Improve Conversions For Your Direct Booking Website

Are you wondering why your customers just aren’t booking on your website and you’re not sure what to do about it?  Building a website for your tour or activity business is hard enough, but now you have to worry about conversion ratios, click streams, page views, exits, and all sorts of other stuff.  At the end of the day though, if your website isn’t converting your visitors into customers, then you’ve got a problem.

Fortunately, there are simple steps you can take to improve your conversion rate and get more direct bookings.

6 Ways To Improve Your Booking Website and Increase Tour Conversions

Look at your website layout

The first thing to look at is whether or not your offerings are obvious to visitors.  When you go to your homepage, is it obvious what you do?  Do you make it clear that you are a tour or activity operator and do you clearly describe what you do?  And is it easy to see where to book? A “Book Now” button or a link to your tours should be the most obvious thing on the page, because nothing is more important to your business than getting bookings.

Understand your booking analytics

Another way to see if your homepage is good at directing visitors to the right information is to look at your Google Analytics.  If your homepage has a really high exit rate, then you should consider reworking the content to be more effective.  This is a clear indicator that visitors to your homepage are not getting the information they need or don’t know where to go next, so they are simply leaving your site. Ideally, your customers should be leaving after they check out, not before they even look at your tours.

Improve your booking links

A good way to get customers down the booking path is to add direct links to your tour offerings right from your home page. If you have a fairly detailed website, this may be links to your tour detail pages.  Alternatively, you can point them to your offerings by creating a link to your tour list on your booking website..

This example from Valley Zipline Adventures shows off a well-highlighted Book Now button. Being up front and center means it’s the first thing any visitor sees, whether they’re visiting on mobile devices or desktop browsers.

If you use Rezgo, you might want to consider using the Rezgo content widget to embed your tour list directly on your home page or even consider adding a date search tool.  This helps to drive the customer into the path to conversion right off the home page.

Keep in touch

Customers won’t always complete the path to purchase in one go. If you want to convert more leads for your tour bookings, you might need to give them an extra nudge. An effective cart abandonment email can encourage customers to return and finish a booking that might otherwise have ended up as a lost sale. Regular contact with customers who’ve opted in or followed you on social media can serve as a good reminder to book, too.

Invest in mobile-friendly SEO

Most people who book are browsing–and often booking–on their mobile devices. If your website displays your book now button or booking widget prominently on desktop, but hides it on mobile, you’re in trouble.

Take the time to look your website over on a few different mobile devices, and learn about mobile-friendly design and mobile SEO best practices.

Make use of social proof

Booking with a new company is a gamble, and people want to know they’re making the right decision before they commit to booking. You can help them book comfortably by providing social proof. This might come in the form of verified customer reviews, social media recommendations, testimonials, or any other way your existing customers can communicate their satisfaction. The important thing is to get that social proof in front of leads by including it in a prominent location on your booking website.

Turn Leads into Bookings in a Few Easy Steps

In summary, if you are looking for some simple ways to help improve your conversions, try these useful techniques:

• Place the book now button on the home page with a link to your tour list.
• Use the Rezgo content widget on your home page or side bar.
• Create a reservation date search box on your home page or side bar to make it easy for customers to search for available tours.
• Highlight your tours directly on your home page.
• Use terms like “Book Now” or “Make a Reservation”. These are action oriented phrases that drive visitors to the booking path.
• Make your “Book Now” links available throughout the visitor’s experience.  In other words have your “Book Now” button in multiple places.
• Stay in touch with customers.
• Make use of analytics and social proof.

Converting your visitors to customers is an ongoing challenge for every business, so try not to get overwhelmed. A good booking system can help by using industry best practices in its booking and checkout flow, which leaves you to handle the first steps: getting customers from your home page to your tour and activity listings.

With these simple steps, you can make the path to purchase easier, and increase your conversions as you go.

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