At the end of last year, internet time spent on mobile devices overtook that spent on desktop PCs for the first time ever. Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, an ever-larger proportion of your hotel’s target audience will be looking at your offerings on a handheld screen.This is hugely important for hotel website design. Your carefully designed pages won’t necessarily be suitable for mobile viewing, so they’re going to require something of an overhaul in order to ensure they appear correctly.The same goes for the actual copy and design of your landing pages – long paragraphs of writing and multiple images aren’t ideal for smartphones, so it’ll be back to square one here too.And don’t think you can get away without making changes: according to Cahartbeat, visitors spend just 15 seconds reading your page, while I Acquire and Survey Monkey discovered that 40 per cent of people will choose another search result if their first choice isn’t mobile-friendly.
So, how can you optimise your hotel’s landing pages? Here are a few top tips.
1.Be unique You need to know what makes your hotel stand out above the competition and condense this into a snappy headline. For example, perhaps you’ve won an award for your spa facilities that no one else has. If so, you could write ‘Visit Colorado’s best mountain spa hotel’. Aim for six words or less, as studies have shown this is optimal when it comes to people’s short attention spans for mobile browsing, and place your header clearly and prominently on your mobile landing page.
2.Add a little more detail The next part of your page allows you to explain a little bit more about what your hotel offers – but not too much! You might have a lot to say about your fabulous property, but mobile users don’t have time to read it – keep that for your usual website. Here, you need something short and catchy. Continuing with the example of accommodation in Colorado, you might add: ‘Feel your troubles melt away in our hot tubs with dazzling canyon views’ or ‘Enjoy the tranquillity in our mountainside lodge rooms’. You’re still trying to draw people in.
3.Add images Since you don’t have much text to play with, you’re going to have to let pictures do the job. Think about the image you’re trying to summon up in the first two stages and then continue it with excellent, professional photographs underneath or in the background of your words. Ensure the pictures are of people enjoying your hotel, not just stock snaps of holidaymakers.
4.Make them book The final necessity for a mobile hotel landing page is a clear call to action in a prominent position. It needs to be relevant and persuasive, whether you go for ‘book your stay now’ or ‘send me an ebrochure’ – people need to want to click on it. You might want to play around with colours too, in order to see what stands out.Remember, simplicity is absolutely essential when you’re designing for mobile. You need to be clear about what you’ve got and why travellers should want a part of it – and then you might just see your bookings go up.
For hotel website design by hoteliers, for hoteliers, check out World Hotel Marketing.
