Basics of Website Copywriting for Hotels - All you Need to Know!
- Gavin Hughes
- 6 days ago
- 7 min read
As a hotelier, you might be wondering how website copywriting for hotels can help you. Well, first of all, it exists to convert online visitors into direct bookings. You see, copywriting is "salesmanship in print" – its primary goal is to convince people to buy, subscribe, or book. In one word – persuade.
Back in 2018, McKinsey & Company said that according to their study, travellers' purchase journey of one hotel room lasts 36 days. If you shake your head right now, hardly believing in this number... Let me remind you of all these online travel agencies, search engines, travel metasearches, and, of course, hotel websites – travellers need to scroll through to decide which one will be best to book in the end.
A hotel website is the first encounter with your property and a direct representation of your brand image. You can count its value by the number of online visitors it retains and converts into direct bookings.
More importantly, a hotel website helps travellers make a decision: explore, choose, and feel great about their purchase. That's where copywriting steps in.
And in the next entertaining 8 minutes, I will share its basics here for you, fellow hotelier. If you follow these tips, your hotel website will already stand out from the rest.
What is Website Copywriting and Why is it Essential?
Admittedly, I'm biased because I'm a hospitality copywriter myself. So let's take it through an example. Imagine you enter a website. It's nicely designed, but it has no words. So what do you do? You leave it. Cause there's nothing there to guide you to the next step.
So yes, you need words on your website. And not just any words. If you want online visitors to book a room, you need persuasive copy that guides them to your booking button. These compelling words are copywriting.
The truth is, successful hotel website copywriting brings you closer to your ideal guest. How? The secret lies in what copywriting is (or does).
Good Copywriting is What Sets you Apart From Competitors.
Copywriting is the art of conveying a message, persuading an action: buying a product, signing up for a newsletter, or booking a room. It's not about placing a call to action, "book now," and waiting for the results. And wait – there’s more!
There's more strategy and research in copywriting than writing. Copywriting is a sales language. Therefore, its objective is to sell. I know "selling" – yuck! Who likes being sold to? Let me tell you: it doesn't need to be sleazy. Good copywriting in action doesn't feel persuasive or like selling. The good kind of copywriting feels familiar and connects with the feelings your guests might have.
That's because you write with words that use your guests and serve them words they NEED to hear for converting. Just look around. Copywriting is everywhere: in commercials, billboards, milk packages, shopping bags, and even on the box of cereals you eat every morning.
Research is the Key to Successful Website Copywriting
First of all, you need to get to know your audience. That's because the hotel website exists for your ideal guest, not for you. You MUST do the research and go inside their heads. Otherwise, it will be complicated to create a copy that resonates with them.
Start by understanding your clients by reading hotel reviews
So, open an Excel file, a Google spreadsheet, or a Word document and start copying and pasting, highlighting the most exciting reviews. Skip the buzzwords that don't mean anything, like "very good," "fantastic," etc. They don't bring any value to the table.
Notice the language they are using, spot common words or phrases, and what stands out. Maybe you always thought mentioning a swimming pool was a must. Meanwhile, guests repeatedly rave about the cocktails in your bar, not the swimming pool. Think – maybe something about your cocktails should appear on the website, then?
You can also try using tools like WordCloud Generator to find the most used words and phrases.
Find guests' interests by doing SEO research.
While SEO doesn't sell, it's essential. Researching the phrases your guests look for will give you more insight into their interests. The most common searches for your area will help you structure the website and decide what to prioritise.
Here are a few tools you can use for this part of the research:
Of course, include keywords, but don't overstuff your texts with them. Hotel website copy should be readable and make sense. That's because Google will know when your copy doesn't read well and is over-optimised.
Establish goals for every web page.
After researching, you will know what your ideal clients look for. So, make it easy for them to find it. Goals range from:
Checking the availability and prices
Booking the room or beds
Checking your facilities
Reviewing the policies around accepting pets
Checking the hotel events, or if you have animators for kids
Goals will be different, depending on the guest segment: business, families, backpackers, digital nomads, etc.
How to Write Good Copy for Your Hotel Website?
Home page: the online front door of your hotel
Anyone enters a home page, but not everyone will stay. So, make it accessible for all types of your ideal guests and direct online visitors to their goal – a landing page written with this one person in mind.
