Ensure your lookers are landing directly on your Booking Page
The inspiration for this morning's blog is the latest VisitScotland letter advising accommodation providers that they can now link their booking page to the tourist board's destination website. It is important - and not just for your VisitScotland entry - that you use your online booking system to the maximum and know how to land your guests onto your specific reservations page.Visitscotland will be ceasing operation of their own booking engine and instead replacing the function with direct links to the accommodation providers' own booking pages something that perhaps they should have been doing for the past decade? Anyway it is happening from the 13th of December so it is incumbent upon Scottish accommodation providers to ensure that they maximise the opportunity for this new DIRECT business.
So this is a very short tip today and it is just to make sure that you use your own booking page.
It is best if your landing page is within your website rather than linking to another site. However you need to be careful about what link you use there are examples of booking pages where the visitor doesn't actually have a link back to your website. If that's the case you may be best settling with the poorer option of landing on your homepage.
If you're using Bookassist landing on the booking page is simple as all the availability and booking information is embedded into the accommodation's own website. Bookassist believe that having your booking process embedded into your own website plays a really important role in increasing conversion rates - in situations where you're directing the booker to your booking process from a third party site it can be even more so.
Normally the landing page can be easily worked out just by checking availability on your own site but if you need some assistance just mail us and we'll send you the suggested link you should use for not only the VisitScotland site but any other sites with links to your bookings pages such as the excellent Welcome to Scotland.
Examples of the URL used for landing directly on your booking page.
- Inn at Lathones near St Andrews - http://www.innatlathones.com/booking.php?
- Mar Hall Golf Resort - http://www.marhall.com/booking.aspx?
- Callater Lodge Guest House - http://www.hotel-braemar.co.uk/booking.php
- Craigielaw Lodge in East Lothian - http://www.craigielawlodge.com/booking.html
This can be taken even further with guest being directed to Special or Exclusive (public or private) offers when required. You could for example direct guest directly to a VisitScotland rate or offer from their page even including a logo to reinforce the exclusive nature of the deal.
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These "Price Groups" allow you the accommodation provider to direct your customers to very targeted price or added value promotions. In this instance the rate is only visible when clicking on the link. great for exclusive offers and set up in a few minutes.
Try the virtual VisitScotland Offer link for yourself and imagine how impressed the customer is that you have given them a special "branded" exclusive.
Things To Do Today
- Check out your bookings landing page - is it on or off your website?
- Test and embed the link to your booking page into the VisitScotland extranet and your Welcome to Scotland page
- Consider creating an exclusive rate button to convert visitors
Downloads, Links and Reference
Find out how Bookassist could help your conversion - Read More
Read the VisitScotland Guidelines for integrating your booking link - Read How
The Best Book Direct series is being produced in conjunction with the on-line marketing team at Plan B and the award winning Bookassist Booking Engine. Get Daily Updates and Comment on Tourism Matters Facebook
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