How Important is it to You? To borrow a phrase from the Smith Travel Research web site "It's not rocket science…it's more important than that". Randy I give you credit, you nailed it.

Of course Randy Smith was referring to research data, but it can apply to Internet marketing as well.

All fluff and technical terminology aside, the Internet is still the most economical, value-packed marketing tool ever devised. But you've heard that all before. I'm constantly amazed that it is still shrouded in mystery and misconceptions and, in some cases, not thought of at all.

For the past few years, I've tried to debunk some of the mystery and encourage hotels to go beyond simply publishing a web site but actually using their web site to market their hotels and sell rooms instead of thinking of their web site as a "brochure".

Many hoteliers have a difficult time seeing beyond the scant numbers of reservations some hotels see from their current web site. I guess there are two ways to look at it.

There are those who feel that they are not getting enough production from their web site to warrant making any further investments to improve it. On the other hand, there are those who see the Internet's enormous potential and realize that a small investment can produce a huge return. Which one are you?

The Internet is also the great equalizer. It's a marketplace where even the smallest boutique properties can compete with big box hotels; where small management companies can compete with the largest hotel franchises. It all boils-down to exposure and the ability of your site to properly represent your property to the public.

The Internet is affordable for even the smallest of properties.

Unknown Legions of Web Site Visitors
Some experts estimate that as many as 75% or more of all travelers use the Internet to research airline schedules and hotels before making their travel plans. We suspect that the majority of these travelers still make their reservations offline, but this is changing. Reservations made online are increasing rapidly as people gain confidence in the security of their transactions.

In any event, this is good news for our industry. Imagine, if years ago, we found a magazine which had readership representing 75% of all travelers. It would be so chock full of ads, you'd have difficulty counting them. Well, imagine a publication, like the Internet, read daily by millions, begging for your participation.

The amazing thing is that the Internet's cost per reader is lower than any magazine ever printed. They key is how to get more readers to see and use your site. Although good Internet marketing is tedious and sometimes detailed, it really isn't complicated. But, it does require your attention.

Enough is known about the Internet that there are very few remaining naysayers, but there is a good way and a better way to approach it. Perhaps the best advice this writer can give is to stay far away from those who think that fancy complicated gloriously designed web sites work better than simple functional web sites. It just isn't true.

I know that I have annoyed some people by advising hoteliers to seek web marketers with hotel marketing experience. The fact is that selling hotel rooms takes some expertise, knowledge of the marketplace, and how people choose accommodations. I would have no idea how to design a web site to sell widgets; how to market widgets or who might buy them.

Face it, everyone who knows how to build a web site wants to join in on the action. I've seen hotel web sites that don't use correct travel terminology and/or don't understand that a hotel's location is still its most important selling factor. Like all other industries, our techniques and methods are constantly evolving and selling rooms is not like selling widgets or building booking engines.

The old K.I.S.S. theory works very well with many things; web sites too. I'm amazed that so many people think their web site has to be a masterpiece. With hotel web sites, less is definitely more. It's rare to find an hotelier who doesn't feel a need to add, add, add to an already functional web site. Do your best to resist this natural tendency.

It's very easy to take a well-functioning site and turn it into a catch-all for any information people can conceive. It's like a salesman who never stops talking. In sales, we teach newbies to ask, present, and close. Too much talking loses sales; too much information on a web site loses sales too.

There are many underlying factors such as download speeds, spider-ability, ease of navigation, key words and phrases, and the pure fact that most people just don't spend that much time on a web site. It always makes good sense to use a data-gathering engine such as Web Trends to see which pages people view and how long they view them; then, make adjustments accordingly. It might amaze you to see some of these numbers.

No, "It's not rocket science….it's more important than that". Just as the belief in the importance of research data propelled Smith Travel Research into the foremost company of its kind; I urge you to believe in the Internet's potential to boost your occupancy.

Contact:
Neil Salerno, CHME, CHA
Hotel Marketing Coach
Htlmgr5125@msn.com
www.hotelmarketingcoach.com