In this section, we would like to give you some practical tips on how you can improve your sales strategy by increasing your direct bookings over OTA bookings. Many potential guests come to your website after discovering your property on an OTA platform and want to compare prices – let’s offer these guests added value to convince them to book directly!
Seamless Direct Booking Process
You don’t want to lose a guest who has already decided to book with you because they are dissatisfied with the booking process or can’t cope with it. The KUBE, Seekda’s new booking engine, is fast, accurate and optimized for your website. It is fully customisable to your CI and website and offers users a simple and intuitive booking process.
In order for the guest to complete the booking process as quickly and easily as possible, we recommend the use of a highly visible “Book Now” button on all pages and sub-pages of your website. The widgets provided by Seekda also facilitate the booking process.
Be transparent in your communication and show your visitors that your offer is the best by advertising with a best price guarantee on your website.
Extension of the Offered Payment Methods
Automatic payment processing in Seekda’s booking engine facilitates payments from guests to hotels during the booking process. Thanks to partnerships with several established payment service providers, a direct and fully PCI and PSD2 compliant payment function is guaranteed in the KUBE. In addition to traditional payment methods, KUBE also accepts trendy and popular e-wallets.
Payment processing can be automated on request, including credit card verification. If this option is activated, the credit card will be automatically charged according to the payment policy of the establishment. In the event of a cancellation, the deposit is automatically refunded in accordance with the configured cancellation policy.
Make Sure Your Website Is Optimized and Mobile Friendly
Your hotel website plays a crucial role in increasing direct bookings. It is your shop window. It must have a strong digital identity to attract as many visitors as possible. Your website needs to be visually appealing, easy to navigate and, above all, user-friendly. Nowadays, every hotel website should be mobile, as the number of bookings from mobile devices is rapidly increasing.
The KUBE is fully optimized for mobile bookings: Around 44% of bookings on Seekda’s booking engine are made via these devices.
Google Free Booking Links
Google’s free booking links are a great way to compete with OTAs and encourage direct bookings from your official website. If you are unaware of this new feature: Google Free Booking Links is a free listing on Google Hotel Search that displays a link to your website’s booking engine with an “Official Site” badge. It displays your hotel’s bookable rates and helps drive direct bookings. It appears under all running “Google Hotel Ads” and is listed under “All Options”.
Seekda offers all customers the option to activate this channel. It is our common goal to bring as many travellers as possible to your booking channel and to increase the number of bookings. Meet your guest where it counts!
