Which website solution is best for your business?

By now you know how important your website is to your business and getting online reservations, but if you’re starting to consider a refresh or a whole new site, we’ve got some questions you need to ask yourself to find the best solution among today's types of websites for your property and your guests!

We recently had a webinar on Which is better? Template vs. custom websites and thought it would be good to share the most important takeaways so you can assess your website’s needs.

When it comes to website design, we can bring your choices down to either a template or custom design. Which solution you go with is based on your budget and functionality. Template solutions are pre-loaded with standard pages and features and quick to market. Generally templated sites are much friendlier on your budget and can be easy to edit as they’re standardized. A custom site requires more coding but has more freedom with the layout and navigational structure. These sites do come with a price tag but it’s always important to remember that your website is an investment not an expense and that a well-done website will lead to higher conversions!

If you’re in the early stages of refreshing your site or getting a whole new one, here are some questions that can steer you in the right direction:

• Does your website require specific functionality?
• Do you have a big budget and longer timeline?
• Do you want to work hand-in-hand with the developer?
• Do you need to be able to manipulate your website’s look?
• Do you just need to share basic information with your guests and don’t care about restrictions in design?
• Do you update content, such as specials or packages, frequently?

If you answered yes to the first three questions, you might want to investigate having a custom website built for your hotel but if you answered yes to the last three questions, a template solution should do the trick for your business!

In our webinar, we covered the pros and cons of each solution and these might help as well:

Template pros

• A cost-effective solution
• You need a website now
• Your site isn’t content or image heavy
• You need to be able to manipulate it easily

Template cons

• Some agencies won’t allow you transfer content when your contract is up (RezStream allows you to keep your content and images even if you find a different website solution)
• You want your site to have a specific look or stand out
• It’s not search engine-friendly or doesn’t include SEO elements

Custom pros:

• You have a bigger budget and can afford the time and money to get your site designed perfectly
• Your website will align with your marketing goals and strategy
• You have a complex content structure or a lot of information to share with guests
• You have a very specific idea of how your website looks and how it functions
• You’ll have a dedicated developer and customer service representative

Custom cons:

• Expensive solution to design and maintain
• You don’t know how your website fits in with your marketing plan
• You needed a website yesterday
• Can be difficult to manage without a trained developer

For more in-depth insight on template and custom solutions, watch the webinar recording!

What solution do you currently use for your hotel’s website? Share with us in the comments section below!