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Guest Post: Future proofing your site for users and search engines

You probably already have a website for your hotel, OTA or other travel related business. In fact you may even be savvy enough to have a mobile friendly website, so why should you care about being ‘responsive’?

By Caroline Constable, head of search at Just Search and writing on behalf of Logo Design Ltd.

You probably already have a website for your hotel, OTA or other travel related business. You may even be savvy enough to have a mobile friendly website, so why should you care about being ‘responsive’?

Isn’t ‘responsive’ just the latest ‘sexy’ phrase bandied about in web design and internet marketing circles to get you to spend more money? Well no actually. If you care about retaining users, increasing conversion rates and maximising your organic search performance, you should care about your site being responsive.

Benefits of a responsive design


  1. There are multiple benefits from having a responsively designed website. These are our top ten:

  2. Usability – Providing potential customers with a good experience is of paramount importance to keep them on site

  3. Conversion – Users are more likely to convert into a lead or sale if they have a good experience

  4. More cost effective long term – Multiple sites need multiple budgets for maintenance

  5. Time saving – Project management time is less than with multiple sites

  6. Future proofing – Designing your site on a responsive platform now is laying a foundation to build on for the future

  7. Competitor advantage – Responsive design is still relatively new, being a leader in your market will give you the competitive edge

  8. Google recommend it! – Google’s search algorithm takes into account site usability. They have stated that responsive design should be industry best practice therefore it could be seen as a tick in the box for SEO.

  9. Have you looked at your mobile visitor numbers lately? Chances are that the numbers are rising steadily

  10. Reach customers wherever they are – How great would it be for your ‘travelers’ to be able to engage with your site from any location? Whether that be on a train, waiting in an airport lounge or planning their dream trip in a lunch hour at work?

  11. Streamline your analytics – Data is incredibly important when looking to refine an online campaign. User journeys and conversion funnels can be analysed a lot more simply with a single data source.

Still not convinced?

A couple further points to bear in mind:


  • Your demographic – Where is your user base located? In many countries, particular in Asia, mobile browsing figures can exceed those of desktop. Your hotel might be in Cornwall but your customer could live in Japan. Don’t alienate potential customers by ignoring their needs.

  • Site speed – Slow loading websites not only irritate users, they also drain the resources of search engines. With organic search still being one of most cost effective forms on marketing on a CPA level, it’s important to ensure that every effort is made to create an SEO friendly website.

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