If your goal for your hotel is to attract the most website visitors and turning them into customers, then you’ll need to have a well-designed and optimized website. Luxury hotel websites are a dime a dozen these days, so don’t neglect the importance of your hotel website design.

Your hotel website is the first point of contact between your hotel and a potential guest, so a good first impression is crucial. While there are plenty of marketing mistakes to be avoided, mistakes in design are just as important. There are several key elements that can make or break a hotel website, and each of them needs to be given proper attention in order to be successful. We’ll be discussing the 4 biggest mistakes new wordpress hotel websites make and how to avoid them.

By the time you finish this article, you’ll be ready to make the best luxury hotel website to stand out from the competition.

Mistake #1: Poorly Optimized Web Design

The user experience of a hotel website is vital to making a good first impression and keeping visitors on the site.

If a website is slow or confusing to navigate, visitors are likely to give up and try somewhere else, and these days there are plenty of luxury hotels to choose from. Good user experience also helps with search engine optimization (SEO) because search engines like Google use it as a factor in determining where to list results for a website.

The best hotel website designs will be highly optimized for speed and user experience. This means that the customer journey will be seamless, from start to reservation, as it should be.

While you can depend on hotel reservation sites like Agoda and Hotels.com to a degree, you should always anticipate that a potential guest will check your hotel’s website. A bad experience here and they’ll likely expect a bad stay at your hotel property.

This is the difference between a lifelong customer and a lost opportunity.

Mistake #2: Not Mobile-ready Website Design

Mobile optimization is crucial in today’s website design process. More and more people are using their smartphones for everything, from browsing the internet to booking hotel rooms.

If a potential guest is on the go and booking a hotel at the last minute, your hotel website design will stand out if they can browse much more easily than your competitors.

A mobile-friendly website is also more likely to be successful in attracting bookings and showing up high in search results. This is because Google favors hotel websites that are designed to work well on mobile. The search engine robots will be able to see a page’s mobile responsiveness, and they’ll also be able to see how much time a visitor spent on the site (and whether they ultimately made a reservation).

The best hotel websites will always be mobile-ready, to give their visitors the best possible experience.

Mistake #3: Outdated Web Design

Having an outdated website design can be a major turnoff for potential guests and search engines alike.

People always desire things that are new and fresh. If your hotel website design looks like it was taken out of the early 90’s (and that’s not some kind of intentional theme) they’re way less likely to book a room.

And again, you should understand how search engines see this. They want to show visitors the most up-to-date websites, that means sites that are updated regularly and with a modern website design. That means you’re keeping things relevant (maybe posting new deals and events to blog pages), and your website is using the latest versions with no security issues (no error pages that would lead to a swift delisting of your page).

A hotel website design that reflects all of these will show up higher in search results for important keywords. That’s the best way to always be hitting the bottom line for your hotel website.

Mistake #4: Lacking Quality Information

It’s important for a hotel website to have complete information about the hotel, such as amenities, room information, and service offerings.

This helps give visitors a clear idea of what the hotel has to offer and increases the likelihood of them making a reservation. If there’s a pool, what does it look like now? What kind of view can they get from their room? What kinds of things are nearby and how easy are they to get to?

This is all information that you can’t rely on third-party websites to convey to website visitors. Quality also means putting your best foot forward with this information, organized in an accessible way. Professional photos of the room and facilities, easy to understand maps, and specific information. You’re appealing to everyone’s desire to have the best experience, and that’s the feeling you want them to get from your luxury hotel website design.

This information is also important for SEO, as it helps search engines understand what the website is about and improve its chances of showing up higher in search results for relevant keywords. If your hotel has a pool in the downtown area of your city, then you want to appear in the search for that city. For example, “Bangkok hotel with pool and gym” could be an important keyword for you. That means your hotel website will need to be talking about the pool and gym, with links to other pages for the search engine robot to follow.

Summing Up

A hotel website is an important tool for attracting visitors and turning them into customers. It’s important to give proper attention to the user experience, mobile optimization, modern design, and complete hotel information in order to create a successful website.

These are just some of the basics of the best hotel website designs, and something every luxury hotel should be thinking about. It’s a constant race to the top, and if you’re not doing your best to stay on top with your hotel website, then you’ll quickly get passed by your competitors.

If you’re ready to take your site to the next level, get in touch and let us show you what we can do to take your hotel web design to the next level.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is the best way to design my hotel website on WordPress?

The best way to design your hotel website on WordPress is to start with a responsive and mobile-friendly theme, choose high-quality images, create engaging content, and make sure the site is easy to navigate. We personally recommend building your hotel website with a custom WordPress design. If you’re just getting started though, you can start with a plugin to help with booking and reservation management.

  1. What are the essential elements that I need to include in my hotel website design?

The essential elements you need to include in your hotel website design are high-quality images, clear and concise information about your hotel, room types, facilities and services, a reservation system, easy navigation, and contact information. These are the absolute basics of hotel websites though. You’ll want to take it a step further if you want your hotel web design to stand out.

  1. How do I make my hotel website mobile-friendly?

To make your hotel website mobile-friendly, use a responsive theme that adapts to different screen sizes, creating mobile-optimized content, and testing the website on different devices. If you’re getting your hotel website built through an agency, then confirm that they’ll build you a mobile-friendly site.

  1. What is the best way to display hotel information on my website?

The best way to display hotel information on your website is to use high-quality images, clear and concise descriptions, displaying room types, rates, and availability. The best hotel websites also have easy-to-use interactive features such as maps and virtual tours. Think about what your visitors care about, and the kinds of information they’re looking for. If they’re price conscious and you have the best prices in your area then you want your hotel website to make that information obvious.

  1. How do I make my hotel website more search engine friendly?

This is done through SEO (search engine optimization). It doesn’t matter how great of stay you offer at your luxury hotel if you can’t get in front of customers. To make your hotel website more search engine friendly, start by optimizing the content, using relevant keywords, and meta descriptions, making sure the site is mobile-friendly and easy to navigate, and using header tags, alt tags, and internal links. A search engine specialist can help with making sure your hotel website is using all the best practices to appear in search.