5. Look for opportunities to simplify the puzzle.
Have you ever been involved in a wedding? I’ve seen a few happen. If you have an eye for how people behave, like I do, you’ll see all sorts of things going wrong. And all sorts of otherwise calm people getting frayed around the edges. Ordinary people taking on the task of planning and co-ordinating a whole bunch of complex resources. Resources that need to come together at the same time in the same place. It often spells disaster.
That requires a real skill set. A skill set that most people do not possess. So pain and stress ensues. Holidays are the same. Ordinary people are trying to co-ordinate the movement of bodies to foreign and unknown lands at a fixed point in time. There are bags to be packed, resources to be transported, planes to be caught. It’s stressful and confusing for them.
The person who can make the whole process simple and low stress has the ultimate advantage.
With this in mind, when you move sites I want you to reconsider every aspect, policy and charge that makes your puzzle unnecessarily complex or stressful. Every aspect that requires the user to make another calculation or decision.
There’s always a “logical” reason why companies build up rules and policies and extra charges over the years. But often they end up hurting the simplicity of your basic pitch to your customer.
Complexity has its own HIGH PRICE that you’re making the user pay.
Take for example the issue of pets. A user wants to know if they can bring their pet or not. It is that simple. Yet, you manage to make this simple question into a puzzle all of its own…
“Two of our vacation homes accept dogs from September to May and the third accepts dogs all year, including summer months.”
Riddle me this, riddle me that. Let me get out my calendar and calculator so I can work out whether the answer is “yes pets” or “no pets”.
A quick glance at your Policies page leaves me equally petrified. At the very top of the page…
“There is $150/hour charge for early arrival and late departure…”
Think for a second how you feel about Traffic Wardens and Police Officers who hand out fines. Do you have warm fuzzy thoughts about those guys? Threatening people with fines for not following your rules really only has one effect, it sends them running to a more welcoming competitor.
Action: Look for every opportunity to simplify the puzzle so that you can say a simple YES to your customers. The more you make them think and puzzle and worry, the less likely they are to sign up. The more times you can say YES to them, the more likely they are to say YES to you.
6. Add more people.
You’ve included a nice casual family picture on your “contact us” page with the absolute minimum of family details. I’d add a little more about yourself and have it on a clearly marked “About” page. People prefer to buy from people.
We are a social species. We pay more attention to pictures of other people than anything else. In a holiday context we need to see pictures of empty beds and bathrooms and kitchens, because we want to imagine they’ve never been used before. But we WANT to see pictures of happy, smiling people, kids, families, groups (depending on our demographic) enjoying the destination we’re about to visit. We are buying a vacation after all, not a place to stay.
Deserted beaches actually scare most people, just like deserted restaurants do. We’re hard wired to feel safer with other people around. Not too many people that we can’t find our own spot on the beach. But enough to know that yes, this place is enjoyable, look, the rest of the herd says so.
Action: Research the world’s best tourism sites. Notice how just the right number and type of people are used in images to create an appealing and comforting effect. And then work on ways to increase the use of people, where appropriate, on your own site.
7. The myth of the lead generating website.
You stated in your makeover application that you wanted your new site to be a source of leads. (Like a lot of people, you’re trying to move away from the big lead aggregators).
I want to point out that in general, websites are NOT sources of leads. And this type of site isn’t. You can redesign and reorder your information as I’ve suggested and it will be more efficient at converting leads. But it won’t attract leads.
Unless you plan to make content marketing a full-time job, then a few keywords isn’t going to bring you much traffic from Google. You’re competing with thousands of other people in your immediate area, who DO invest serious time and effort into SEO and content and cross-promoting.
Even if you do get serious about content marketing, you’ll still have to go OUT and promote your blog posts. Otherwise you’ll just be another one of the 100 million blogs that contain a dozen blog posts that no one ever reads.
This isn’t to say that you are helpless. You can attract attention. You can find a unique angle and own it. But you’ll have to get serious about it. You’ll have to invest in it. Frankly though, quite often, it is far more efficient to invest in paid advertising. Most people simply do not have the skills, the time or the tenacity to pull off useful and interesting content marketing.
What I’m trying to convey here, is that there is always a cost to generating leads. You either spend massive amounts of time to develop the skills to attract attention, or you pay someone else for their access to customers. Either way, there is no “free” solution.
Action: A mature business understands how much it costs to acquire a customer. And is not afraid of paying to do so. Seriously consider whether abandoning the aggregator sites is desirable. Or how you might better spend the money elsewhere to acquire customers.
8. Talk to past customers as well as potential new ones.
In consideration of the last point – how there is always a substantial cost to acquiring a new customer – it stands to reason that another critical aspect of any business is retaining customers who have already been “paid for”. That is, you should be encouraging repeat business.
You can’t leave such things to happen on their own. You should have a complete system in place for keeping in touch. You have to remain at the front of people’s minds. You have to make them feel wanted and welcome to return. Make them feel like this is THEIR luxury getaway in Cape Cod, not just some place they once visited.
I’d be treating every past guest as if they were an extended member of my family. They would get birthday cards. I’d send them a Christmas present, something small and local, probably food-based, that reminds them of Cape Cod.
I’d offer them a loyalty discount. I’d offer them incentives (or rewards) for recommending the property to their friends. You simply can’t beat personal recommendations.
Incidentally, having something on your site talking directly to return customers, will only encourage first time visitors that this place is so great, people come back time and time again.
Action: Take retention and referrals seriously. It’s easier to re-sell to someone who’s already purchased from you. Make them a part of your extended family, stay in their lives and don’t be afraid to ask for referrals.
Summary
The basic content, copy and images are great. When you move over to a new site, open it up and use the space to let the content breathe. Big images, big headlines, short introductions to draw people into each page. Every element sells the next one. If you’re going to offer multiple products you must allow the user to compare them with ease. Don’t compromise clarity for the sake of style. Look for ways to simplify the puzzle. Most people don’t have the skills for stress-free travel planning. Make it easier for them. Add more happy smiley people. Seriously consider what it means to pay for customers and what new doors that could open for you, if you thought about it differently. And treat customers you’ve already paid for like family members. (Family members you actually like). Stay the course, see it through, make your mark!