Producing a successful website for your hotel is a trying task and many skills are required. A website designer must understand what an attractive website looks like, have well balanced content and be able to delve into the psyche of any potential viewer. Following these three simple tips will aid your website in being a success, however, ultimately the content is the factor that will make and break your website.
1. Less is More
Have you ever been on one of those websites where there is so much going on that you hardly know where to look? And what’s your immediate response? To navigate away from the page as fast as possible and escape the horrifying clutter that has invaded your screen. Your customers are the same. Minimalism is the future and simplicity is an internet surfer’s desire. So don’t go filling every inch of the screen with ads and pictures because you’re only going to succeed in giving your viewers a headache.
Top Tips:
- Don’t overload your site with content; keep graphics, advertising and text to a minimum. Not only will this allow viewers to read your content more easily, it will lower the loading time of each webpage thus improving the efficiency of the website.
- Use of an appropriate colour scheme is of the utmost importance for any successful webpage. It gives the site a professional appearance and more importantly visitors may be prompted to return based on their memory of the colour scheme. Furthermore the colours used can impact the message given off by the site. For example the colour red is associated with excitement and activity whereas green is associated with nature and tranquillity. Therefore, select a colour that best reflects the message of your site.
- Use of a logo is a fundamental practice of website designers and brings prosperity to their sites. Again the colours of the logo are key and simplicity is of the essence. Try to engage the viewer with the logo as much as possible. Remember above all the logo must entertain and engross your audience.
2. Keep it Consistent
A website is an art form; it is a reflection of yourself or your business to potentially the entire world. Therefore it is fundamental that the website have an air of professionalism about it. The separation between superior and inferior websites comes due to consistency. No website designer with any self-worth would produce a website where every page looks entirely different to the next.
Top Tips:
- Use of a template will work wonders for your webpage. Not only will it speed up the creation of new pages, it improves both the accessibility of different pages as well as generally enhancing the professionalism of the site.
- Use breaks from consistency wisely. A section of the website that differs from the general theme of the webpage will stand out if displayed correctly. Use these discontinuities of the style effectively yet sparingly.
3. Travel without Trial
Traffic jams on the roads, delays in the airports and red signals whilst on the train cause us a great degree of stress. Whilst travelling around may be an emotionally taxing chore, navigating through a website should not be. If you want viewers to read content on your webpage, make it easily accessible.
Top Tips:
- Ensure that all of your hyperlinks and buttons are placed in obvious, easily found places such as the top or bottom of the page or rather both. Also, ensure that these links are clear and visible to aid the audience as much as possible.
- Finding the website is just as important as travelling through it. One must remember that search engines are our friends. Before writing any content select approximately ten keywords that someone searching for your website would typically use in a Google search. Try to use these words at least twice throughout your content. Don’t let your website slip into the perilous realms of page ten and above on a Google search!