At my company, Ghost Blog Writers, we focus on customer questions.
Your website and your online marketing efforts are exactly like your real life sales process.
You probably go through your sales process with customers every day. A customer comes through your door. They ask an initial question. You answer it and go a little further. They ask more questions and you answer until they’re satisfied with what you have to say and they become a customer.
This same process happens on your website. So we’ve found that the best approach is to focus on answering customer questions on your website so you can win more customers.
Here are 5 questions every hotel should use on its website.
1. Where Are You?
When people are looking for hotels they’re usually traveling (duh). They’re concerned about how much travel they’ll have to do when they stay at hotels.
Will they have a 10-minute drive to their hotel from their destination or will it be longer? That’s what your customers are wondering.
Share your address on every page of your hotel website. Include a map feature from Google Maps so people can quickly check how far it is from their destination.
Take it even a step further by having a description on the site that says how long (in minutes, hours, etc.) your location is from popular destinations.
2. What Do You Look Like?
People want to know what your hotel looks like. They can read about your hotel and hear about you from friends, but they want to see you with their own eyes.
Include photos on your site of your hotel. It pays to pay a professional photographer take photos. They will make your hotel look like a winner, but they’ll also be able to make it look appropriate for your target customer.
If you target families on a budget you don’t want your hotel looking too expensive. And if you’re targeting the luxury guests you don’t want your hotel looking like a family campground.
Hire a photographer. Talk to them about the things that make your hotel unique. They will go around and take photos of different angles and perspectives including the rooms so you can put them on your site and answer this question for your visitors.
3. What Kind Of Rooms Do You Have?
You can use photos to answer this question, but it’s also important to spell it out in text. Give a good description of each room type you offer.
People will have a general idea of what room they want and they’ll want to see if you offer it. They’ll also be curious if there is an option better suited for them than what they have in mind.
4. What Is Your Reputation?
Answer this question with testimonials. If you’re targeting business clients you could even use logos of the companies that have used your hotel for their employees.
This helps to prove to your potential customers that you’re a trusted hotel. It’s hard work for people to fully research a hotel so they look for cues like social proof to help them with their decision.
5. How Do I Book A Room?
You don’t want to answer the above questions only to confuse the visitor when they are ready to book a room. Provide your phone number on every page in a place where it’s easy to see. People still like to call to make reservations.
And if you have online booking make sure that it’s easy to spot. When your visitors are ready to purchase you want them to have an easy time contacting you.
Additional Questions To Consider
The questions above are some of the ones we feel are most important for hotels, but there are others too. I’m sure you can think of a few and here are a couple additional ones to get you going:
- Do you host conferences, weddings, etc?
- Do you allow pets?
- Are you kid friendly?
Conclusion
Your website is your online salesperson. When a new customer calls you or visits you in person you answer all the questions they have to win their business. Your website needs to do the same.
Use the questions above on your website and you’ll be better at booking online customers. As an added benefit, this approach also makes your site SEO-friendly. Your customers are probably searching for information relating to these questions. When the information is on your site they’re likely to find it and book with you over the competition.
Photo: Orca Island Cabins in Resurrection Bay, AK
