Tip for your direct booking website
Hello, hello everyone! Hope your weekend was a good one, and this week is looking even better.
Shall we talk about direct booking websites?
Website builders I've tested
Squarespace
My favorite. Intuitive, beautiful, easy to use. My personal website runs on it.
Best for: hosts who want something polished without getting technical.
You can create a beautiful website in one day.
Webflow
More technical and less intuitive, but extremely customizable. My Unique Stays website is built on it. If you can imagine it, you can probably build it.
Best for: hosts who want a unique look and don't mind a learning curve.
GHL (GoHighLevel)
All-in-one. Website, funnels, email marketing, SMS marketing, CRM, and more integrations than I can count.
It's overwhelming at first (it was for me) but gets better with time. The website builder isn't as polished as Squarespace, and the customization isn't where Webflow is, but it does the job.
Best for: hosts who want everything in one place.
For my direct booking website I started with a combination of Squarespace, Kit, Zapier, and Hostaway. (fragmented tracking) Then I switched to GHL, Zapier, and Hostaway. (more centralize tracking due to GHL)
Connecting the pieces
If you go with Squarespace, Webflow or similar option, you'll need additional tools:
Email marketing: Kit, Beehiiv, or Mailchimp
SMS marketing: a separate tool
Performance tracking: a dashboard that pulls it all together
When there's no direct integration, Zapier connects the pieces. Make is another option, but I like good old Zapier.
This is where GHL shines: everything is already bundled in one place.
Front end vs. back end
Your website is your front end.
Your booking engine is your back end. You could build a custom booking engine, but you don't have to. Your PMS should have direct booking integration. You drop in a widget, link it to your listing pages, with it the guest picks a room, enters their card info, and you can even add upsells along the way.
What to feature on your homepage
This is where the capitalist in me speaks.
Whatever drives the most revenue (or could) deserves the most visibility.
You have a sacred space at the top of your page, in the menu section, before anyone scrolls. Most hosts fill it with the usual: Contact, About, Rooms, Activities. Those are fine. Most are needed.
But if they don't speak directly to your best revenue source, they're not enough.
The trick is to anticipate the pain points of your best guests and solve them right there on the page.
Corporate clients
If your best guests are companies that book your whole micro-resort at once without negotiating on price, create a dedicated page for them right at the top.
Tailored language. Option to book a call. Anything that closes the gap between you and the customer.
Think about the pain points you're solving. Anticipate, then provide.
Weddings
If weddings are your best business, build a dedicated page in the menu with tailored copy, packages, and a clear way to book a call or call you.
Mix photos and video. If you have video testimonials from past couples, use them. If not, static reviews still work to hook visually and build trust.
But visuals alone aren't enough. What pain are you actually solving for the bride to be?
Knowing how much time my sister and a couple of friends poured into brainstorming their weddings, the pain of organization is no joke. A few ways to ease it:
Describe in 3 to 5 simple visual steps how booking the venue works, so they have one piece of uncertainty taken off the table
Mention that you have trusted photographers, videographers, and other vendors ready to recommend. Just that reassurance can ease the load.
Frame partner perks clearly: "By choosing us as your venue, you unlock a list of discounts with our partners."
Couples
If couples are your sweet spot, build a page with experiences, packages for anniversaries and birthdays, and photos and videos that show rather than sell.
All of that is good. But what pain are you solving?
He or she doesn't have time to find a thoughtful gift or curate the experience.
Or a couple wants space to unplug and work on their relationship and connection, and your retreat offers couples counseling options through trusted online partners. That's the bigger draw.
The more precisely you can target, the better. It won't work for 90% of potential guests. But the ones it does land on become super fans.
Gift cards
If gift cards drive revenue, put them in a highly visible spot. Gift Up is a good tool. They don't charge upfront, just take a small commission when someone buys.
You can also create tailored gift cards for your best audience. A couples retreat gift card, for example.
Merch
If a good chunk of your revenue comes from Shopify plus a print-on-demand service like Printful, make it visible. Create a page called Store or Shop.
This doesn't mean you should rush out and create your own t-shirt line. In many cases that doesn't work. But if you have a strong brand or story that people connect with, merch can shine.
A note on "good chunk"
"Good chunk" is a loose term. Even a small bump in revenue from one or two additional sources could be a significant increase in the valuation of your business when you decide to sell.
You got it. Lead your direct booking website with whatever drives revenue.
That's enough for today.
Till next week, dear readers.
P.S. I had the strongest déjà vu yesterday.
When I was little, I would sit next to my mom while she drew house layouts on graph paper with pencils and an eraser.
She's not a designer or an architect, but somehow she's really good at imagining where things should go before you build a home. She would explain why the hallway should be there, why the door shouldn't be here, why putting the bedroom in that part of the house was a bad idea.
Yesterday she arrived to visit us. She saw me sitting with dozens of pieces of paper, ten different layouts for a tiny home I've been thinking about building.
You'd think a tiny home layout wouldn't have much room to brainstorm. But every single inch matters so much more than it does on a larger build.
She sat next to me, just like 15 years ago, and started drawing and rearranging. Talking through why this door works here and why that one doesn't.
