A company’s website is often one of the first things a potential customer interacts with. When a company is focused on the tourism industry (tours, vacations, trips and the like) having a good website design becomes a key part of their business and to have this key part implemented a company must get experts help.
Furthermore, many people book their vacations online, therefore, that is another reason why it is imperative to have a well designed and easy to use website which will not only sell more trips but also increase customer satisfaction which will ultimately lead to increasing return business.
That being said, here are four simple ideas for a tourism-focused company to improve their online customer experience and potential retention.
Four Ways To Improve The Online Customer Experience
- Make Interaction Easier: travel is an industry that has information updating constantly such as hotel reservations and flight times. In such a time sensitive industry communication has to be readily available and easily accessed.
Since, interaction is a two-way street and company needs to not only be accessible but responsive. For example, making use of channels such as email, social media, and live chat allows for customers to engage easily with the company but a company must be quick to response to these questions.
Customers shouldn’t be left waiting for a response, and in addition to being fast, a company should strive to communicate in the same channel they were contacted by. By being proactive in communication, a company makes the customer’s entire experience easier increasing satisfaction, repeat business and positive word of mouth.
- Website Design Concepts: much like designing a home there is an art to designing a good website. A good website will be easy to use, logically laid out, load fast, provide useful information and have quality images. In addition to looking nice, the content should be well written, informative and regularly updated with new information as needed. Usage of images and bullet points or lists can make the content easier to read and take-in. Finally, the increase in video streaming content should be taken advantage of. Offsite links to a company Youtube account can show striking video of the best vacation spots to the visitors. In summation, any visitor should leave a travel company’s website thinking their time was well spent.
- Booking A Tour Or Trip: when visiting a travel company’s website once a customer has been informed on the available trip options, they should be able to book a tour or trip quickly and easily. The process couldn’t be more complex than it needs to be. Customers should be able to select a trip date, fill in details, review submitted information and then pay. The process should be to the point and free of unneeded steps or details. Also, companies should offer the option to have customers contact them directly from trip booking by making their contact information easy to locate. Remember, not every customer is comfortable booking trips or tours online.
- Be Mobile Friendly: more and more people are using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to access the internet. A company whose website is only optimized for desktop or laptop computers runs the risk of losing customers if their site isn’t optimized for mobile viewing. Making a good first impression is important, and if a customer’s first interaction with a travel company is a cumbersome hard to use website, then their first impression will be negative. When faced with a hard to use website most potential customers close the page and do business with the other travel company.
Conclusion
A website serves many purposes. Aside from making sales, they are also there to inform customers and show them why they should work with a travel company. Travel and tourism are highly competitive industries and anything to stand out is essential. A good website puts a company ahead of their competitors. Enacting the above features greatly increases the reach and impact a website can have. When considering adding new features a company should also consider hiring experts to help. Website design is a complex and is also an ever-evolving industry, and a well regarded 3rd party company can help. When hiring experts to design a website the resulting product is not only pleasing to look at but also feature-rich and user-friendly.
