Is Your Website Mobile Ready?

Good online and digital marketing businesses have been emphasising for several years the need for hospitality business to be mobile ready. Increases in mobile technology, new devices and improvements in booking software have all pointed towards the need for hotels, attractions and hospitality service businesses to be mobile ready. However it has taken a warning from Google to focus attention.

Website and news site around the world have been labelling the changes as "Mobilegeddon" and for many hospitality businesses this description is not far wrong. A random testing of thirty sites this morning found less than 20% ready for the changes and with so many searches on mobile devices for travel it could have major impacts on site traffic.

We have been building responsive websites as the norm for over a year now for tourism businesses and destination groups of all sizes. Most recent to go live over the weekend was an upgrade to a long term client Rosemary Young at Inveran Lodge in Nairn.

From the graphics above you can see just how well the content works on different devices but why is it now so important?

Google Search Changes

Recent announcements by Google seem to have terrified the hospitality sector into acting on their mobile strategies. Changes to be implemented in April 2015 indicate that Google searches done on mobile devices will be affected by whether a site is mobile friendly or not. It appears but is not certain that it is only searches actually undertaken on a mobile advice that will be affected but with estimates indicating search traffic on mobiles being up to 60% in some tourism sectors, non-compliance could have a devastating effect.

Your site must be responsive!

Responsive Web Design

Google are looking for your website to respond to the device it is being viewed on. The way we use the internet on a mobile device is entirely different from a laptop or desktop and intuitive drop down menus and easy to click buttons are essential. All websites built in the past year using our own Claymore Content Management System are already fully responsive and pass this test. Some older sites that have dedicated mobile version sites still pass.

Test your site with Google

However, now is the time to look at ensuring that your website is fully responsive and will work across all platforms and not just for the search engines. The customer is now used to sites that work on mobile and will simply leave one that isn’t – you must continually reduce friction for your site visitor. The easiest and most cost effective way to do this is to upgrade to one of our Open Rooms XV websites all of which have a responsive solution built in.

Send us an email message or call 01294 233713 for more information and a surprisingly affordable mobile ready solution!

Make it Easier For Your Guest to Find THEIR Package

With the new Bookassist booking engine customer interface hotels can now do much more with their images than even before.

We are always banging on about “reducing friction” (simply making it easier for the customer to get where they want to go) and using bold graphics can help in clearly pointing the guest to the packages type and room type they are seeking.

We’ve recently redesigned the booking engine pages at The Old Manor Hotel in Fife and in a differnet way for Ducks at Kilspindie in East Lothian to match their new websites and the results as shown below make it so much easier for the guest to understand what they are looking at.

The Bed and Breakfast title bar is reinforced by the B & B button while the specific room pictures below all have descriptive titles on them.

With accompanying text and integration of the correct colours and style and the two week calendar view the impact is increased dramatically and the guest can easily understand what they are viewing.

If you wish to personalise the set-up of your booking we can create site specific buttons in the style and design of your website for only £95 plus VAT for twelve buttons.

Download PDF version or contact your account manager, e mail Scotland@bookassist.com or call us on 0845 1501314.