Useful Tips on How to Create Your Hotel Booking Website in 2022

Theses:

This article explains ways to build a hotel website in 2022. Learn a few tips that will help create a hotel booking website in 4 steps.

Today, online booking has become the new standard while creating a marketplace platform for hotels becomes an essential sales channel with many further advantages for startups.

The convenience of booking everything one click away contributed to an increase in the share of hotels’ reservations via various online marketplaces. Based on Statista.com, the global online hotel bookings market is expected to exceed $473 billion by 2026.

Given this, it’s no surprise that more and more startups are thinking about launching 

their booking website. 

In this article, we’ll take you through a 4-step guide on how to create a hotel booking website in 2022, as well as practical tips to follow. 

Step 1: Conduct Market Research

Marketing research is the first step in identifying the needs and wants of the customers and then using this information when deciding on how to create a hotel booking website that will satisfy these needs. This is done through various techniques such as surveys, interviews, or focus groups.

In the end, marketing research will help: 

• Develop a marketing strategy 
• Create marketing materials
• Evaluate marketing efforts

Identify Major Players

The next thing you should do is research the competition and find their strengths and weaknesses so that you can use the same strategies or improve on them.

To start with, you need to identify the major players in the industry. This means that you should:

• Look at what other websites are doing and see how they are performing.
• Know how your competitors are doing and how they are attracting customers. 
• Find out how they are handling their marketing and advertising and see if there is anything you can learn from them.

This will help you understand the dynamics of the industry and how it works so that you can make better decisions regarding your website.

Choose a Business Model

The business model refers to the way how you create your product or service and you deliver it to your customers.

Many different types of models can be used to build a hotel website, such as:

• A marketplace where hotels compete for customers.
• The price comparison website.
• The travel agency that books hotels.
• A hotel aggregator where a hotel owner lists their property on a booking website and pays a commission to the site when they book a guest room.

Learn Industry Trends

Recently, there has been a lot of technological advancement in hotel booking websites. This is because people rely more on the internet to search for hotels and make reservations than before.

In addition, people have become more conscious of their consumption while traveling and try to book sustainable and “green” hotels. According to the Sustainable Travel Study by Expedia, 90% of people search for sustainable options when traveling.

Source: Sustainable Travel Study 

Smart hotels, bleisure (business travel + leisure traveling) and hotel work spaces, holistic hospitality, health tours, and wellness retreats are the biggest trends right now. 

Step 2: Create a USP For Your Hotel Booking Website

When it comes to hotel booking websites, the USP (unique selling point) can be anything that differentiates your website from others. It’s the one thing that makes your website stand out, from an exclusive location to a special price offer, or even a free breakfast.

The key is to determine what your target audience finds attractive and use it as a USP for your website. 

Then, you should think hard and compile a list of something extra that your online booking website can offer. For example, it can be the following:

• Responsive customer care representatives that are available 24/7
• Real-time availability of hotels and rates on your website so that customers can book at their convenience.
• A simplified process for travelers to book their stay without any hassle.
• Customer support with live chat, bots, or email.

Step 3: Start Your Hotel Booking Website or/and App Development

The hotel industry is one of the most competitive industries out there. It’s not easy to stand out from the crowd.

This section will introduce you to the ways how to create a hotel booking website faster, available solutions, and features.

Ways to Create Your Hotel Booking Site (Custom or Ready-Made Solution) 

A hotel booking website and app development is a digital service that provides end-to-end solutions for hotels and travel companies.

There are many ways to create your hotel booking website in 2022. One of them is to use a ready-made solution like WordPress or Wix. They will let you control your website’s content and design. 

Ready-made solutions come with predefined templates, so they are easier to use, faster to deploy, and cheaper than custom solutions. 

Another way to do it would be by using a custom-built site that’s designed specifically for hotels or other hospitality companies.

A custom solution is more expensive and time-consuming than a ready-made one but it allows you to tailor your website to the needs of your business. You can create a site that reflects your brand and provides a better user experience.

To sum it up, if you want to create your hotel booking site quickly, then using an existing solution is the best option for you. 

However, if you want more customization options or if your budget allows it, then building on a custom solution might be the better choice for your needs.

Connect a Booking Engine and Payment Solution 

Booking engines and payment solutions are two separate entities. Booking engines are used to book hotel rooms and other services, while payment solutions provide the means to pay for these services.

The payment solution can be integrated with the booking engine to enable customers to make payments for their reservations. It can be done through a third-party company. 

This company will take care of the technology behind the scenes so that both booking engines and payment solutions can work seamlessly together.

Other Features to Include 

Many features of an online hotel booking site make it easy for people to find the perfect hotel; some give:

• The ability to search by location, price, star rating, and amenities.
• The ability to filter searches by amenities such as free breakfast, pool, or spa.
• Detailed descriptions of the rooms, including pictures and room size.
• Maps of the area with nearby attractions.

Step 4: Don’t Forget About Your Brand and Marketing

Branding is a crucial part of the hotel booking process. The customer is looking for a specific experience and will be drawn to websites that offer this. 

Providing a personalized experience is a must-have. Based on Statista.com, 90% of U.S. customers find personalization very or somewhat appealing and company messages that are not personally relevant as annoying. 

There are some marketing strategies you can use when creating your hotel booking site. They are as follows:

– Promoting your new website through social media channels.

– Creating an engaging blog with interesting content about travel destinations.

– Promoting your website and its services through clearly displayed pictures, videos, or testimonials from the previous guests on the homepage.

– Offering discounts and incentives for reviews.

– Creating partnerships with other sites like TripAdvisor.

Useful Tips to Ensure Success

Here are other effective tactics to use when creating a successful hotel booking website.

Get a Second Opinion Before Publishing 

Getting a second opinion from your potential customers or a professional vendor company can help you:

• Do final edits or changes.
• See if any errors need to be corrected.
• Determine if anything is missing from the site that needs to be added.
• Find out if the site’s design is appealing and easy for users to navigate.

Be Mobile-Ready and UX-Friendly 

Hotel booking sites need to be mobile-ready and UX-friendly, optimized for viewing on a small screen and navigated with touch gestures. 

If the site is not mobile/UX-friendly, it might be difficult for users to find what they need or understand how to complete their transactions on the site.

Finally, a hotel booking website should be able to handle an influx of traffic without crashing or slowing down. If the website slows down during peak hours, this could lead to lost revenue and frustrated customers who were unable to make their reservations in time.

Communicate with Your Customers Using Socials 

In the era of social media, customer communication has become more important than ever. You can use social media as a customer service tool by responding quickly and efficiently to any customer queries or complaints on social media channels like Twitter or Facebook. Also, socials help collect customer feedback and reviews.

In addition, social media channels are a great marketing tool to reach potential customers, promote hotels, or advertise special offers.

Update Your Site Regularly 

One of the ways to update your site is by adding new content like a blog post or an article. 

The more content you have, the more likely customers will find what they want and book with you.

Plenty of blogging platforms are now available online, making it easy to start posting content immediately.

Conclusion 

Each step to a functional online booking website is different and every solution has its own set of features. 

You can set yourself up for a successful final product by:

• researching, 
• identifying your competitors, 
• planning, 
• building an MVP, 
• collecting feedback and creating a final version,
• promoting your hotel booking website.

By following the steps above, you can break down the task of bringing a new product to market into more digestible phases.