Last week when I was looking for inspiration for the post I came across a great website for a bed and breakfast in Minnesota. The site was really great. They had a blog setup. They had an email signup form showing that they care about email marketing. It was a great looking site too and that’s important.
For travelers, it’s all about emotion and experience. When people visit a bed and breakfast website they are looking for something that will inspire them and really make them want to visit and get away from their normal life.
Today, let’s look at five great bed and breakfast websites and see what they’re doing to convert website visitors into customers.
1. A.G. Thomson House
This is the site that inspired the post so we’ll start out with them.
There are lots of good things on the A.G. Thomson site, but the one we’ll focus on here is the banner at the top of the site. The house is apparently the #1 bed and breakfast in the US. That’s a pretty big award and the Thomson house is doing everything right by showcasing that award.
People care about things like awards. If you can validate your claims people are more likely to choose your bed and breakfast over another.
Your award doesn’t have to be a national award. You could even use a testimonial instead of an award or recognition. You can put it as a banner at the top or in other locations on your site. Just make sure new visitors to the site can find the recognition because it will matter to them when they determine where they want to stay.
2. Savannah Bed & Breakfast
The Savannah Bed & Breakfast is one of the top-rated B&Bs in the South. What I like about their website is the subtle update right on the homepage. You can see it if you look close. It says, “Escape those winter blues…”
That little update is enough to get people to realize that you actually update the site. Yes, it’s sad, but there are lots of websites out there that haven’t been updated in months or even years. People want to know that you’re updating your site. They want to visit an updated website.
You can do this with simple updates like the one on Savannah’s site or you can start your own blog.
3. Inn On The Creek
Photos.
For travel sites, including bed and breakfast sites, there is a must-have item and it’s photos. People want to see photos of the house. They want to see photos of the rooms they can stay in and the other rooms around the house. Also include photos from around the area. People want to see what is going on at your place. The photos will tell the story even more than the text in some instances.
The Inn On The Creek in Wyoming does a great job with photos. There are photos of rooms and photos of the surrounding area. You can really dive in and get a feeling for what it would be like to visit and stay there.
That’s what converts.
4. The Chadwick
The Chadwick is in Portland, Maine. Now, people visit new places to see the sights and get around town. They also like staying in bed and breakfast locations so they can meet other travelers during breakfast and get some travel tips from the owner.
But we’re forgetting perhaps the most important part of traveling: The Food.
When people visit a new spot they want to know where the good spots are to eat. As the owner of the B&B you already know all the good info. You can share it on your site in its own section like on The Chadwick (Dining in Portland) or you can update a blog post with your latest favorite places to eat.
5. The Blacksmith Inn
What I really loved about The Blacksmith Inn website is the Four Seasons Itinerary. This is the kind of content visitors want to read. It takes time to create content like this, but if you do it you’ll be giving yourself a heads up on the competition.
When visitors are still in the early stages of planning their trip they’re looking for marketing material like ideas for their trip. This content earns trust and when the time comes to book the place to stay you can bet the person that finds this content useful will be calling The Blacksmith Inn.
Conclusion
Hopefully these examples have inspired some ideas for your bed and breakfast website.
If you have any questions or examples to share please do so in the comments.
