Thanks to website and hosting technology advancements over the past 15 years, spending tens of thousands of dollars to build a high-converting hotel website is no longer necessary. This is important for hotel marketers to understand, as they typically allocate less than 5% of their annual budget to marketing.
“Independent hotels typically allocate about 4-5% of their total revenue to their overall marketing budget. Within this budget, around 25-30% is dedicated specifically to online marketing efforts, including SEO, SEM, social media marketing, etc.,” said DJ Vallauri, Founder and CEO of Lodging Interactive.
How Much Should a Hotel Website Cost?
A well-designed, functional website can significantly influence a guest's decision to book a stay. However, the cost of developing a hotel website can vary widely depending on several factors. This post will explore what to consider when budgeting for a hotel website and how much you should expect to invest. While this is not an exhaustive list, it highlights some important points to consider when developing a new hotel website and determining the costs involved.
Competitive Pricing with Newer and Evolving Technologies
Here’s some good news: you can be competitive with larger players without spending excessively. Newer and evolving technologies make this possible by offering advanced features and functionalities at a fraction of the cost.
A professional digital marketing agency specializing in the hospitality industry can inexpensively create promotional microsites for weddings, events, spas, and restaurants.
Flexible SaaS Model for Website Development
If a hotel selects a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, the overall costs can be spread out over the agreement term with the agency. This results in very little upfront cost and a pay-as-you-go model going forward, minimizing initial expenses. Lodging Interactive offers a SaaS model where a hotel pays a nominal fee upfront and continues with monthly payments for the term of the contract, after which the website is fully owned by the property.
Factors Influencing the Cost of a Hotel Website
Design and Customization
The design of your hotel’s website is crucial for making a strong first impression. While template-based designs can be cost-effective, they may lack the uniqueness needed to stand out. Custom designs offer a tailored look that aligns with your brand’s identity but come with a higher price tag.
Lodging Interactive provides curated, innovative, and elegant themed hotel websites that enable hotel marketing managers to select a starting point for a design and then work with our in-house designers to make the website unique to their property. Our customers have the ability to share their creative vision with our designers. This approach combines the best of both worlds: the creative team is not starting from scratch and spending many weeks, if not months, creating a custom website design. Instead, they have a blueprint to work from at the beginning. This not only speeds up the process and allows the website to be created much faster, but it also minimizes the cost of creative work.
Functionality and Features are Table Stakes
A basic hotel website with simple features might suffice, but to truly enhance the guest experience and drive more bookings, incorporating advanced functionalities is key. Every hotel website should include a robust booking engine, mobile responsiveness, and fast hosting response times. Since Google prioritizes website speed in its search engine ranking algorithm, quick load times are crucial for improving visibility and user satisfaction.
To make your website stand out, consider integrating additional features like virtual tours and chatbots. These enhancements engage visitors more effectively and encourage direct bookings. While they may come with added costs, they provide value by improving the guest experience and boosting conversion rates.
Budget for Professional Photography
High-quality photography and drone footage are crucial for hotel websites to increase user booking conversions. Visual content significantly influences travelers' decisions, and compelling imagery can effectively showcase a hotel's amenities, location, and atmosphere.
Consider Expedia's Image Ranking Initiative. This initiative recognizes the crucial role of images in hotel bookings and has implemented a deep-learning system to rank hotel images automatically. This initiative highlights the importance of Expedia presenting the most attractive images first to increase revenue and hotel booking conversions.
SEO, Digital Marketing, and Responding to Guest Reviews
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ensures your hotel’s website ranks well on search engines. Your digital marketing agency must ensure that your hotel website is SEO-friendly and crawlable by search engines. This includes optimizing site structure, using proper meta tags, and ensuring search engines can index your content efficiently. An SEO-friendly website enhances your visibility and ranking, driving more organic traffic to your site.
Additionally, ongoing digital marketing efforts, such as hotel social media marketing and pay-per-click advertising, are crucial for driving traffic to your site. Effective online reputation management on OTA sites and review websites is equally important. Responding to guest reviews and maintaining a positive presence on these platforms can significantly influence potential guests' booking decisions. Lodging Interactive has been a leader in providing services to manage a hotel's online reputation for the last 20 years. The company has a team of guest review response analysts who can manage the entire process for hotel customers. These services can also be included in a pay-as-you-go model, minimizing the expenses for the hotel customer. While these services may add to the overall cost, they are crucial for maintaining a strong online presence and ensuring your hotel’s reputation remains excellent.
Website Maintenance and Updates
Keeping your website secure, functional, and appealing requires regular maintenance and updates. This includes essential tasks like software updates, security patches, and content refreshes. However, maintaining an engaging and current website goes beyond technical updates. It's crucial for the hotel to be proactive in sharing new content, offerings, and promotions with the agency. By continuously updating your site with seasonal promotions and new services, you ensure it remains fresh and enticing to potential guests throughout the year. Ongoing support and maintenance are essential for maintaining a dynamic online presence that attracts and retains guests.
Lodging Interactive always assigns a dedicated account manager to every hotel customer. This ensures a proactive two-way conversation between the hotel and the agency, facilitating timely updates and quality control of all content changes. Your account manager will coordinate all updates, ensuring your website stays current and effectively communicates your latest offerings.
ROI Tracking and Booking Engine Integration with Google Analytics
One critical aspect of a hotel website is its ability to seamlessly integrate with the booking engine and Google Analytics. This integration is vital for efficiently tracking revenue generation from bookings made via the website. However, this process is not as simple as it might seem. It involves complex code that needs to be implemented either directly on the website or through Google Tag Manager to enable the passing of key booking engine parameters and sharing information with Google Analytics. Not all agencies have the expertise to handle this internally. Fortunately, Lodging Interactive has ample experience in implementing these integrations. We ensure that your website not only looks great but also performs optimally by providing detailed analytics and tracking to maximize your revenue.
To find out how Lodging Interactive can help your hotel maximize its online presence and marketing, please visit www.LodgingInteractive.com, call, email, or message us.
