Website Tips for a Better Bed and Breakfast Inn

Yes your Bed and Breakfast Inn might be charming and homey, but that does not mean that it lacks functionality such as running water and flushing toilets, correct?

Keep this in mind when preparing your website, make sure that it is suited to your properties look and feel but has all the “expected” amenities.

Key items in a good Bed and Breakfast website:

• Easy to navigate
• Reservations booking online
• Adequate room descriptions with professional photos
• Menu available online
• Driving directions
• Seasonal events information posted
• Fast Loading Pages

Keeping your website fresh with the most current up to date information is easy to achieve with at little know how.  Research the community events and make sure that if tourists are coming in for any event they know you are available and where to find you.

Discuss with your web designer what would be the best ways to represent your property and make it stand out from the other designs in your area. What does your property have that makes it extra special?

Here are a few quick tips to put you on the right track to an up to date website and most of all help drive new bookings.

Easy Navigation:

Keep the content useful and relevant to your guests.  Describe the property and it amenities. Put you best foot forward with prominent content on the home page but do not overload pages with too much text, photos or graphics.

Describe what sets you apart and makes you the place to spend lodging dollars. Knowing where and how to display your content becomes an essential part of your website.  Don’t burry your best features three pages in.

Make sure the site has an easy link menu that lets the users find information quickly from any page. Simple tab navigation might include: Home, About, Rooms, Gallery, Map Directions, Sight seeing and Contact Us

Take your time when coming up with content. Be simple, creative and list everything that makes you unique.

Reservation Links:

Having automated reservation will save you time and money and create more bookings for your Bed and Breakfast Inn.

Professional Photography:

Great photos on your website not only show off the unique qualities of your property, they validate your property to perspective guest.

Menus and or List of Local Eateries:

Let your guests know what their dinning options are up front. What is included and what options are offsite to round out their full B&B experience.

Driving Direction and Maps:

Guests often travel to a B&B for its location and proximity to sightseeing destinations, so let them see where you are located.

Seasonal Events:

Travelers often work B&B visits in with certain seasons.  For example fall, for all its color, winter for snow sports or spring and summer for the perfect beach or lake getaways.  Let them know what your property has to offer seasonally and you might find a boom in new travelers.

Fast Loading Pages:

Keeping your image files to web compliant sizes will speed up the page loading time so better enhance your B&B shopper’s experience.

Promoting Your Bed and Breakfast Hotel Through A Powerful Website

Marketing a successful and profitable B&B business relies on a powerful website and the proper B&B software, such as an online booking engine system. Promoting your B&B hotel website is one of the most essential and economical investments that you can make to successfully market your Bed and Breakfast property.

A large budget is not required and you do not even need website design knowledge.  A simple, five page website design catering to the look and feel of your establishment gives a professional face to your Bed and Breakfast hotel.

Aesthetics Are Important

The easier the website is to view and navigate the more people you’ll attract. With the added capability to book a reservation through an online booking engine system your customers will have the instant ability to make online reservations without ever leaving your site. Reservations can be confirmed automatically via emails branded to your business theme continuing the professional image to your Bed and Breakfast hotel.

Once you have an internet presence you can utilize many more ways to promote your Bed and Breakfast hotel including the use of “Pay-Per-Click” advertising on such search sites as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Additionally, producing a regular email newsletter or guest comment blog will increase visibility and customer loyalty.

This all might sound like “Greek” today but with a few simple tips you can have your B&B website on the top of the search engines and be ready to greet your Bed and Breakfast guests in no time.

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More to Come

Look for more great Bed and Breakfast Software and Web Technology tips coming in the weeks:

• Reservations Desk (PMS Systems) - Do I need one?
• Online Booking Engine (Web booking Systems) - How they make you money.
• “Pay-Per-Click” advertisements - When is PPC needed and do I need it?
• Website Keyword Management -  Why are they important to my website?
• Guest Comment Blogs - Do-it-yourself setup and maintenance.

Does our Hotel or Resort need to be PCI Compliant?

Answer two simple questions to determine your PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance:

• Does your business accommodate credit card information in any form?
• Does your business house credit card information on servers, whether lease through third party providers or fully owned?

If you answered yes to either of these questions then your business is responsible for complying with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).

PCI DSS applies to every hotel property that processes credit or debit card information. Credit card companies have the ability to levy stiff fines and remove a property’s ability to process credit card transactions until they meet PCI compliance guidelines. PCI Standards High Points as defined by the PCI Security Standards Council

The core of the PCI DSS is a group of principles and accompanying requirements, around which the specific elements of the DSS are organized:

Build and Maintain a Secure Network

1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data
2. Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters Protect Cardholder Data
3. Protect stored cardholder data
4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program
5. Use and regularly update anti-virus software
6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications Implement Strong Access Control Measures
7. Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
8. Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
9. Restrict physical access to cardholder data Regularly Monitor and Test Networks
10. Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
11. Regularly test security systems and processes Maintain an Information Security Policy
12. Maintain a policy that addresses information security

Suggested Links
https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/
http://www.forrester.com/rb/

Social Networking and Hospitality

Online technology is challenging business to evolve their marketing practices to engage their customers in all new areas online. And right now, one of the fastest growing segments of online traffic has been seen in the social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 and YouTube. Social media is hot; representing a new low-cost avenue for engaging with consumers at a much deeper level than is typically achieved with traditional advertising.

