"We need more traffic." It's the sentence we hear most often from hoteliers. Sometimes it's true. Other times the visits are there, but the website doesn't turn them into bookings. And if it's the second problem, paying for more traffic is like turning on the tap in a sink with no plug.
Working out whether you need more visibility or a website that converts better is one of the most important decisions in your hotel's marketing. It completely changes where you invest. Here's how to decide by looking at a handful of numbers.
The formula that explains everything
Website bookings are the result of a multiplication:
Bookings = Visits × Conversion rate
Example: 3,000 visits a month at 1% conversion means 30 bookings. You can reach 45 in two ways:
- grow visits to 4,500 (+50% traffic);
- grow conversion to 1.5% (same visits, better website).
The second option often costs less and lasts longer, because every website improvement also pays off on all future traffic, campaigns included.
When the problem is visibility
You have a visibility problem if:
- website visits are low compared with your number of rooms (as a rough guide, a 30-room hotel in a tourist destination with fewer than 1,000 visits a month in season isn't very visible);
- most visits come from people searching your hotel's name (guests who already know you);
- you don't show up on Google Maps when you search "hotel" in your area;
- you don't appear in Google's price results.
What to do: work on your Google profile, free booking links, local SEO and pages for specific searches. Deep dives: how to get found on Google by people looking for a hotel in your area and your hotel only appears when people search its name.
When the problem is the website
You have a conversion problem if:
- visits are decent but booking engine bookings stay low (under 1% of visits);
- many people open the booking engine but very few complete it;
- you get lots of emails asking things the website should answer ("do you have parking?", "is breakfast included?");
- on smartphones the website is slow, or the booking button isn't visible.
What to do: work on speed, price clarity, photos, copy and the booking journey. Deep dives: your hotel website gets visits but no bookings and what to write on a hotel homepage.
What if it's both?
It happens a lot, especially with websites that are 6–8 years old. In this case the right order is almost always:
- website first: make it fast, clear and easy to book;
- then visibility: Google profile, SEO, free links;
- finally advertising: once you know each visit has a good chance of becoming a booking.
A 15-minute test
Take the last 3 months of data (Google Analytics and your booking engine report) and fill in this table:
| Indicator | Your figure | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Visits per month | Falling, or very low for your room count | |
| % of visits from hotel-name searches | Over 60–70% | |
| Clicks on the "Book" button | Under 10% of visits | |
| Bookings / visits | Under 1% | |
| Bookings / booking engine searches | Under 5–10% |
If the warnings are in the first two rows, you need visibility. If they're in the last three, you need a website that sells better.
Watch out for a false problem: price
Sometimes the website seems not to convert, but actually guests arrive, see the price, compare it with Booking.com and leave. In that case neither more visits nor a new website will help: you need to fix your pricing strategy and direct-booking perks. We cover this in how to tell a marketing problem from a pricing problem.
Frequently asked questions
Does a new website bring more visits?
Not automatically. A new website mainly improves conversion. Visits come from SEO, your Google profile, booking links and advertising. In fact, a badly handled redesign can reduce them.
How many visits does a hotel need to get direct bookings?
It depends on your conversion rate. At 1.5% conversion, 50 bookings a month need about 3,300 visits. Improve conversion and you need fewer visits for the same result.
Which tools give me the data?
Google Analytics 4 for visits and behaviour, Search Console for Google searches, your booking engine report for searches and bookings, and Google Business Profile stats for maps and calls.
Not sure whether you need visibility or conversion?
We'll tell you with our free marketing audit: we analyse your hotel's traffic, website and booking engine and show you where to invest first.