The Generator home page (below) acts as a front door. Travellers can find the city they are travelling to, events, COVID-19 information, and more. From there, an online visitor goes to a dedicated subpage.
Use words taken straight from the customer's "mouth"
The secret to a good hotel website copy? It's when you write as if you were inside the head of your customer (sounds a bit creepy – I know).
In the words of legendary adman and copywriter (he earned for his clients millions of $$$) – David Ogilvy: "Copy should be written in the language people use in everyday conversation."
Write for one person: second-person narrative.
"Do not, however, address your readers as though they were gathered together in a stadium. When people read your copy, they are alone. Pretend you are writing each of them a letter on behalf of your client. One human being to another, second person singular." – David Ogilvy
Exactly how I direct these words to you, dear reader. This way, the copy sounds personal and captivating.
Create an irresistible offer (with promise - guarantee)
Irresistible offers can range from discounting the price for booking directly to offering a complimentary cocktail at your bar.
If you want to increase direct bookings, your offer should be better than what booking platforms offer.
Think about including a guarantee, like "If after the first day you aren't satisfied with your room, we will give you a new one or give you back the money and findyou another accommodation."
Your Website Headline is the Most Important Piece of Copy
Sadly, far too many hotel websites I see have no headlines. The reason why is unknown to me. It's one of the most important, if not THE most important, parts of the website.
Once again, in the words of David Ogilvy: "Headlines get five times the readership of the body copy. If your headline doesn't sell, you have wasted your money."
Imagine yourself entering a random hotel website without a headline. Do you know what it is about? No. Do you know what to do? No. Sure, it's a hotel, so what?
Do you want to leave it to luck if online visitors stay and book on the hotel's website?
This creates an opportunity for you! So get ahead of your competitors, and hook online visitors with a headline that will make them soft in the knees (ok, that's quite hard, but at least one that will make your ideal guest want to stay).
There are hundreds of articles only on headlines. But for this one, to keep it to its promise of covering the basics of website copywriting for hotels, there are two things you should keep in mind:
Include a benefit or solution to a problem (it answers the question: what’s in it for your ideal guest?)
It's so clear that online visitors understand it in the first 5 seconds
Examples of hotel website headlines
"Your holidays without worries" on the Viva Hotels home page
"Just like Home! Simply somewhere else on the Jo&Joe home page
Spotty Hostels leave us with a powerful promise of an unforgettable night: "It doesn't matter if it's just for one night. You'll remember it for life."
“Stay social when you crash Chicago” – on the Getaway Hostel home page.
Website Copywriting Tips: Keep it Simple, Structured, and Attractive
Show people that you understand their needs by leading with benefits
It's way more persuasive to write about how they can have a peaceful night in your king-sized bed, rather than mentioning the type of mattress you use.
Include one thought per sentence.
So keep it simple.
Cut out the cliches
Words like: beautiful, excellent, idyllic, hidden gem, exceptional, and different are empty. We hear and see them constantly. Step away from the superlatives and be specific. Help yourself by finding alternatives with the OneLook thesaurus.
More importantly, you can check your grammar with these tools:
Hemingway Editor (chasing Hemingway just got easier)
Split content into paragraphs and use subheadings to sum them up
Remember these websites blasting you with an A4 of text? I'm not Nostradamus – yet I'm sure this is what you think every time you enter this kind of hotel website: "No offence, but I'm leaving." You don't want that. Crossheads give the copy breathing space and make it more readable. Perfect for scanning.
How to Use Website Copy to Demonstrate Credibility?
There are a few elements that can add extra spice to the copy on the hotel website. And two of them are visual storytelling and social proof.
Tell your Story
Mix your copy with visuals like professional photos, a virtual walkthrough of your property, or captivating video.
Include guests testimonials
Using social proof on hotel websites from Google, TripAdvisor, or Booking makes it more credible.
Use Calls To Action
We, humans, are funny creatures. We won't act on the website until we're told.
Let me ask you a question: will you add a product to the cart if there's no "add to cart" or "buy now" product? Probably not. Moral of this? I know, it's incredible – you need to tell me to book or check availability otherwise, well… I won't do it. So, don’t forget to add calls to action like "check availability" or "book now."
The last 8 minutes might not have changed your life. But I'm sure they got you thinking, it's time to nail your hotel website copy so it converts online visitors into bookers.
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