously assist them in a most appropriate lodging selection, they should include a live chat function. Concrete and quick answers can go a long way in terms of increasing the probability of direct bookings.

10. Analyze and Optimize Performance

Continually review the KPIs for your website using such websites as Google Analytics. Track essential statistics like traffic source, the rate of conversion, and reservation statistics to look for trends that need alteration.

Sets variable sections of the website, for example, headlines, calls to action, and booking forms, to work on to enhance the likelihood of conversions.

Conclusion

Because direct bookings on the hotel’s website are crucial, boosting that metric can only be achieved by utilizing numerous digital marketing strategies for hotels that are simultaneously user experience, marketing, and data analysis-oriented.

Following the indicated ten strategies, one will be able to reach out for more guest’s direct bookings, thus embracing the given hotel from the sphere of OTAs’ dominance, as well as improving the hotel’s revenue as well as guests’ satisfaction.

Harness the digital media and customers for change that will help you take your direct booking new heights and establish sustainable growth in the stiff market of hospitality business.