Getting more web traffic for and on a hotel website

By now most of you must be convinced that electronic marketing is an important and indispensable sales tool. Most hotels have their own website, as they have realized the huge benefits that can be derived from it. But developing a hotel website involves a lot more than just providing information and assuming that it will automatically bring guests to your site. You may have already created a website for your hotel; however, you should also learn the ways to drive traffic to your site. Here are some tips...

Build a Good Hotel Website: Contrary to popular belief, looks are not always deceptive. It is very important to make your website look attractive to gain mass appeal. Your website should be uncluttered and tidy in order to allow your visitors to easily navigate through different pages in your site. Use mild and pleasing colors with a standard font and also make sure you upload clear images of your hotel property. Remember a single glance is more than enough for a person to judge your site!

Global Distribution System (GDS): The GDS (Global Distribution System) came into existence many years ago in order to serve travel agents, airlines, hotels, and car rental companies. It is one of the world's first computerized travel databases. It is now widely used to enable travel agents to see hotel availability and rates and give them the ability to book reservations directly through proprietary systems like Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, and Worldspan. By listing your hotel in the Global Distribution System, you can increase traffic to your website to a great extent.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website. The higher a site's "page rank" in search engines, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. Before pages can be optimized, research must be done to determine which keywords to target. Keywords are the building blocks when it comes to website traffic. Search engines search the web for keywords which are then indexed in order to bring up the required search results. The use of effective keywords will help you optimize your website to a great extent. You can start by making a list of popular keywords that your web site visitors will use to make a search. Also, keep a watch on your competitors to find out what keywords they're using to attract website traffic. Remember more keywords means more traffic to your site!

Pay-per-Click Advertising (PPC): Pay per Click (PPC) is an Internet advertising tool used on search engines, and advertising networks, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. The ads appear adjacent to or above organic results on search engine results pages, or anywhere a web developer chooses. PPC advertising is simple as you have greater control over your ad campaign. The pay per click advertising programs with the greatest market reach are offered by Google and Yahoo. PPC is an excellent tool to drive traffic to your website.

Internet Booking Engine: An effective and easy to use internet booking engine is the best way to drive traffic to your website. By integrating a booking engine in your website, your guests can make a reservation in your hotel, and you can instantly close a sale. A booking engine with multilingual and multicurrency feature is like an added bonus which will tremendously boost your hotel business.

Blogging: Blogging has now become a new age phenomenon and is considered an effective way of building traffic to any website. Active blogging encourages interaction with people from all over the world and by having a blog of your own you can answer all queries your customers or prospective customers may have. Blogging regularly will have fresh content that will get your website ranking high on search engines.

Email Marketing: Last but not least, email marketing is still the most effective means of driving qualified traffic to your site. Email marketing involves publishing your own newsletter and offering your guests content & articles on a regular basis. Having a newsletter for your site is a great way to communicate important details and offers provided by your hotel. This will keep your customers updated on your progress and latest events, therefore encouraging them to keep coming back to your website. Links to your website will encourage people reading your newsletter to also visit your website.