Welcome to RezNEWS. This month´s Feature Article defines the term website conversion rate and provides three extremely effective tips for doubling online revenue overnight. Our Monthly Myth Buster dismisses the popular notion that all online booking engines are the same. This highly informative article discusses the different types of booking engines and the pros and cons of each. October´s HOT TIP follows by offering useful ways to avoid reservation conflicts when using the RezStream Booking Engine for online reservations. And finally, this month’s Design Spotlight takes us to the incomparable San Francisco. Check out RezStream’s progress in phase one of its website redesign and promotion for www.metrohotelsf.com. October’s issue celebrates the one-year anniversary for RezNEWS. We thank our readers for their compliments and support!
RezNEWS Feature Article
How to double your online revenue overnight!
Our feature article will begin by defining the term website “conversion.” For our purposes, a website conversion happens when a website visitor books a room online. A conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that come to your website that follow through with a booking. In perspective, if 100 visitors land at your website and two of them make a reservation, your property’s website has a 2% conversion rate. It then follows that when you have a website conversion, you also have revenue associated with this transaction. Working with the average daily rates and length of stay formulas, if you can double your conversion rate, you can double your online revenue. If a 2% conversion rate is generating $25,000 per month, then a 4% conversion rate should generate $50,000 per month. The following paragraphs will outline ways to monitor your conversion rates and online revenue as well as factors that will improve your website’s functionality and its ability to generate revenue.
Knowledge is power in the land of website conversion.
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We would love to hear from you about any of our articles. Send comments or questions to sales@rezstream.com.
Monthly Myth Buster:
All online booking engines are the same.
One of the common myths about online booking engines is that they are all the same or that they all convert at the same rate. This assumption is false in a number of ways. With more and more people securing reservations online (as many as 37-38% of all hotel reservations will be made online in 2008), it becomes clear that travel consumers are very comfortable making reservations in this manner. They are also put at ease when they encounter booking engines that are similar to ones they have previously used.
By far, the most common and most utilized type of travel booking engine is the multi-step model. Travel websites such as Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity all feature some variation of this type of booking engine. Typically, at step one in the reservation process, the consumer inputs the travel dates, the desired location, and most wanted travel…