A luxurious resort in a magical setting sounds fantastic. However, if you want to stand a chance against your competitors, words alone will not suffice. Nowadays, having a hotel website design is critical to the success of your business. As more people use the internet to plan their next vacation, you'll need to demonstrate your value to attract customers and increase sales. The majority of independent hotels are losing a lot of business due to one simple reason: their hotel websites are poorly designed. They haven't been optimized. They are not converting potential guests into confirmed guests. From small bed and breakfasts to swanky boutique chains, few seem to have mastered the art of the hotel website — a shame, given that it's the most important part of their direct conversion funnel. However, some hotels have discovered the secret to create a hotel website design that drives direct bookings. We'll share the fundamental elements of a hotel website design guide and real-life hotel website design examples that have nailed them, inspiring travelers to book instead of bounce, so you can improve the look and function of your own website.
The Significance of Having the Best Hotel Website Design
Websites differ in terms of graphic design, functionalities, and the purposes they serve. Some serve as a source of information, while others draw attention with stunning graphics and images, and still, others are solely intended to sell. What role should a good website play in the hotel industry, where sales are dependent on trust, good relationships, and guest loyalty? The five functions of the best hotel website design are listed below.
1. It Aids in Making a Good First Impression
Image is taken from Momentary
In any situation, making an excellent first impression is critical. The first impression of a hotel, on the other hand, does not occur when guests arrive. People who want to stay at your hotel will first look up your company on the internet. That is where your hotel's first impression is formed. In an ideal world, your website would reflect your company. Visitors will associate a cluttered, disorganized, or aesthetically unappealing website with your physical hotel. If they try to book for ten minutes, this can easily translate to how slow your services are. As a result, you should make sure that the colors, images, fonts, and other design elements work together to create a positive image of your hotel.
2. It Makes it Easier for People to Find Information
People visit your website primarily to learn more about your hotel. If they cannot obtain what they desire quickly, the likelihood of bouncing is very high. No one wants to spend more time navigating a cluttered website searching for contact or other information. Of course, you want people to find what they are looking for easily. When a website has a good layout and readable fonts, users can easily and quickly find what they are looking for.
3. It Improves Lead Conversion
One of your website's functions is to act as a lead magnet. That is why you would go to great lengths to optimize for SEO so that people can easily find you on search engines. However, regardless of how well you execute your SEO strategy, the design of your website is important in converting those leads. For starters, a poor hotel website design will turn off prospects and cause them to leave quickly. On the other hand, if your website is more user-friendly, you increase the likelihood of your visitors connecting with your brand and eventually taking the desired action. If you want to attract leads that will turn into bookings, you should always strive to improve the user experience. That being said, you must create a hotel website that is mobile and computer friendly.
4. It Provides a Competitive Advantage
With new hotels springing up around every corner, the hotel industry is facing stiff competition. This means that your target customers have many options to choose from. They abandon ship after an unsettling incident. As previously stated, a poor website design is enough to drive prospects away from your hotel and toward your competitors. You want to avoid this by ensuring a good website design that will keep them longer. A good website design also gives you a competitive advantage over hotels that have yet to incorporate it into their websites.
5. It Fosters a Sense of Trust
The modern consumer moves in lockstep with the times. When they stay at your hotel, they want to be exposed to the most recent innovations. A good look at your website, on the other hand, can reveal whether you are moving forward or stuck in the past. If your website has an outdated design or information that appears to have been updated years ago, visitors will likely doubt what you claim to offer.
Important Things in a Hotel Website Design
To create an elegant and beautiful luxury hotel website design for a hospitality property, you must first learn industry-specific tips and tricks. Numerous templates can be used as a foundation; however, it is always preferable to start from the beginning, planning and designing a design following best practices. Nobody can envision a luxury hotel with a standard website. It is your company's calling card, and the front page of your luxury hotel website should entice new customers and visitors. In our article, you will find a wealth of advice to help you choose a path and steer your designs in the right direction. Of course, having unique hotel website design ideas that are fresh from a creative mind is nice, but following some of these trends can also be quite useful, especially when it comes to how to design a hotel website.
a. Maintain a Minimalist Aesthetic
Complex websites with hundreds of pages and hundreds of words are frequently perceived as crowded from the start. Websites for luxury properties are expected to be simple and minimalistic. The design, like expensive jewelry, should appear organic and high-class; however, this is true not only for luxury properties but also for those who want to remain trendy. It is still essential in 2018 to save your users' time by removing unnecessary details from your website. The main page can be minimalistic but don't hide all vital information. Prices and room availability should be just a few clicks away, as many users will leave your website if they can't find the information they need quickly and easily.
b. Imagery is a Top Priority
When planning a vacation or a business trip, most people want to physically explore what each hotel has to offer, including both the exterior and interior. Good pictures of rooms and common areas, appealing views from the windows, and small details that add a sense of home should all be included in the gallery. Otherwise, people may find it difficult to decide on the spot. Of course, this does not imply that the entire website should be converted into a gallery. The balance of good images and other design elements is critical, especially true for hotel website design. A creative approach is required, so if you are unsure about visual elements and layouts, it is best to consult with professional designers. It is far too important to leave it to chance for potential customers.
c. Use Broken Grids to Draw Attention
The grid functions as an invisible marking on the page that shows where the elements are located. There are numerous traditional grids for websites that people are accustomed to seeing. The logo, for example, is typically placed top corners of the page, while CTA is placed in the center or to the left. Such predictability can be tedious at times. This is why a shattered grid may be a good idea. It deviates from the expected pattern and attracts more attention than anything else. Of course, there's no need to put a footer at the top of the page; otherwise, you risk breaking consistency and destroying the balance. However, by using a slightly broken pattern, you can add accents to your page and force people to see what you want them to see.
d. Make Effective Use of Animation
We are no longer in the 1990s when every other website blinked like a Christmas tree. At some point, it became far too over-the-top, and many people still have 'allergies' to brash animation. Returning to that trend is definitely not a good idea. However, completely avoiding animation in hotel website design is also incorrect.
e. Make it Mobile-friendly
The responsiveness trend is not going away anytime soon. More and more people prefer to do everything they need online using only their smartphones. Although iPhone screens are rapidly expanding, this does not mean that websites can afford to be inflexible. This is especially true for sites where people can perform operations and order services such as booking a room, paying for it, or requesting dinner for a room.
Hotel mobile website design is no less important than desktop website design. Once the website is finished, double-check that everything works and looks good. It could all be for naught if this doesn't happen.
Best Hotel Website Design Examples
A hotel or resort, like any other e-commerce business, requires a well-designed website in order to build a brand and convert as many website visitors as possible into paying customers.
In this article, we've chosen a few of the best hotel website design examples and templates, and we hope they inspire you.
∙ Whitfield Six
Image is taken from Whitefield Six
∙ Residencesanmichele
Image is taken from Residencesandmichele
∙ Chillout Hostels
Image is taken from Chillout Hostels
Conclusion
The web design of your hotel website must be simple and responsive for your customers to have a positive experience when exploring it. Aside from that, high-quality photographs and videos are required to pique visitors' interests. Aside from that, set up a good booking engine to convert your prospective customers into paying customers. By providing content in multiple languages, your visitors can obtain information in their preferred language quickly. Finally, include a real-time live chat feature on your hotel's website to make it feel more human and save your guests time. If you don't already have a hotel website design, create one and incorporate the suggestions above before it goes live. If your hotel's website lacks any of the features above from our hotel website design guide, it's time to update it immediately!
