4 Ways to Increase Mobile Bookings at Your Hotel

Today's consumers are tech savvy and mobile phone focused. Therefore, it is no surprise that mobile bookings are trending over desktop bookings in the hotel industry. According to Think With Google, 79% of travelers who use a smartphone complete a booking after researching on their smartphones. Obviously, it is important to get the deals and promotions in front of these mobile users at the right time. 

Mobile Bookings are Increasing

According to Booking.com, 1 in 2 traveler journeys start on mobile. Based on that insight, Booking.com decided to capture data regarding last-minute travel intent. The information they gathered on guest travel-related searches for “tonight” and “today” demonstrated a 150% increase in activity on mobile. People are regularly searching for “flights today” or “hotels tonight.” 

Today, we take a comprehensive look at the top four ways to increase mobile bookings at your hotel.

Read on to entice more bookings and stay ahead of your competition. 

1. Start by Ensuring Your Website is Mobile-Friendly 

You must optimize your website for mobile. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile devices, then smartphone users will have a bad guest experience. Don’t send your website visitors away from your site and straight to the OTAs. . The last thing you want is for a potential guest to struggle to book their trip on your mobile site because their experience on your mobile site will determine if they become your next repeat guest, or not a guest at all.

The booking process should be frictionless on mobile devices

Mobile users will opt for other properties when they experience friction on a hotel's website. Therefore, failing to make your website mobile-friendly takes away your potential customers and channels them towards your competition. Staying competitive within your industry becomes a problem if you cannot convert quality leads.

The online experience is often the guests' first impression of your hotel

Equally, a poor user experience will impact your brand's reputation. You will end up with numerous negative reviews that chip away at your current stellar reputation. Over time, you risk losing the public's trust and jeopardizing your bottom line.

Fast, reliable website speed matters

Optimizing your site will also help to ensure quick loading times for mobile users. Most consumers will leave your mobile site if it is slow. Therefore, use imagery and video that will not affect your site speed. Removing all unnecessary information can also increase your website loading time. You can actually run a speed test on your current website using a tool like ookla speed test to determine how quickly your site is running (mbps).

Updated information creates trust and credibility

Ensure you update your current website and optimize it for use on mobile devices. An easy-to-navigate website that fits the user's screen will guarantee more bookings. No more losing quality leads to your competitors.

2. Have Short Reservation Forms 

Mobile devices come with small screens that can't accommodate long reservation forms. Equally, smartphone users are likely trying to make reservations while on the move. All of these factors can contribute to mobile users having limitations on what they can do when making a hotel booking.

Simplify your processes for guests

Ensure you make mobile forms as simple as possible. Doing this will help your smartphone users focus on doing one specific task – booking a reservation. After all, reducing distractions ensures your customers stay focused on what brought them to your website.

Start by omitting optional fields for your mobile users. Remove everything that doesn't seem necessary during the booking process. For example, you can omit asking for the user's address because you can acquire it when they check-in at your premises.

3. Consider Incentivizing Potential Guests with Mobile-Only Offers 

It is vital to convert all the leads you can get from your website. Doing this gives you the competitive edge you need to establish yourself as an industry leader. The best way to ensure you secure revenue from smartphone users is by offering mobile-only offers. 

Mobile users tend to be responsive to mobile-only promotions because they are looking for the best deal where they’re searching. . These users will want to take advantage of any offers exclusively given to them. We are living in a competitive world where many consumers will take whatever offer saves them more money. 

Create a standard mobile-only rate

A mobile-only rate plan ensures consumers have to use their smartphones to take advantage of the deal. They won't get similar promotions or offers when using a desktop or OTA. Therefore, you get to reap the rewards of saving on the OTA commissions. . 

Collect guest data for marketing purposes

Mobile-only promotions also provide you with the data you need to improve the guest experience. You can use cookies to personalize services when a guest confirms hotel reservations from their mobile device. However, don't forget to use the data collected to create and redefine your marketing strategies. 

4. Constantly Check Your Mobile Performance in Google Analytics

Making the above changes and updates will help you attract more clients to your hotel. However, you must also regularly check how your site is performing. Do not assume your website's performance is at its best without checking it out yourself. 

Use your phone to simulate the mobile guest experience

Luckily, you don't need to use sophisticated tools each time you analyze your website's performance. Simply use your smartphone to browse through your website. Take note of everything difficult to do or hard to see. 

We also recommend you ask friends and family to help you test out your website's performance. Encourage them to give you honest opinions about their experiences. You can then talk to your team to better optimize your website for mobile users. 

Google Analytics will be your guide

Google Analytics  also comes in handy when understanding your consumer journey on your website. Look at your booking funnel on the Behavior Flow page to figure out when potential clients are leaving your site. Examine pages that seem to lose more clients and figure out how to better optimize them. 

Finally, consider online usability testing. These tools let you pinpoint where clients are experiencing friction. With that knowledge you can take the guesswork out of the equation and focus on problem areas. It also means you can find it easier to personalize your services to meet your buyer's persona. 

The Bottom Line 

The hospitality industry is quickly becoming dependent on digital consumer channels. Mobile booking for hotels is already critical and is bound to become yet more important in the near future. Therefore, you need to pay close attention to how your business appears on mobile devices. 

Travelers are flocking to their cellphones to research, plan, and book their reservations. You need to ensure you are optimized to meet their mobile needs. Contact rezStream today  to learn how we can assist you with your mobile strategy.