Harnessing this connectivity with so many potential customers for little or no cost would seem to be a no brainer. But simply having a free MySpace or Facebook account doesn’t guarantee that the business will be pouring in. Moreover, if you attempt to join or create a social network solely to promote your company to other member, you might find little or no success or even worse you’ll be marked as a spammer.

You will need a carefully planned s-marketing campaign. Try to focus on a mix of marketing and customer service. Learn how to interact with other members of the network.

Much like email marketing, it is crucial to have a strong qualified list of social networking customers in that you can segment their interests, demographic, etc.
Another hurtle to overcome is the sensitivity to anti-commercialism. The consumer is constantly being bombarded with meaningless ads online, which can send users running away. These social websites know this, and have strict rules on spammers. A successful social networking campaign will be the careful mix of content your customer finds valuable and marketing at a frequency that doesn’t overwhelm them.

One of the strengths of this media is building brand presence. You will have a chance to become more interactive with your customer giving them a tangible relationship to your business. So it is important that you devote more effort than just sending out offers and promotions. Connect your customers with photos and stories of your property that can then virally spread get customers interested. Below you’ll find a couple social networking standouts you’ll want to take a look at.

Facebook: Is a popular free-access social networking website with more than 150 million active users. More than half of the users are outside of college and the fastest growing demographic is those 30 years old and older.* Users can join networks organized by geographical region, workplace, school and even businesses.  Facebook has created a niche among the college crowd and has seen a huge boom in user sign ups.

MySpace: Much like Facebook, MySpace is an online community that connects friends and others who share similar interests. MySpace has a reputation for being more for a younger crowd however MySpace has been experiencing a older demographic shift with more than half of MySpace visitors 35 years or older**

Twitter: Started just a couple of years ago but has rapidly become one of the most talked about social networking services. Twitter is a very simple service compared to its other social brothers but can be an effective tool to organize impromptu gatherings, create a quick buzz or send quick updates to your customers.

There is no exact science to Social Marketing but if you are looking to gain exposure among the next generation of customers its time you get acquitted to the burgeoning medium.

Internet Bookings Are Trending Up Quickly

It is estimated that over 40% of all revenues generated in 2009 will come from Internet bookings. Additionally, another 1/3 of hotel bookings will be generated by the influence of the Internet, but booked offline through travel agents or guest services.

In order to meet these growing traffic associated to online booking interest, hotels and resorts must seek technology and web presence standards to maximize online conversions. Online booking and conversion solutions can take on the extra workload off hotel staff and can strengthen the overall brand of a chain.

Now, more than ever hotels must concentrate their focus to online users. Strategic marketing and advertising solutions will yield the greatest results for those hotels who know their customers best. Hotels and hotel chains must forecast web booking trends in order to deliver relevant and focused results for end-users.

To learn more, please read the article “Local Internet Marketing Strategies for Franchised Hotels.”

References

Starkov, Max. “Local Internet Marketing Strategies for Franchised Hotels.” 22 Sept. 2008. 24 Sept 2008. <http://www.hotelinteractive.com/article.aspx?articleid=11573>

Next Generation Technology

One technology challenge in the hospitality industry is getting the many disparate and legacy systems to communicate with one another. Information technology (IT) departments may spend up to 70 percent of their time building connectors and customizing point-to-point interfaces to attempt to get information from one system to another, rather than focusing on what is core to their business. Fuseio’s solution for integrating these systems follows the path defined by the Hotel Technology–Next Generation group in 2002.
Fuseio has embraced this standard by implementing the next generation technology (SOA) Service Oriented Architecture. Get more information about this standard.

Master the Internet

Many operators face similiar challenges promoting hotels online. They lack the expertise to properly design and manage a visually appealing website that can compete online. Most approach the issue by hiring a design agency. Although they have a visually appealing website, it is not directed at closing the sale. Hotels need tools that make managing a website easy enough to do themselves. With the right website in place, hotels can focus on market visibility. Online distribution channels are a critical element in generating business. 50% of travelers search on OTA’s, but prefer to book directly with the hotel. One key element in a successful web booking engine is the ability to book and up-sell guests add-on enhancements and special offers. Allow guests to deal shop and create an easy shopping experience for potential guests. Take advantage of being able to make decisions quickly and differentiate yourself with your products. Read the full article here.

Fuseio recognizes most operators face tough challenges when it comes to technology and their brand. Choosing the right partner is easy with Fuseio! Our development teams have been able to produce a product that meets the demands of hoteliers enabling them to give their customers a far superior web booking experience. With Fuseio customers, are now able to not only book a nights stay but, book dinner reservations, golf tee times, spa treatments and any other hotel amenity in order to have a complete hotel experience. Fuseio, the future of online reservations