How many times have you encountered this situation – you try to load a website on your tablet or smartphone and find that it is a clunky mess? Perhaps text and images do not display properly, or maybe the layout is completely out of sync. Whatever it is, it can quickly turn you off from using that website. It’s common knowledge that a website is absolutely vital for a successful hotel, but in this ever-changing modern world, a bog standard site no longer cuts it.
Instead, hoteliers and marketers must think about responsive website design. This refers to a site which adapts depending on which platform it is being viewed on. This means that consumers on a desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, or any other mobile device, will all receive a pleasurable browsing experience.
After all, a web presence which refuses to load on a particular platform could be hugely damaging to business. While in the past one way around this was to build separate mobile only versions of a website for different types of media, responsive design allows everything to be taken care of via just one website. This makes things as straightforward as possible for those in charge of the business and could also cut costs significantly in the process.
In addition, Google has also voiced concern over the use of mobile only sites, suggesting that these are not best practice and should only be used when absolutely necessary.Changing your web strategy may seem like a headache in the short term, but this is an approach which is likely to deliver success in the long term.The hotel market proves this point, as according to research by Expedia, 52 per cent of millennial business travellers book their work trips on mobile devices. What’s more, projections from eMarketer suggest that more than half of all 2016 online travel bookings in the US will be made on a mobile device.
As you can see, allowing your hotel to suffer a clunky, or just plain broken, mobile web experience could have dire consequences on your business.It’s not just short term success that hoteliers can expect if they adopt responsive web design. Taking this approach is also helping to future-proof your online presence. It’s predicted that the number of people booking hotel rooms via mobile devices is only going to increase in the coming years, meaning that businesses which do not allow bookings to be made in this way could find themselves left behind.Launching and maintaining a successful, response website will mean that your business can tap into the huge market of travellers booking rooms while on the move. No longer are the bulk of tourists and guests sat at home on a desktop searching for their latest break or work trip. But that’s not all.
For another major plus point of a mobile-friendly website we must come back to Google. The search giant has previously stated that mobile-friendly design will aid search visibility, meaning that by using such a web design strategy you may well find that your establishment is more accessible for potential guests to click through to.Not only that, but once a hotel has a responsive web design plan in place you can rest easy, as you won’t be caught cold when the next latest tablet or smartphone with an ever so slightly larger screen is released. Whereas this may send some websites completely haywire, hoteliers and marketers who are ahead of the curve with responsive web design will be able to sit back and watch the bookings come rolling in.
