What can you do instead of paying commissions?

The best way to avoid paying commissions for bookings through third party websites is to make sure you`re getting plenty of bookings through your own! There is evidence that indicates that 65% of online bookings come via hoteliers own websites.

But how do you attract visitors to your website?

Don`t forget people who have visited before!

If you`re using CaterBook diligently you will have amassed a sizeable and useful customer database. This is probably one of the most valuable business tools you have. You can use this to send out a traditional mailshot, perhaps advertising a special offer, to encourage past visitors to come back. If people came for an annual event, you can contact them and invite them to return for the next time the event happens. Use the referrals and reason for stay report information to create mailing lists. Other ways you can encourage website visitors to stay in contact with you is to invite people to subscribe to your newsletter, or subscribe via Social networking (twitter/facebook etc.).
Then there`s the e-mailing option and there are several options with this but you can even do this for free! Have a quick look here: MailChimp Emailing for Free

Help new customers to find your site.

The easiest way to do this is to ensure your site is near the top of the 'organic' search listings for relevant search terms. There are various ways you can do this, here are just a few we like:

A Really Hot Google Tip!

Google maps are a great way of getting your name higher on a Google search. Your hotel will also appear on maps of the local area. Google 'Pleasure Beach' to see what I mean. When I search using Google, a map appears at the top of the screen showing the location - it also highlights a hotel next door. Click on the map to view a larger area and you`ll see that lots of hotels nearby also show up. Do you appear on the maps for your local tourist attractions? You can also list local attractions on your website so that you appear on the search results.

Take advantage of your neighbours

Put references to all local attractions into your website, maybe create a page highlighting what is nearby. This increases your chances of appearing on searches when people look for the attraction and these people may be wishing to stay nearby.

It pays to advertise (sometimes)

Use Pay-per-click advertising (carefully!). Put local attractions as search criteria and it is very possible that you may find your hotel on the front page! If you`re new to pay-per-click, watch the spending levels on a day to day basis at first to make sure you are comfortable with the results.

Get with it.

Make sure your site contains lots of original content, this helps with Google ranking and makes your site more interesting to the visitor. Keeping your website up to date and adding fresh content helps your ranking on search results. A site that changes and updates also encourages customers to come back and look at your site. You can update details of local events or your menus or special offers, or you could be more creative/enterprising and add a blog that happens to mention your hotel quite a lot.

cater:creative can help you set up your website so that it is editable, then you can log in from any web browser and simply update your menus and special offers etc without needing to contact your web designer.

Link up!

If you can get a direct link to your page from other websites, this will increase your popularity with Google. Ask suppliers or business colleagues to link back to your site. However be wary of `link exchange` sites and offers to join them. As a rule of thumb, if you don't know the site, don't deal with it.

Tell people you`re there!

Include 'Bookmark this site'/tell a friend buttons. Let people who like your site tell their friends! A recommendation from someone you know always sounds better than a marketing email direct from the company. Post on message boards and include a link to your website in your 'signature' if the forum allows this.

Last but not least ...

We know it sounds obvious, but make sure booking form is visible (on front page/all pages). If you've put in the effort to get people onto your site, you want to make sure you're profiting from it!