The 12 biggest conversion killers for your hotel website

Die zweite Jahreshälfte steht an - dein Ziel: Mehr Conversions für dein Hotel.

Los geht’s!

Neue, schicke Hotel-Website -> check (vielleicht mit hellohotel.io?).
Buchungsmaschine einbinden -> check.
Attraktive Angebotspakete schnüren -> check.

All that's missing now is the guests to make the investment worthwhile.

To avoid possible negative surprises, we have compiled the biggest conversion killers for your hotel website. You can use this to check whether any have crept into your website.

1. long page load time

Good usability of a website means that visitors stay longer on the website. This also increases the likelihood that they will make a booking.

This includes a fast page load time. A Google study found that the bounce rate of a website increases by 106% if the page load time changes from 1 to 6 seconds. Who wants to waste their precious time waiting that long?

Schuld an sich langsam ladenden Seiten sind oft nicht weboptimierte, große Bilder und unnötige Daten.
Hier kannst du deine Website-Geschwindigkeit testen.

Example: Slow page loading speed

...and lack of accessibility

2. lack of accessibility

Zur Kategorie Usability gehört auch die Barrierefreiheit. Ab dem 28. Juni 2025 müssen alle Webseiten barrierefrei sein, d.h. für jeden ohne zusätzliche Hilfsmittel zugänglich. Doch auch schon vorher ist es sinnvoll, eine barrierefreie Website zu haben, denn diese sind grundsätzlich leichter zu bedienen (jetzt checken).

If there are restrictions on seeing, hearing, moving or processing information on the page, you will miss out on potential conversions by those affected.

Subtitles for videos or descriptions of images are therefore already a must-have today.

3. complicated page structure and lack of navigation

Is it easier to find your way through the jungle than on your hotel website? Too many sub-pages that are not clearly described, a lack of navigation and/or a vague allocation of sub-directories in menu items lead to the user being overwhelmed and not finding what they are looking for. Then they will quickly leave before they have even seen your packages.

4. wrong target group approach & missing USPs

You have a health hotel for older people seeking peace and quiet, but your website is as colorful as a party hotel in Ibiza with the corresponding language? Then it could be difficult to generate bookings. Incorrect targeting is not only a conversion killer, but also gives your hotel the wrong image.

If your corporate identity isn't clear and there are no visibly placed Unique Selling Points (USP) on your hotel website, your visitors won't even know what makes your hotel so unique. So maybe it's better to book somewhere else?

Your agency will give you a coherent corporate design & identity for your hotel.

5. lack of multilingualism

Do you want to make guests from all over the world happy? Then it would be unfavorable if your hotel website is only available in German. If visitors realize that they first have to translate the site (in the best case) via their browser, many will leave again. It should at least be in English. Hreflang attributes are used for automatic language recognition. Your agency knows what to do here ;)

6. complicated booking process

Great, your visitor wants to become your guest. What else could go wrong? Quite a lot! It can start with the fact that they can't find the book button on the page they are currently on. If they have to click through the pages, you've already lost them, because every additional click after the booking intention has arisen is a conversion killer.

And even if it is in the booking engine: If the whole procedure is too complicated or opaque (e.g. due to too many queries, it can lead to those famous shopping cart abandonments. Therefore: Keep it simple!

By the way, exit intent popups are an efficient and quickly integrated solution to reduce shopping cart abandonment by up to 30%. To find out what effect a website change has, we recommend that you carry out an A/B test.

7. the conversion killer par excellence: no mobile optimization

Mobile first! Even though Germans still like to stick to their desktops, 44.4% now go online almost exclusively via mobile (StatCounter, 2024). Globally, the smartphone is clearly in the lead with 58.99% and in Germany over 93% of 20 to 29-year-olds use it.

Mobile-optimized means, among other things:

• responsive design
• Fast loading speed (see point 1)
• larger buttons
• short checkouts (see point 6)
• and much more
  

If your site is not mobile-optimized, the user experience leaves a lot to be desired and the visitor will quickly leave.

8. lack of confidence building

A 2020 Bitkom survey found that 69% of hotel bookings were only made after guests had read through reviews.

Does your hotel already have enough reviews on Google, TripAdvisor & Co. Then you should also integrate these visibly on your website, along with your other references, awards and certificates. Because in times of scams and fake sites, it is essential to take confidence-building measures so that people get a good image of your hotel.

9. price on website more expensive than on Booking & Co.

Vertrauen ist gut, Kontrolle ist besser: Laut einer Expedia-Studie von 2023 besuchen 61% der Befragten OTAs VOR einer Buchung auf einer Hotel-Website. Blöd ist es, wenn dort die Preise niedriger sind als auf deiner Seite, denn dann sind die teuren Provisionen fast schon garantiert. Denn mal ehrlich, würdest du nur aus Loyalität und reiner Nächstenliebe mehr für das Gleiche bezahlen?

Bei dir gibt es schon den besten Preis weit und breit? Dann ist es hilfreich, wenn dein Hotel auf Metasearch-Kanälen vertreten ist, um die User direkt von Google, TripAdvisor etc. auf deine Website zu locken.

10. poor findability in search engines

Wer suchet, der findet - aber nur unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen deine Website. Die schönste Landing Page mit den besten Angeboten bringt nichts, wenn niemand sie zu Gesicht bekommt. Ist sie nicht suchmaschinenoptimiert mit korrekt hinterlegten Metadaten und gut recherchierten Keywords, verstaubt die Seite ganz hinten auf Google.

Mehr zur Suchmaschinenoptimierung findest du hier.

11. lack of tracking

You can only find out how your hotel website is received by visitors if you track them. Where do they come from? How long do they stay on the site? Which pages are well received and bring in bookings? If this information is missing, you don't know whether and where you should optimize your site to make it rain bookings.

Ask your web agency for advice on this.

12. and last but not least: do not develop any new strategies

Mangelt es an Buchungen, ist abwarten und Tee trinken die schlechteste Strategie. Nur durch regelmäßiges Analysieren und Entwickeln neuer Strategien kann sich die Performance bzw. die Buchungslage verbessern. Vielleicht probierst du neue Landing Pages aus, schaltest Suchmaschinenwerbung oder verschickst Newsletter? Im Bereich Online Marketing gibt es jede Menge Möglichkeiten!

Brauchst du Unterstützung bei der Conversion-Optimierung? Dann melde dich gerne bei uns.

Photos:

AILA_IMAGES, Fred jonson, ferrantraite