Even with an impressive travel offering and great review profile to support it, you might find your website bookings fall short of where you would like them to be. In some cases, this can be pinpointed to your site failing to keep traffic on it, or make conversions.
Take a look at these common reasons which can cause sites to underperform. There may be an easy fix you can apply to increase travel website bookings for your company.
Avoid These Mistakes and Increase Travel Website Bookings
1. Website is Difficult To Navigate or Understand
When travelers land on your website, do they immediately know how to get to the bookings page? It’s important to have a clear path leading to the booking point, so as to prevent people from dropping off your site. If they can’t find where or how to perform this function, they’ll go somewhere else where it’s easier
Also, is it simple to get to the point of actually making a booking? Having to navigate unnecessary steps in between the point of clicking the book now button and getting a confirmation can deter users.
2. Not Using Photos To Their Potential
Images are an extremely important tool to increase travel website bookings. They give your audience a better idea of what to expect from your travel offering, and they make the information on your site easier to digest.
With the right images in place, visitors to your website are greeted by beautiful and inspiring content which helps them to better visualize your product. It is also easier to process and take in a page with visuals over one that is filled with blocks of text which have to be read.
3. Website Pages Load Slowly
Pages that load slowly definitely do not do your website any favors. You will know from your own experience how frustrating it is when you have had to wait for something to load, either on desktop or on mobile.
Some of the main causes for slow loading speeds include poor web-hosting, as well as using unnecessarily large images on the site.
Naturally, the ways to remedy this include moving to a reliable hosting company which will provide you with fast loading speeds. And also to make sure that all the images you display are sized optimally.
4. Site Doesn’t Accommodate Real-Time Online Bookings
One of the best ways to increase travel website bookings is to offer them in real-time, online.
When visitors land on your site, make sure that they can proceed with a booking there and then. Having to overcome barriers such as waiting for an email from the establishment to confirm availability is a potential deterrent to those who are ready to part with their money.
Of course, this depends on the nature of your business as there may be finer details to confirm first. However, try to answer as many possible questions that travelers may have beforehand in detailed tour descriptions or immersive imagery. That way, potential barriers leading to making a booking are removed.
5. You Don’t Offer Specials or Promotions
Once travelers have an idea in mind, they often shop around before going ahead with a purchase. This is to compare deals and ensure that they’re getting the best value for their money. By offering up something extra in your travel product, you may well tip the conversion scales in your favor.
Of course, it’s not necessarily a case of having to reduce your margins. Rather put together an attractive travel package that increases the perceived value of your product.
Be sure to use an eye-catching call-to-action so that visitors to your site are aware of what it is that you are promoting. Consider placing the CTA somewhere above the fold too, so that people can see it right away.
It’s also a good idea to insert a specials or promotions page on your website where all the information can be found in one place.
6. You’re Not Upselling or Cross-Selling Enough
Many people will agree that buying their travel products in one place simplifies things. That’s why travel agencies are popular. Being able to pay a single price for flights, accommodation, activities, meals, insurance, etc, makes things a lot more convenient for the person booking.
With this in mind, to increase travel website bookings for your company, ensure that visitors know about the extra products you have available on your site. Upselling and cross-selling offers the chance to increase your sales revenue, as well as gives your clients better value for their money.
7. Forms Are Too Long and Complicated
As much as you may want to gather all the lead information possible prior to their purchase, in these early phases, it’s important to keep your forms simple and focus on what’s necessary. You can expect 26% of travelers to abandon their purchase if your forms are too long or request too much personal information.
Only ask for what’s needed, and make sure that the payment process itself is both simple and guided. Let your clients know how they can complete a booking online without outside intervention by offering up simple automated prompts online.
Once the booking has gone through, you can then request the rest of the information you need from the traveler.
Summary
At the end of the day, to increase travel website bookings you need to make the process as easy and as holistic as possible.
Understand that a visitor’s experience on your site is going to affect whether or not they go ahead with your travel company. Therefore, it’s important to provide them with a clear-cut and enjoyable experience to remove the potential barriers they face prior to making the reservation.
