1. What is look to book ratio?
The look-to-book ratio is a figure used in the travel industry that shows the percentage of people who visit a travel Website compared to those who actually make a purchase. It's one of the most important metrics in determining whether or not your travel webpage is operating as you planned it.
How to calculate look to book ratio
This ratio is calculated by dividing visits to a website by purchases on that site over a period of time.
This number can be used to determine whether or not a site has enough traffic to make a sale, allowing you to determine if your traffic is converting into sales and if you are landing more guests than those who leave without setting up a hotel booking.
"Wouldn’t it be nice if your look-to-book ratio were 1:1 so that every single person who searches on your website finishes up their visit by booking a holiday with you? " A nice dream to have, but a look-to-book ratio of 1:1 is an unrealistic goal.." – Retvens Services
2. How do you improve your look-to-book ratio?
Once you have demonstrated your particular expertise and you have done everything possible to optimize your site in terms of metasearch rankings, then your look-to-book ratio should increase.
You should also conduct an audit of your website to monitor visitor experience and take steps to increase conversions. Take a forensic approach to monitoring which of your pages are most popular and why, how long visitors are spending on each page, and how your sales funnels are performing.
3. Factors that can improve the look-to-book ratio.
#Factor1 - Professional photography of your Hotel
#Boost Your Appearance & Highlight Benefits
The new photographs for your website and online presence created by a professional photographer could help boost your appearance and also highlight the benefits you offer in your hotel. Showing the rooms and areas in your hotel in the best light possible is crucial for the success of your presentation. A client can change their decision from just a few bad photos and move on to the next hotel in town.
You do not only need images of your guest rooms but also images of the improvements in them, the latest TV screens, air-conditioning and the design and character of each space. Showing the rooms in luxury, cleanliness, order and with great attention to detail, will raise the points of your hotel. Furthermore, photographs of the restaurant or dining area will also show that these spaces are modern, well maintained and will be an advantage for guest who is not from the town or country and would otherwise waste time searching for where to eat.
#Factor2 - Good content score on all OTA'S
Recognizing the impact a high Content Score can make on a property’s visibility on OTAs, many hotels want to know how to improve their scores. Here are some easy-to-follow Do’s and Don’ts for improving OTA Scores.
DO:
Provide a minimum of 4 photos per room type – and don’t forget to showcase the bathroom in at least one of those photos.
Keep content current by encouraging hotels to review their content monthly and make updates as needed.
Include accurate room types and captions with engaging, descriptive language.
DON’T:
Underestimate the importance of quality; high-resolution images earn a high score! Strive for images with a minimum of 2048px on the longest side (2880px for Expedia).
Hold back on quantity of media. Travel shoppers are 150% more engaged on listings with more than 20 photos (TripAdvisor). Include as many images as you can.
#Factor3 - Good reviews score on all OTA'S
Encouraging guests to leave reviews can boost your score as can responding to complaints in a timely manner. Positive comments can away a customer's decision to select a pricier hotel than a cheaper option with negative reviews. And if both hotels have the same price, the hotel with higher rated reviews has a greater probability of getting the booking.
These factors affect every property listed on OTAs. In order to be easily found amongst thousands of competing hotels, hoteliers should be sure to allot enough time and resources to improve their content score.
#Factor4 - Well optimized official website
The current hotel booking trends in many countries revolve around 45 to 50 percent of guests making their booking online. These figures are only foretasted to go high in future years as more and more guests make their bookings through the internet using mobile, tablets and personal computers.
In this new era of technologies, the internet had become a very powerful marketing tool for the hospitality industry for targeting guests from different market segments.
Hotels use online booking channels like GDS (Global distribution systems), OTA (Online Travel Agents), and Hotel Websites to generate bookings. On these online mediums, bookings from hotel websites are the most cost-effective and profitable online channel as the hotel doesn’t have to pay any commission on such bookings.
#Factor5 - Well-optimized Google business panel
A Google My Business account is the ultimate tool to improve your brand’s local SEO strategy. It allows you to control your business profile and online presence, communicate with customers, and generate more leads. Furthermore, it helps your company appear more prominently in the Google Maps results and the Google Business Panel.
For example, someone who visits your Hotel can mark it on Maps. Also, Google can identify the address on your website, connect it to the physical location and automatically create a listing. Until you claim your profile, you will have no control over the information.
If you are wondering about “How to register my business on Google?” the process is fairly simple. First, you need to sign up to Google My Business, then you can create a profile for your business or go through a procedure to verify your ownership of an existing one.
This enables you to add and remove information, manage the appearance of the listing, and post updates. So it’s best to take the power into your own hands.
How Retvens Services can boost your business?
Retvens Services - "Empowering owners to become hoteliers" is one of the best-performing companies in the Industry with 30+ hotels within 6 months. We have 14 plus years of experience in terms of hotel revenue management & marketing.
We have created a vision to build relationships with our clients by focusing on what’s most important to them. We have a state-of-the-art professional photography team, a revenue managers team from various brands like Hyatt, Marriott, Sayaji, etc. & a marketing team.
We at Retvens provide powerful yet easy-to-use solutions to meet and surpass the challenges of distribution and revenue management- combining commercial insight and technical know-how with quality customer support. Our aim is to help boost topline revenue at your property, using multiple pricing strategies to get the most out of your business.
Insightful
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