In the ever-evolving globe of hospitality, each host of a serviced accommodation wants to differentiate themselves from the rest and draw more guests to develop a loyal guest base. Most of the hosts usually use the widely used rental and booking websites to reach travelers, but is there any need to involve a third party and not only increase the profits but also develop a brand? There is such a powerful tool: it’s a website.
Yes, it’s third-party websites that allow you to create and start your business, but the professional management vision and strategy to promote the creation of a booking site. The accommodation market is changing and in this article, we will analyze the four major compulsive reasons why having a personal web page for the accommodation business is conclusive in building an accommodation business.
If you are a serviced accommodations provider, you know how useful booking platforms are. But, here’s the rub: these platforms are not all good as they charge a commission for every booking, restrict the possibility of creating a brand, and at times, dictate how you will interact with guests. However, if you wish to build your business in a real sense, boost your income, and control how your property is viewed, setting up a separate booking page for your serviced accommodation arises. In this post, we summarize the four most important reasons why website ownership is not merely about autonomy.
- Increased Control Over Branding and User Experience
Once you include your serviced accommodation property in a listing on a booking site, you are essentially leasing space on a remote unit. These sites help you reach a large number of users but at the same time limit as to how your property will be presented. The only difference is that there are other similar properties around your home which make it rather difficult for yours to be noticed.
A given weathered business and a well-planned booking site for serviced accommodation go hand in hand. A well-managed serviced site of bookings enables one to promote their brand as well as the accommodation in the best manner possible. The layout and branding for a given serviced website can be customized to suit the market and the audience being targeted. Therefore, In establishing, a given business serviced website, full control is in the operator’s area.
An individual can add images of a high-quality, there are detailed descriptions of the amenities, and a person can accent the unique features of the accommodation. One can even provide a virtual tour or include videos of the reviews of prior clients. Also putting various types of services on your site, there is an option of computer-assisted booking for local excursions or even personalized travel tips. Such services which are rare and unique can help in wooing potential clients to choose your serviced accommodation over competitors.
As opposed to what external booking websites offer, bland and impersonal presentation, having your booking site for serviced accommodation gives you the power to provide a smooth user experience. Your customers don’t have to go anywhere else as they can simply view the property, know its booking status, and make a reservation on the site. With a customized design, you can showcase the theme and character of your property which leaves a positive first impression and increases conversion rates.
- Reduction in Commission Fees and Increased Profit Margins
One of the most annoying features that put many people off listing their property on other websites is the booking commission. When it comes to booking websites they do charge a percentage for every booking most less than 10% but costs around about 20%. This is a frustrating factor for many hosts in the sense that it limits profits while spending money on commission selling.
However, because of the lack of third parties involved in the concept, it means that you can simply set up your booking site for serviced accommodation and avoid paying these commission fees. In direct bookings, all the profits are retained and can be used for property upgrades, website promotion, or guest experience improvement. Even in the absence of a third-party facilitator, the owner has the freedom to modify their rates, offer discounts, and provide seasonal offers without any worries about additional service charges.
Moreover, a specific market segment like business people, families or even long-term renters can be targeted by the means of having a dedicated booking site for serviced accommodation. Such a personalized approach will allow you to structure your prices with the level of your target market so that target market alignment is done and business remains competitive but so does the bottom line.
- Improved Customer Relationship Management
When it comes to serviced accommodation business, there is always the fact that customer relations management is one of the key activities that ought to be handled with utmost care and concern. The issue arises when you make a listing on a booking site for serviced accommodation since you are unable to contact your guests directly. Most of these sites have restrictions on any hosted communication with the guests so there is no chance to reach out before, during, or after check-in.
However, on your website, the situation is quite different as you can reach out to interested guests. To do this, the owner may develop an email subscription system or accumulate contact information for guests (with their consent), so that they can send emails containing messages, information about the clients, and special offers to promote loyalty. All these customers would be happy that they have someone who can help them, improving satisfaction levels, garnering repeat bookings, and most importantly, positive reviews.
A special mention should go out to the fact that guests billeted on your site can give their reviews combining them with the booking for serviced accommodation. You solicit guest reviews from them via emails or website which enhances social proof for your property. If there are positive reviews posted, it would mean that there were satisfied guests who would help increase booking chances for the property.
- Better Control Over SEO and Online Visibility
One of the strongest incentives for owning your website is to be able to manage your SEO strategies and marketing standards for the website in a particular location. When you advertise your serviced accommodation on a booking site, it is like a market where you have to compete with others and your visibility is dependent on which page you rank in on the site. You might have some influence on the wording of the description and images that accompany the listing, but there are still limitations set by the platform’s algorithms and its search ranking system.
Here are a few ideas on what you need to do to use SEO with your website:
- Keyword Optimization: You can use target long-tail keywords such as ‘luxury serviced apartments in [city]’ or ‘best serviced accommodation near [landmark)’ etc.
- Local SEO: If you own a service accommodation in a certain area, ranking for local Seo would allow you to get higher visibility on searches done in a local area.
- Content Creation: you can create and even update time-to-time travel blogs, articles, or guides that include your area and the services that you provide. These can not only improve your SEO rankings but can also bring more potential guests to your page.
- On-page Seo: A couple of things that can be done are optimizing the title tags, description tags, alt text for the images, and all other elements of your on-page SEO.
Conclusion
Yet when one manages a website, they have the opportunity to form a more enhanced Image SEO strategy to increase the overall traffic. Increasing your property’s relevance towards search engines through its booking site has always been the main goal as you are able to engage more traffic from a relevant search engine.
Here are a few, among many others, reasons citing the importance of an optimized website rather than a renting website; owning an office space may attract unnecessary commission, marketing costs, and building equity that could have otherwise remained or been used efficiently vis a vis owning costs. From making it easier to control brand and user experience, cutting down on marketing costs, and improving SEO, all three combined can increase the profitability and use of the serviced accommodation.
