The Yorkshire Unicorn
A new hotel in Skipton needed a brand new website with the long term view of taking more direct bookings than they do on third party platforms!
The Yorkshire Unicorn
A new hotel in Skipton needed a brand new website with the long term view of taking more direct bookings than they do on third party platforms!
Services
- Website Design
- Website Hosting and Email
- Website Content Creation & Marketing
Timeframe
6 weeks
Website
Analysis
The Yorkshire Unicorn is opening a business in a competitive industry where you can't rely on word of mouth or local reputation. The website has to be really polished, with solid UX and a really easy way to book rooms.
Clear Call to Actions were required, and within the design , the flexibility to grow the business, and to change direction too. I'm always flexibile with requirements. Things don't stand still in businesses, and the final website needs to reflect that.
Challenges Identified:
- Competing with yourself on third party platforms with no prior content or reputation
- Brand new business opportunity so no prior authority
- No existing user base and changing business plans as the business develops through it's infancy/setup process.
Design
The brand colours were really strong, with dark greens and gold, and a bold font. This worked well with large headings particularly on larger screens. The responsive nature of the design worked well, and a carousel to show off each individual room added a little visual appeal.
Finally, adding a symbol site wide to show whether certain rooms or attractions were dog friendly was a nice touch.
As always, imagery is key to websites that need to make a first impression count. Images of the brand new bedrooms by a super local photographer makes the pages pop and strengthens the brand.
Development
Using a combination of WordPress and Advanced Custom Fields to manipulate the WordPress editor, the content managers at The Yorkshire Unicorn can add new rooms as and when they become available, and add new businesses in Skipton that they wish to advertise, again, as and when that changes.
Finally, a widget has been added to pull reviews from TripAdvisor and display them directly on the website. This will prove really useful as the business grows, providing social proof to their existing customers.
Features:
- Call to action buttons to book direct with the hotel, increasing profitability per room
- Easy to navigate menu
- Easy to update CMS to add places to explore, new rooms as they become available and update amenities as required
Conclusion
It will be a challenge to get more bookings through the website than through third party platforms. But as we move forward and provide more content, we will look at how to rank the website, especially in local search.
As it is , the feedback from Rebecca, the owner, was glowing - I hope as the feedback comes in from customers, I can start sharing that here too!
“I'm obsessed! I love it!!!!!”
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Helping businesses with all aspects of their online presence
“Steven has gone over and above to deliver the most amazing website for me and I am absolutely thrilled with it. His patience through my numerous changes and his vision in getting it just right has been fantastic. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a new website and have already done so to colleagues and friends. Thank you Steven for everything!”
