Hotel Website Design Plan - Term Paper Example

Hotel Website Design Plan Student’s name Institutional affiliation Date Introduction Every hotelier must seek to offer best customer service during their stay. It is also fundamentally important for customers to offer excellent customer experiences even before the customer steps into the hotel room. The online platform is the best place where customers can interact with the hotel features. In this regard the website must be designed in such a manner aimed at attracting a wider customer base. The website is the perfect communication tool that markets the hotel services. Any time a hotel customer plans to make travel arrangements the task of choosing an appropriate destination is quite complicated. The most challenging part is the insufficient information regarding the destination and the types of services to expect in the hotel (Schmidt, Cantallops, & Santos, 2008). The preferred destination for most customers would be security, comfort and luxury. Most of the potential customers have little or no information regarding the kind of hospitality to expect as such the hotel website must be designed to compel a potential customer. The internet connectivity is rampant in this age and time. All the required information is one way or another available on-line so long as the link is available. Every business entity focused on covering a wide market utilizes online platforms. Through business online discovery the hotel is more feasible to all customers. The website can offer visual and audio interaction information that can better describe the hotel and entice customers. Everything the hotel stands for may be discovered through the website platform. Most probably a hotel website that offers attractive and enticing content will most probably be quality effective. The hotel website must therefore meet some specific website and business goals as discussed below (Chung & Law, 2003). Business goals and website goals Friendly interaction features: most travellers rely on the internet for hotel accommodation arrangements. The rise of and growth of mobile devices has quickly overtaken computer use. Mobile applications using the Internet of things (IoT) are quickly characterizing business marketing platforms. The growing use of hand devices to access the internet and social media has become a ready ground for exploration by business entities. Mobile applications designed for hotel business advertising are convenient for travellers. The website must therefore have a mobile application aimed to ease access and improve interaction with customers. Every website designed must have a mobile version so as to help customers navigate the website content better (Law, 2005). Understandable customer guides: every customer needs to know the location of the hotel and the attractive features in the area. Brochures, maps and city guides containing major customer relevant features are important for the website. The guide should have instructions on the ways to get to the area, distance to areas of interest from the hotel and weather trends to better understand stay conditions. Update consistency: some of the existing business websites are poorly serviced bearing information overtaken by time. The hotel website should include areas to receive customer feedback and an active administrator who will respond to customer requests. Most of the efficiently serviced websites have a platform for live chats. This is an important interaction feature that will prompt the customers to believe the hotel has excellent customer service and hospitality features. An excellent online experience is commensurate to efficient customer service during the stay at the hotel. Important features considered for developing Website i. Innovative but simplistic design model: The website attractiveness is not enhanced through complicated innovative designs with many interactive features. A simplistic, navigable and understandable website design is crucial in the design of a website. Flashiness and sophisticated designs will only scare customers away as opposed to attracting them. Most people are visual therefore making colour an important website design aspect. It is highly recommended that light colours should be used contrary to dark colours. The intention is to leave a lasting impression (Leung & Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2012). ii. Relevant content: Content is basically the background and backbone of the website. All information available on the website must be relevant in terms of timeliness. The content should accurately reflect facts and bear an appealing aspect along delivery. All the links should be working. Access configurations and structure of website must be adequate. Content should be powerful but simple. The images available must be limited to ensure content is understood. iii. Information available should be complete: The website purpose is to avail as much information to the customer as possible. A website lacking in information content only means the relationship with client will be haphazard. The website should also entail all the services and facilities available. The “About us page” is intended to avail adequate information regarding the hotel ownership, brief history and management team. The website should include some basic tour videos or the virtue tour features that portray the hotel. Information expounding on security, public interaction, weather patterns and natural features will better expound and complement the visual aspect of the hotel. iv. Online booking: An online booking platform will most definitely eliminate the hustle of having to run around looking for booking offices and probably dealing with delays and transport issues. Such a feature creates the impression that the hotel is focused on delivering quality services. For visibility purposes the website should have a booking link in every page bearing a discoverable font size and unique colour. v. Live online chats with guests and customers: Obtaining feedback from customers through live online chats ensures complacency is minimized while eagerly seeking to get feedback. A good hotel should have a sales and relations department that deals with customer support (Hernández, Jiménez, & Martín, 2009). vi. Guest platform: The website must have a platform responsible for receiving feedback from customers who have stayed in the hotel. Such a feature ensures the hotel works hard to please the customers. It acts as a deterrent to inefficiency and poor customer service. The website must be a true reflection of the hotel situation. Customer feedback is part of an honest way of revealing conditions in the hotel. vii. Website must allow for Blogging: Blogs that give updates on upcoming events, trending news, business fairs etc. may attract more people. The activities advertised must be cheap for the customers to attend. In will make it easier for customers to participate in the activities. viii. Efficient SEO management: The content must be formatted to include keywords, content must be relevant and all SEO guidelines must be adhered to in order to perfect the hotels image through the website (Yalçın & Köse, 2010). ix. Impressive template: Pop-ups create a lasting first impression. The pop up must be brief and informative. Promotional information and existing offers must be included though with brevity. Many pop up may imply the hotel has much in offer. x. Location emphasis: The hotel location and existing offices must be clearly stated in the website. All the booking procedures and directions must also be availed. xi. Catering for multiple languages: Any website intending