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Many bed and breakfast owners spend a lot of time on activities to reach the desired audience. Tinkering with the website, social media, and other online channels. Some enjoy it, while others prefer not to or have no idea how to go about it. In this article, we explain why a powerful website is essential for successful bed and breakfasts. You’ll read all the tips to get the most out of your bed and breakfast website. This way, you can also become a leader or at least keep up in the future so you can’t be outpaced by bed and breakfasts in your area.
Table of contents
- Social Media vs. website
- Stay ahead of the competition
- Earn more with the same occupancy
- Use a web builder
- What should a B&B website meet?
- Tips for better findability
Social media vs. website
Facebook and other social media channels are widely used. Logical, it's low hanging fruit. Your target audience is findable there, and we can reach our target audience with little resources, costs, and knowledge. However, a good website for your B&B is essential! As soon as you catch interest through social media platforms, you naturally want action. A reservation would be the best, but a sign-up for a newsletter, a brochure download, or simply a look into your hotel via an impression can already be worth a lot. Funnel them, so use as many social media pages as you like. Use the channels for their intended purposes.
Attract attention with social media channels, use as many as possible. The goal is always to expand the reach and direct to your website. There, follow up on the interest.
Every social media channel has its own goal
Keep in mind that each social media channel has a specific target audience. Try to put yourself in your audience's shoes to determine how to use a social media channel. For example, Facebook is aimed at individuals primarily looking for entertainment and current events. Therefore, use as much appealing imagery as possible that encourages sharing. Promotions often do well, and funny (current) images or videos work best.
Pinterest, to name a counterpoint, has the same audience but expects a totally different approach. They are the creatives who use Pinterest, in any form. People looking for fun room decorations in a specific style, perhaps the style in which you can be found. Use inspiring imagery. Photograph the decor of your inspiring bed and breakfast rooms/apartments or fun accessories and components.
Better well-stolen than poorly conceived. Take inspiration from your competitors or use other companies (even in other industries) as examples. We all know CoolBlue and their remarkably successful marketing expressions. A massive group of fans follows them closely and you can see from the number of reactions that provoking responses to their messages is a successful advertising technique.
So use as many social media channels as possible, and be mindful of their intended uses. In all cases, remember that your website must be the objective. Each post therefore contains a link to a page on your website. Preferably not the homepage but a page with a blog/article or other relevant information.
Stay ahead of the competition
Everyone can register with Booking.com to rent out a room or apartment. It’s straightforward and poses few risks. This leaves you at the same level as your competitors, or even behind if your competitor has a better position with their own website. Your goal should be to keep up or even get ahead.
It's no news that the current market is increasingly searching for accommodation online. Most B&Bs are currently listed on one or more booking sites like Booking.com, Airbnb, etc. However, they have several disadvantages:
- Booking websites give you limited space for your own material. Predefined fields and little freedom. There is often limited space for imagery as well and you often have to make do with a single slider. There’s no better platform for optimal impression than your website. More persuasive power by tailoring your website to your story.
- External booking websites usually charge a commission per sale, and often it’s significant. It eats into your margin and/or you have to raise your prices. Every booking made through your website in place of an external site gives you a great financial advantage right away.
- Booking sites are comparison sites. Before you know it, your potential guest has left your B&B page to compare with the competition. The threshold is lower to click further than on your own website. This of course works both ways. But the more traffic to your website, the better chance to convert the visitor.
In short, deploy the resources in the way they are intended. Social media, like Facebook, is designed to let your audience know that you exist. Short messages with news, photos, promotions, and links to your website, for example. Reservations/bookings are made on your own website, which can be linked to a channel manager. Moreover, booking sites are powerful to attract more bookings for the gaps in your schedule, for example, during quiet periods.
Earn more with the same occupancy
Many B&Bs are entirely dependent on booking sites. Imagine if commissions suddenly increase significantly, or even worse, your primary booking channel blocks you for whatever reason. Although this risk is small, it is wise to make yourself more independent. You never know how the market share will be for the booking sites you use in the future.
Bookings that you generate yourself are more valuable. Not only because you don’t pay commission on them, but also because you’ve proven that you can attract bookings independently. Expanding that concept is the beginning of independence. It allows you to stay afloat and manage the buttons if external sites make it harder for you in the future. And in the short term, every booking you don’t have to pay commission on is a result you’ll be pleased with.
