So you've decided that in order to run a successful bed and breakfast or hotel you need website so that potential guests may find you. On that website you need to have as much information as possible to tempt and aid potential guests in staying at your property. Here are the things you need to ensure that your website designer creates on your website.
Photography
It is important to have as many photos as possible of your accommodation. These need to be of all the bedrooms so that guests may choose the one they wish to stay in and see the difference in rooms of varying prices. Make sure there is no clutter or unnecessary objects in your pictures. If the bedrooms are ensuite take pictures of the bathrooms. If the rooms have any nice views then they are worth having pictures of too. Take a photo of the outside of your property, preferably on a sunny day. Any salient features of your property such as wooden beam architecture or the outside picnic area is also worth including. The breakfast room and any other communal areas are important to show. You may decide it works best to have a photo gallery page where all of your pictures can be displayed together.
Investing in a professional photographer can ensure your accommodation looks as good as possible. They use wide angle lenses which bring the best out of a room.
Design
An out-of-date designed website gives the impression that your accommodation is also tired and run down even if it isn't! You wouldn't choose a hairdressers that has a worn out sign would you? Have a look at your website's design every 2-3 years and see if aspects of the site needs updating whether it is just some text, photos or the whole thing it is worth the money and time to ensure it appeals to the next generation of potential guests.
Tariff
Some bed and breakfast owners think it is better not to put their tariff on the website so that they can change it easily in quiet times or to encourage visitors to get in contact with them. However, this is a big mistake as most potential guests looking on the web want to find out as much information as possible and book their accommodation as quickly as possible without having to first enquire about prices they may or may not be willing to pay. Furthermore, without a price guide, most visitors will assume that the accommodation is expensive and the reason why the owner has chosen not to include the prices on their website.
Decide on your prices to display on your website and remember you can always change them / ask your web designer too. If you want to be able to regularly change elements of your website such as prices ask your website designer to make you a website which has a content management system so that you can learn how to make your own simple changes. Website builders like Guestfy offer content management systems which mean that you can be in control of your website and make as many changes as you like as soon as you like. To get a rough guide of how much you should charge your guests look on other similar accommodation websites in similar areas to yourself. It is possible to have different price guides for different times of the year displayed on your website and a rough price is better than no price.
Remember to include information about whether or not you require a deposit, the payment methods you accept and your cancellation policy.
Availability
It is always recommended to have an availability calendar on your website. It will often cost you more but can save you valuable time and money in the long run and is also an easier way for you to keep track of guests than paper forms. See our article on availability calendars for further information.
Contact details
You will want your contact details to be clearly spotted from both your home pages and other areas of your website to encourage potential guests to contact you. This includes: home phone number, mobile phone number and email address. It is up to you whether or not to use a contact enquiry form rather than display your email address. There are pros and cons of both options. Having your email address displayed can attract spammers but some users may prefer to email this way and sometimes contact enquiry forms can go wrong.
It is also recommended to have a map of your area displayed on your contact page so that potential guests can see exactly where you are located and not have to contact you just to find out. If your property is hard to find it is wise to include driving directions to prevent frustrated guests phoning you up lost and confused on arrival day.
Content
Take the time to write some information about things to do in your area, or get a writer to do so. Not only will his be of great interest to your potential guests and tempt them to stay with you, but can help search engines find you. If you are using keywords of attractions in your area, than someone interested in those may come across your website indirectly. Either way, a little content is key and can only lead to more visitors to your website.
SEO
You may have the best accommodation website money can buy but if it isn't ranking high on the search engines such as Google when your potential customers are looking for accommodation in your area it is a waste of time. People searching online will type in keywords such as B&B in Weymouth and therefore your website needs to be found by them. There are many things you can do to increase your search engine visibility. In the content on your website use keywords and, if possible, choose a domain name or title tag for your website which has popular search terms in your website designer can advise on this that way there is more chance you'll be found. Website builders such as Guestify create their customer's websites with search engine visibility in mind so that all these factors are covered to help ensure they're found by relevant customers using relevant search terms. For further advice on marketing your accommodation see our article.