Bed and Breakfast Network Blog

Having a professionally designed website for your Bed and Breakfast Inn is now standard practice.  The number of B&B/Inn are growing every day  in the United Sates. How you and your web designer decide what will make your website stand out from the other designs in your area and what you can offer that will make you extra special?  Here are  5 quick tips to put you on the right track, update your website and most of all help drive new bookings no matter where your are located.

Professional Photography

I can not stress this feature enough, great photos on your website not only show off the unique qualities of your inn, they validate your property to perspective guest. Hiring a professional photographer is as simple as “googling”  your area and viewing their portfolios. As with anything your personal budget is important, if you have the funds to hire a top-notch photographer, do it as the cost is well worth every cent.. If you are short of cash flow there is an alternative to get high quality photographs. This may be a short cut but is certainly cost effective and we have found some of the best photographers.

Go to your local University or Junior College, or high school. post a bulletin in the Photography Department/Art. Let them know you are looking for a Photo Major to photograph your property. Many of these young photographers will do it for a fraction of the cost. Most will want to add the images to their portfolio. I have personally suggested this method to dozens of clients and as a developer it really brings the site in together when it has stunning pictures. These young photographers have great photo equipment  Please note, always remember to find out who holds the copyright on the photos so you can use them for print as well as the web.

Easy Navigation

Content is King! Content can make the difference between having a website that is ranked high in the search engines or buried so low that guests will not know you exist. Knowing where and how to display your content becomes an essential part of your website. Make sure the site has an easy link menu that lets the user find information quickly from any page. Do not overload pages with too much text, photo’s or graphics. Keep a balance. Many web designers will try to add all the information on a couple of pages but this is can be counter productive if your guest doesn’t read any of it. Take your time when coming up with content. Be simple and creative it can make all the difference in the world.

Reservation Links

Having automated reservation will save you time and money. It will create more booking for your bed and breakfast inn. Potential guest like to view web pages at all hours of the day or night.  Their opportunity to book a room on the fly without having to wait till business hours sets you apart from your competitions.

Reviews

Take the time to look at the reviews of your bed and breakfast, see what people enjoyed about your B&B/Inn. and just as important what they might not have liked. Don’t worry if you get a bad review.  Remember not every one can be pleased just take the reviews as learning experience and correct things that need correcting.. Ask your guests to post their experience at larger review sites like Trip Advisor this way you will build a loyal following. By posting or having a link to your reviews new guests can get a better sense of what makes your B&B/Inn special.

Fast Loading Pages

A trendy Flash based websites may look really beautiful, more expensive but SEO (Search Engine Optimizing) is very difficult because the spiders are unable to read your website. Remember traffic to your website is produced by the Search Engines. Your content is King!.  When discussing your web site with your designer and he/she asks for your content (text) remember when writing this content how your guest read and understand your information. The addition of music to your web site will slow down the loading time of your website   Just one more comment about Flash. If used correctly Flash can be a wonderful tool to complement your CSS based website. Now don’t worry if some or all of this come across as foreign that is why they have web developers, ask your web designer or web master anything you don’t understand. You are they client and your input is important.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions leave a comment below or if you need help with your Bed and Breakfast/Inn website Contact me at admin@bedandbreakfastnetwork.com www.BedandBreakfastNetwork.com

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