Use a web builder
Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use a web builder that allows you to get your website online quickly without the necessary technical knowledge. Especially for B&Bs, your budget is of course not unlimited. A web builder that is finely tuned for hotel websites is definitely preferred. Try using the MyTourist web builder, for instance.
An example of a good-looking website. Simple, powerful, responsive, and without frills.
What should a B&B website meet?
The visual aspect often receives an abundance of attention in websites. There are more important things to focus on. A nice website (and tastes differ!) doesn’t always yield better results. In fact, the opposite is often true. The most important thing is to look at effectiveness, usability, and conversion. We will go deeper into this later.
Design for my B&B website
Not paying attention to design? That is certainly not the right approach. Ensure recognizability in all your expressions. Color use, logo, and fonts, for example. Make sure that you maintain a uniform line in your stationery, business cards, and other communications as well as your website. It’s confusing if you mix them up.
Simplicity, clarity, and calmness. Three elements that your bed and breakfast website must absolutely meet. Visitors, most likely potential guests, want to quickly find the information they are looking for. A sleek design often does not enhance the speed at which they can find the desired information. So keep it simple and rather focus on the basics.
Place reviews on your website
Ensure there are plenty of opportunities to leave a review. For example, ask for it in your email communication after the departure of your guests. There are several external websites that allow for gathering guest reviews. Being independent, they likely add more value to your visitors. After all, they are from real guests and are thus much more reliable than those you publish on your own website.
Direct reservations via your website
Direct reservations with a direct link to your channel manager.
Use a channel manager
Not only hotels, but also bed and breakfasts deal with multiple hotel platforms/bookings sites. Most B&Bs are now findable on Booking.com, but Airbnb and bedandbreakfast.nl are also increasingly popular platforms for bed and breakfasts. To prevent overbooking, a channel manager is advisable. It synchronizes your availability directly to all platforms. This offers many benefits, including:
- No more manual synchronization between all platforms. Just one environment where you log in to manage and view all your bookings. The synchronization of prices, availability, minimum/maximum stays, etc., happens from that environment.
- Play with packages for specific booking sites to fill gaps and experiment with interesting booking sites. Some booking sites are generally more interesting than others due to the differences in commissions.
- Overview. Perhaps you’ve experienced it before; various reservations sourced from different platforms. You lose track amidst the stress that follows. Keep your head cool!
- No more overbookings. Besides the hassle (costs, administration, communication), it also saves frustration for your guests.
Tips for better findability
Work on improving the findability of your bed and breakfast. It sounds simple... and it actually is. As long as you invest time and remain consistent with it. Here are some tips to help you along the way.
Write content
Blogs, articles, news updates, ebooks, and landing pages. Just some of the possibilities to consider. But in all situations, think in the interest of your visitor. What does your visitor want to know (e.g., something about your area or points of interest)? Stop writing only internal updates like promotions and a refurbished room! You’ll likely not achieve the results you're hoping for.
Backlinks
Be active on forums and other websites. See if there are opportunities for your website to be linked from comparison sites or informative websites about your region. All incoming links from external sources contribute to search engines giving your bed and breakfast website a higher valuation. Not only the direct traffic, but also the organic (searching via search engines) traffic will reach your website faster.
Adwords
Be cautious when spending money on online campaigns. The most important advice I can give: start small and only scale up when success is proven. A small marketing budget on a specific campaign can be fine-tuned until it yields results. Only then should you scale up, not before! Unfortunately, in this regard, it’s not about "if I just put enough in, something will come out."
Measuring is knowing
A bonus tip: Measure (and know) what works and what doesn’t. It’s a waste to invest a lot of time into things that don’t yield results. Two valuable and free applications I like to share in conclusion are Semrush and Google Analytics. Analytics provides insight into how your website is used, and Semrush gives you the tools and resources to improve findability. This way, you’ll know which keywords you should write articles about to achieve a return.
Good luck with these tips for an ultimate bed and breakfast website. Also considering starting with your own B&B site? Try our web builder for free and experience the benefits a powerful website can have for you. Sign up for free today!
