How do visitors react to the presence of Facebook 'Like' button on travel sites? According to a new report on the user experience (UX) and usability similarities and differences of websites in the travel industry, the feedback has been 'overwhelmingly negative across the board'.

According to Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based Usabilla's : Usabilla's User Experience In The Travel Sector report featuring 18 travel websites, sure some people approve of Facebook ‘Like' buttons, but "most participants disliked the buttons with a passion".

As per the findings: Users really hate the pushy appearance of a company asking for an endorsement. Of course, people use ‘Likes' differently as well: it is easy to stay updated on good content though the Facebook news feed. This can be communicated more clearly, as well as any other benefits one could get from ‘Liking' the page (such as deals only for followers, for example).

One might ascertain that companies in the travel sector are simply putting the Facebook ‘Like' button on their homepage because "everyone else is doing it", however doing so without a clear social media marketing strategy is counterproductive if you alienate site visitors and come across as pushy or ‘begging' a user to ‘Like' your company or brand.

(Source: Usabilla's User Experience In The Travel Sector report)

A total of 800 participants performed tasks, and gave feedback on the homepages of travel sites in the airline, hotel and comparison site sectors.

The sites tested include: American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, BookIt.com, and EasytoBook.com.

The major highlights are:

Airlines: The Delta Airlines homepage scored highest in terms of accuracy (67 percent) of participants locating the boarding pass, and Delta also scored best in terms of the time (15.3 seconds) it took to find it. KLM (39 percent), Lufthansa (38 percent), and Singapore Airlines (38 percent) scored lowest in terms of accuracy, and Singapore Airlines (21.1 seconds), United Airlines (22.1 seconds), and KLM (23.9 seconds) scoring lowest in terms of the time it took to find it.

Hotels: Sites with a clear header, ease of navigation and beautiful visual design all stand out in a positive way with trust and appeal going hand-in-hand. Busy sites with scattered testimonials, social media buttons, buttons that don't fit in with the navigational structure, or that are disguised as ads were all generally frowned upon and received negative feedback.

Comparison sites: The promotional content on both Expedia and Priceline.com tested positively with participants. The Priceline.com standouts are the last minute deals' button (22 percent), mobile apps (32 percent), navigation elements and anything to do with the bidding options of the site. Promotional content on Expedia performed more positively than other travel sites with test users responding more favorably to ads that promoted special deals (42 percent). While other sites scored badly on promotional elements, test participants cited them as a strength for Expedia.

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