Before we jump into which pages your hotel website needs and how to write them, let me answer a question you may have: why bother revisiting your hotel website copy?

There’s a simple answer: Your website is like your hotel’s online calling card and it’s your key to getting more commission-free direct bookings. Leverage it as much as possible!

Think of it this way: When you meet someone at a networking event and they give you a calling card that looks like something their trainee created on Paint late at night, you won’t be very impressed.

That’s how people feel when they come to an unengaging or outdated-looking hotel website. Then they bounce and book via an OTA or, worse yet, with your competition…

To avoid that, you need to catch their attention and convince them that booking your hotel directly is their best option.

One important step to achieving this is to structure your website properly and provide the right information in the right place.

Keep reading to find out how!

Your hotel website home page

Your hotel website’s home page is to your hotel like the cover to a magazine. Its job is to grab your visitor’s attention and highlight your property’s key features.

Before you begin writing the text for your home page, you need a clear idea of what these key features are and how best to promote them (i.e. how you want to design your magazine cover).

Collect ideas for this by considering what your guests do, enjoy and want to know about your property.

This can include:

• Featuring your Michelin-star restaurant
• Highlighting your spa and wellness amenities
• Showcasing your conference and event facilities
• Focusing on your family-friendly offers

The better you know your ideal guest, the easier it will be to choose your focus points.

Once you know what you’ll shine the spotlight on, begin crafting powerful headlines and short, meaningful introductions to your top offers.

They should …

• be short and to the point
• make the reader dream of your hotel
• help them picture themselves having the perfect stay.

Hold the organizational details for your description pages to keep your homepage clean and avoid unnecessary clutter.

And remember: your site visitors need or want something. Make it easy to find so they can quickly do what they came to do (e.g. learn about your hotel, check your rates, book a room, etc.).

Your about page

Apart from your home page, what is the most important page on your website? The about page!

Now, you may be wondering: Isn’t this a page you just have because everyone else does? No! It’s so much more but unfortunately, many people underestimate it.

A study showed that around 52% of visitors will see your about page. That means valuable direct bookings slip through your fingers if you neglect this page and the people who check it out.

Let’s look at how you can avoid this mistake and rock your about page.

Ever heard that the about page is not really about you but your site visitor? This statement has a point, but I’d put it differently.

Let’s think about it this way: your about page should be about you all while being relevant to guests.

What does this mean?

Your about page is where people go to find out more about your hotel as a whole and to get information they can’t find anywhere else.

But they’re not just looking for dry details like room count or the founding year. Rather, they want to know things that make your hotel more interesting, captivating, or exciting to them.

Identify these aspects by asking yourself:

• Which details could you share with potential guests that would spark their interest even more than what they already know about you?
• Which details play a role in a potential guest’s booking decision?
• What would a first-time visitor love to know about your hotel?

Here are some possible answers:

• Special location (on the top floors of a famous building, on a private island, at the top of a mountain…)
• Unique service offer (something no other hotel nearby offers)
• Award-winning amenities (e.g. Michelin-starred restaurants or a top-notch spa)
• Distinctive (possibly award-winning) design
• Interesting history (Is your hotel in an old palace or castle? Is your region of special importance?)
• Awards, accolades and media features
• Other unusual details that make your hotel more relatable and attractive to guests

Think hard about what could help you build a connection with potential guests. Then write a short introduction to your hotel that highlights its essence and shows your site visitors that they’ve come to the right place.

Finish your about page strong: use a call to action to encourage people to take the next step, like booking via your site or browsing your special offers before making their final decision.