Articles

The 2010 update for new ADA Standards for Accessible Design go into effect tomorrow: March 15^th, 2012.  This update also includes revised requirements for hotel websites and the online booking process. Have you prepared your digital channels for all your guests, including those with special needs?

Make sure you understand the guidelines and standards outlined by the government, as well as which user groups can be affected. For more information, refer to our earlier post about Website Accessibility to learn more about best practices for making your hotel’s website and booking experience ADA-compliant.

Have any questions about the new rules? Need to make last minute changes to your site or booking engine? Email us at results@vizergy.com or reach us by phone at 1-800-201-1949.

By now you’ve likely heard a lot of talk and read plenty of articles about why and how Facebook Timeline should matter to your hotel. But, do you really understand the new features and updates and, more importantly, how you can implement them on your hotel’s Page?

For those of you who are currently active on Facebook, the stepping stones have already been laid for your transition over to the Timeline view. But, if you haven’t stepped onto the social scene yet, now is definitely the best time to jump into the mix.

Here are a few tips and tricks to help your hotel get started with Timeline for Pages.

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Assuming your hotel, either branded or independent, has a direct website, there are three building blocks of search engine optimization (SEO) that are absolutely imperative if your site is to reach new heights in search engines and maximize direct bookings.

With the popularity of online strategies in social, mobile and local, it’s often easy to overlook traditional website SEO.  You may focus entirely on new channels or think it’s not completely necessary for ongoing SEO, but SEO may be more important than any of the aforementioned strategies.  In fact, various research has shown that over 80% of travel shoppers begin the purchase process on a search engine.  And about 50% of many hotels’ direct bookings originate from natural searches.

So, what are the three building blocks of SEO for a hotel website?  And what do they entail?

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Another week has come and gone, bringing us fresh news and leaving many of us with a lot to ponder over the course of the weekend. With Facebook and Pinterest on the forefront of the social media scene and the continued steady rise in mobile, there’s a lot to keep up with and think about in how it all relates to hospitality digital marketing.

Here’s our weekly round-up of a few intriguing articles we spotted last week.

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At VIZERGY, we are constantly keeping our eyes on the latest and greatest in happenings in the hospitality and digital marketing realms, which is why we’ve decided to put together a weekly recurring post that includes articles from the past week that are of interest to our readers. As hospitality professionals, we like to stay in-the-know about our industry and feel compelled to do the same for you.

Check out our weekly round-up of articles to see what you might have missed.

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While many people are frantically making last-minute dinner & hotel reservations and chaotically shopping for gifts on their lunch breaks, we’re able to take a minute to relax and nibble on our candy Sweethearts because we planned out our Valentine’s Day gift in advance.

We asked some members of our Design team to take a trip down memory lane (for better or worse) and choose one website design they adored and the elements they felt really made it lovable for all involved.

Here are the top 5 hotel website designs our team chose to be their “one and only.”

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Recently, the HSMAI Foundation published an AH&LA and STR special report detailing tremendous changes throughout the past decade in the hospitality industry. With a particular focus on distribution, this report covers many significant changes and their impact on revenue generation, guest interaction, inventory control, pricing, hotel operating costs and financial return. This in-depth, factual study brings together industry experts, leading associations and data resources, as well as brands and numerous owner operators to help the hotel industry really understand the costs of different distribution channels and the importance of optimizing the sales channel mix.

Download this groundbreaking report today at no cost

As travel shoppers have shifted to researching and purchasing stays on their mobile devices—namely smartphones—travel marketers must take measures to better reach, engage and generate bookings from today’s on-the-go travelers.

The Mobile Craze

The Internet, and the way consumers use the Internet, is constantly evolving.  More often than not, there’s a significant evolutionary step that affects the travel industry.  OTAs, social media and mobile are a few examples.  Mobile in particular has recently revolutionized the way hotels, resorts and bed and breakfasts reach targeted shoppers.  Just how important is mobile?  Well, according to Google, 20% of all hotel related searches are conducted on mobile devices.  eMarketer estimates that nearly 35% of U.S. smartphone users research travel on their devices, with around half of them making mobile bookings.  Those numbers, which are rapidly rising, have independent and branded properties scrambling to not only build mobile websites (Greystripe recently found that smartphone users are more likely to use the mobile web versus apps for their travel needs), but also utilize pay-per-click advertising (PPC)… mobile PPC.

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In order to have truly integrated online marketing, hotels and resorts must invest in social, mobile and local marketing initiatives.  If your property still isn’t on board with all three channels, now’s the time to make a change.

Social Media Matters

Quite simply, social media matters because it’s a place where millions of travel shoppers converge to discuss, review and shop for lodging.  And if that many travelers are in one channel, hoteliers absolutely need to be there.  Social outlets such as Facebook and Twitter have shifted power to consumers.  Review sites like TripAdvisor—another form of social media—also provide guests a strong voice.

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