Case Study - Mendocino Hotel and Garden Suites

Mary C. | 16 April 2004 |

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Case Study - Mendocino Hotel and Garden Suites

Mendocino Hotel and Garden Suites - Mendocino, CA

This month, we follow the process from website redesign to end results when redesign is combined with a promotion plan. We illustrate the impact of website design on page views and "look-to-book" conversion.

Overview:
The existing website (see the "Before" homepage, below) was dated. The design was not indicative of the quality of the property and the website was not intuitive to navigate. These problems, coupled with both a lack of keyword text and proper title, caused the site to be overlooked by search engines and browsers alike. Although we have a limited amount of tracking data to verify low page view numbers of the original website, it was pretty obvious that as a sales tool, this website was under-performing. The property manager was ready to make a change. A promotion plan was scheduled to begin after the new website went online. The goal of the new promotion plan was to realize the potential of the new design by driving more traffic to the revamped website.

Goals:
JoAnn Stickle (property General Manager) was our main contact and she was open-minded about new design ideas, which gave our designer room for creativity. Our designer worked with JoAnn to create an elegant atmosphere, emphasizing the rugged beauty of the Mendocino area. We decided that a simple Flash slideshow would be the best way to provide multiple images of the area without forcing us to reduce the size (and impact) of the images. The coastline, gardens and lobby are important features of the hotel so we decided to highlight these features.

Text and keywords were utilized judiciously in an effort to maximize search engine traffic. Our main phrases to target were "Mendocino Hotel" and "Mendocino Lodging".

Before

After:

Results:
As you can see from the before and after screen shots above, the new design is a vast improvement over the old design. The new header and slideshow emphasize the beauty of the Mendocino, CA area. The page provides an accurate representation of what each visitor might expect to see from the property.

The tracking statistics for August 2003 show that roughly 44% of the 2100 monthly visitors made it to the Rooms page. A property such as this should expect more from their website, both in visitors and conversion to room views. Our team certainly had their work cut out for them.

The tracking statistics for March 2004 show an improvement in both areas and this is impressive, especially given that we are comparing high-season statistics with low-season statistics! Roughly 55% (an improvement of 23%) of the 4400 monthly visitors are going to the Rooms page. This is an excellent indication of overall website appeal and functionality. In other words, this sales tool is doing its job!

The website received more than 140 visitors each day during March, and more than 1,000 of the March visitors came to the website from search engines.

Based on results like these, we think more innkeepers should reassess the cost of not keeping their website design up to par (let alone excellent!).

How do you know if it is time for a new design? The following are some general guidelines that are usually pretty accurate. If your website is two years old or older, it is time for a redesign. Older websites are simply not taking advantage of newer design techniques and design technology. If your website is one or two years old, you should take a close look at it to make sure the design stands up to your competition. Check your tracking software to see the percentage of website visitors making it from your homepage to your rooms page. If your website is less than one year old and designed by a professional, you are probably experiencing similar results to those discussed above. Congratulations! Your website is the most important business tool that you have and it is working for you 24/7. Make sure you give it the attention that it deserves!