This is a never-ending task in every organization. Just as a retail business or hotel freshens and updates the elements every customer sees, a website must perform the same updates. Websites can look dated within three years since technology and competitor’s sites are always being improved. Once a customer has seen a new technology more than three times (think virtual tours of hotel rooms), they begin to expect it on all the sites they visit. As important as the look and design of the website is however, there are key steps and objectives that must be met to make the website work – that is, to create awareness of a brand, drive more sales and have existing customers spend more.
Website Basics: Think T.O.P.S: Target Markets, Objectives and Products and Services.
Target markets –
Include your current customers
Business travelers
Group travelers
Eco-tourists
Family
Senior market
Wedding/Honeymoon
Business partners
Outdoor enthusiasts
For each target market, find several people from that demographic who are willing to tell you what they are looking for and what would entice them to buy. Don’t overlook information you can gather from sales staff, frontline staff and others who speak directly to the target markets.
Objectives
What are the objectives of your website? To promote a brand, or to sell a specific product or service? When you are determining objectives for your website, try to make them quantifiable (.i.e. increase the number of people signing up for eNewsletters, to be #3 or better in search engines results, etc. ) so you can measure and know if you have achieved the objectives. The more specific you can be with objectives, the easier it will be for the website development team to implement strategies to meet these objectives.
Products and Services
This is the area to differentiate you from the competition. If you regularly speak with your customers, ask them what is unique about your product or what keeps them coming back. What do the online communities such as Trip Advisor say about you? Once you have determined what value you bring to potential customers, make it easy for them to find that information on your website. Is it your location? Plan on having photos or videos to highlight that quality. One B&B in West Virginia has amazing wildlife just outside their door and often post new photos of bears, birds and other creatures that they have caught on film. There are also bird songs playing as you navigate the site which make the experience even more compelling (http://www.wildernestinn.com )
Make sure that information such as rates, hours of operation and contact information are easy to find as well. Have you ever walked around a big box store looking for someone to help you find an item or answer a question? You can not afford to let that happen on your website. Customers will leave and go to your competition. Plan to make it simple to see exactly what products and services you offer.
Developing the layout of your website
This step in updating does not need to be complex. In fact, sticky notes are a fairly effective way to start the process. Place a sign with the name of each target market
(leisure visitors, reunions groups, weddings, etc) around the room. Have your team use the sticky notes to write what they think needs to be on the website to attract this type of visitor. By considering objectives for the website, products and services, as well as the information gathered from the competitive analysis, everyone should have important, yet varied input. For instance, if you want to pursue the wedding market, what products and services did your research show you this market is looking for? Is it lists of locations for ceremonies, catering information, or sites for wonderful wedding photos? Are they looking for package pricing and ideas for unique venues for rehearsal dinners? What have other websites used when courting (pun intended!) this market? Do a similar sticky note list for each target market.
By doing the homework ahead of time and having a clear vision as to what your website needs to accomplish, you will make the job of your website designer much easier. You will know what your target markets are looking for when they visit your website and you will have done research to determine the best online methods and technology to reach them. By performing this analysis and update every three years, your business will stay fresh, innovative, and top of mind with your customers, which will keep you ahead of the competition.
Tourism in the Finger Lakes, NY State and Beyond 