Is your hotel website mobile friendly?
The number of people using their smart phone or tablet to book hotels is on the rise, a trend set to continue. More than 65% of people who book a hotel room within 24 hours of checking in do so from a mobile device, according to Expedia. Forecasts predict that by 2017, mobile will represent 25% of all online bookings, compared to 7% in 2014.
So what does that mean for hotels?
If your web-site is not mobile friendly, then not only will you be indirectly encouraging guests to book via a third party which may cost you more in terms of distribution fees, but, your page ranking via Google may be suffering.
Since April 21st 2015, Google has introduced a new mobile friendly ranking algorithm which is designed to give a boost to mobile friendly pages in Google’s mobile search results. So, if you’re not mobile friendly, you may get left behind in the search results.
We are in the process of updating our web-site to mobile friendly to give our customers a better mobile experience. An easy way to check if your web-site is mobile friendly is to carry out the simple mobile friendly test.
Why not check your competitors?
Remember you are not only competing on price, services and facilities. If your competitors are mobile friendly and you’re not, then you are likely to be losing your audience.
Having a mobile friendly site will not guarantee direct business through your web-site, however, should be considered in your hotel’s overall distribution and revenue management strategy. This will be crucial to maintain your market share and give your customers the ultimate mobile experience.
Octopus Revenue can assist you with your distribution strategy and all other aspects of hotel revenue management, please visit their web-site for further information.