to cover a wide market must bear as many languages versions as possible. This ensures inclusivity for a worldwide market. xii. Incorporate diversity through Internet Protocol address: To make sure each aspiring customer accesses information in a language they can understand. Customized language translation with respect to target market location is important. Language should change with changes in IP address of the accessing customer so as to make discoverability easier. xiii. Simplicity and appealing: The website template must be simplistic. The customer must not get lost trying to understand content. The engine for booking must be conspicuous enough for easy location. The website should also be accessible through a mobile device in order to reach more people. A good website must also have a link to social media sites. As is with most business oriented websites a link to Facebook, twitter and Google+ is an added advantage aimed at reaching the broader market of Facebook users. Competitor website analysis The most successful hotels have very efficient websites that provide up to date information to the clients. The Starbucks hotel and restaurant is one typical example. The hotel has many branches all over the world and their website is IP address customized to reflect on the relevant information to the target customers. The website has a location map, hotel external and internal images and a grey interface. The image is simplistic and the website easy to navigate (Darlington, 2005). The website bears links for booking, contact information, gallery, location, facilities, meetings, rooms and home for general information. The interface is quite appealing and the speed of access is also commendable. All the access links are functional and the information provided in up to date (Starbucks, 2015). Figure-1: Starbucks website Source: Starbucks, (2015). Starbucks Hotel and Restaurant. Retrieved from The StarBucksHotel website: http://thestarbuckshotel.com. Target audience The target audience for the website is the wider population all over the world. The hotel is intended to offer hospitality services to tourists coming from all corners of the world and host business meetings. Children are also targeted by the hotel. It is in this regard that children features are included in in the gallery. Forecasted use environments The website is intended for use by the working class intending to proceed for vacation, teambuilding activities by business organizations, learning institutions and the general public. The website will be customized for access and use by every person intended to use hotel services. User tasks The tasks of the user will involve exploring the features of the hotel, booking for space, finding hotel location and sampling the services offered at the hotel. The contact information made available may be used to contact the management for more information and clarification. Website content and development tools The website will include all the features previously mentioned in the business and website goals. The content of website will resemble Starbucks in all aspects save for the template and background colour. In addition the website will include a live chat panel, largely visible booking link, blog features, News panel, user menu, and recreation facilities in the gallery. The hotel services available, management structure, operation hours, security situation and major events will also be available. The live Chat service will be operational on 24-hours basis. The development tools for a website include the add-on browsers or the web browsers that are built on. The most renowned browsers include Opera, Firefox, Internet explorer and Google chrome. The browsers have tools that help in the development of websites. The download centres have extra add-ons that facilitate website development. Technologies such as CSS, JavaScript, HTML, PHP etc. are useful web handling components. JavaScript is the preferred hotel website development program (Darlington, 2005). Websites content storyboard The story board will contain the main services and foods offered at the hotel, recreation facilities, main activities, regional features, and security situation. Security has become a major area of concern for all tourists due to the growing terrorist threat in the world. Such security updates will boost customer confidence and most probably increase customer base. Website template designs  The Starbucks hotel website is the first template. Figure-2: Template-1 for the website Source: Starbucks Hotel website Figure-3: Template-1 for the website Source: Starbucks Hotel website The outstanding features are the link in the first template to social media websites and gallery outline on the background of the second template. Both are simplistic and easy to use. Process analysis The process of web design will require web designing from experts and subsequent website testing. A domain has to be acquired and a maintenance team put in place. Web designers must be hired for coding and running website tests. The maintenance work will be performed by a team in the hotel that will interact with customers and update content frequently. Marketing techniques The process of marketing will require initial use of the television media, billboards, brochures, offers, stickers and gift cards. The website will become the eventual marketing platform (Albertroz, 2015). It will bear all the relevant information related to the hotel. In addition to the hospitality services collaboration with hotel associations, supermarkets and suppliers will also adequately market the hotel company. Conclusion Each of the existing hotels focused on reaching customers has a website. The launching of websites for hotels may appear farfetched and unproductive although the long-term effect is positive and impactful. The website reflects on the character of the hotel’s management and type of services offered (Darlington, 2005). A wanting presentation on the website may be indicative of poor service provision. For this reason it is important for the website to be lean on content in order to build more focus on the core areas. The templates choice from the provided content should be informed by the factors highlighted. References Albertroz (2015). Beach and Yacht Club. Retrieved from Albatroz Hotel website: http://www.albatrozhotel.com. Chung, T., & Law, R. (2003). Developing a performance indicator for hotel websites. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 22, 119-125. Darlington, K. (2005). Effective website development: Tools and techniques. Harlow England: Pearson/Addison-Wesley. Hernández, B., Jiménez, J., & Martín, M. J. (2009). Key website factors in e-business strategy. International Journal of Information Management, 29, 362-371. Law, R. (2005). Fuzzy evaluation of hotel websites. Advanced Data Mining and Applications, 3584, 507-514. Leung, C. M. R., & Hong Kong Polytechnic University. (2012). Human factors in website usability and aesthetics: Theory and applications to hotels in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: School of Hotel and Tourism Management, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Schmidt, S., Cantallops, A. S., & Santos, C. P. dos. (2008). The characteristics of hotel websites and their implications for website effectiveness. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 27(4), 504-516. Starbucks, (2015). Starbucks Hotel and Restaurant. Retrieved from The StarBucksHotel website: http://thestarbuckshotel.com. Yalçın, N., & Köse, U. (2010). What is search engine optimization: SEO? Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, 487-493. Read More