Getting a new website for your hotel can seem like a daunting task. To complicate things further, there are multiple ways to get a website made, ranging from the very cheap to the very costly. Broadly, the scale from low to high cost can be split out as below:
- Website builder (Squarespace, Webflow, Wix)
- Template (pre-made website)
- Fully Bespoke
The follow-up question is fairly obvious; which of these is right for you? In the following paragraphs, we’ll do our best to help you gain clarity in deciding what it is your hotel needs. To do this, we’ll use a selection of precise yet broad questions. Let’s get started.
1. How much additional revenue do you intend to get from the new website per year?
Using this question, we can determine how valuable a new website will be for your hotel business. The best way to calculate this is to work out how many more bookings you’d like to get direct through the website and then work out how much you will save in OTA fees from this. You may also wish to factor in bookings for other services, whether it be weddings, spa bookings or restaurant reservations. Once you’ve collected all this data, look at the additional income figure over 5 years and use this as your reference. This step is a challenging one but having the numbers crunched early will allow you to know the tangible value a good website can offer when it comes to making a decision.
2. What resources do you have available in-house?
This question is important as it’ll indicate how much of the project can be overseen by you and your staff. Using a website builder for example will require some in-house up-skilling to ensure everything is built as desired. Furthermore, if you choose to work with an agency, they will need to know if a copywriter is needed or if this is something which you can sort out. The same will apply to photography.
3. How important is your individual branding/style?
This question will be key to deciding if you can live with a template website or if you will need a fully bespoke one. Template websites are a brilliant cost-saver for those on a tight budget although they do somewhat limit design and style options. For something your customers will be using for many years to come, this may be a deal-breaker, leading you to the bespoke option.
4. Weighing up the choices
This is by no means a binary decision, ultimately, different things matter to different people. Maybe this new website will be worth a small fortune if done right so you just want professionals to get it done to the highest possible standard. Or, maybe you’re on a tight budget and don’t care much for the style, meaning a template website could be the perfect option for you. Whatever the case may be, there are hundreds of professionals who can help. We happen to be one of them so, if you’d like a hand making this hard decision, let us know and we’d be happy to share our advice. 🙂
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