Design Rant: B&B Websites, What are they thinking!
March 10, 2011 at 12:09 pm 2 comments
A few days ago I was researching a bed & breakfast weekend get-away for me and my husband, and was once again reminded how awful the majority of B&B websites are! You know the ones… teal or mauve backgrounds with Victorian or beach themed clip-art everywhere. Not to mention the really bad photos of the guest rooms.
I won’t name any names, but out of about 15 to 20 B&B sites I visited, only 1 looked professionally designed. Only ONE! While I still compared location, price, amenities, and customer reviews, I booked at the ONE place that had a professionally designed site.
Why? The site was inviting, easy to navigate, not cluttered, and had a very relaxing feel to it—all things I’m looking for in a weekend away. They took the time and effort to care about their business to hire a professional for the website, so I feel that the same effort, if not more, will be given in how they treat their guests.
The Bed & Breakfast industry take note: You are missing a huge opportunity. The web is the main avenue that your customers find you. Stop thinking that you can do it all yourself and hire a professional designer and programmer that can help you live up to your full potential!
Sometimes in business you have to spend money to make money. It’s the nature of the beast.
Entry filed under: Branding, Graphic Design, Marketing. Tags: B&B, bed & breakfasts, bed and breakfast, Branding, design, Graphic Design, marketing don'ts, small business marketing.
1. Darik Eaton | March 29, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Amen! Not only B&B’s however Vacation Rentals, vacation rental management companies, and small “Boutique” Hotels. A well designed website may be an investment, however it is exactly that. As you will get a return on that investment for years to come if you have a well designed site! Within hours of our launch we had people making bookings online, saving hours of work for me.
2. eye2eyegraphics | March 30, 2011 at 9:57 am
Could not have said it better myself!