Direct bookings: getting guests to book on your own site.
Booking platforms bring guests, but every reservation carries a commission. This is how we designed the Blife and Rodos Backpackers websites to make booking direct the easiest option.
Booking.com, Hostelworld and other platforms are a huge shop window for any accommodation. In exchange, they charge a commission on every booking.
Many travellers find a property on a platform and then look up its own website. If they cannot book easily there, they go back to the platform. The website has to be ready for that moment.
Booking always within reach
At Rodos Backpackers, a boutique hostel in Rhodes, Greece, the booking button sits in the menu, in the hero section and at the bottom of the page.
At the bottom of the home page, a search form asks for the arrival date, the departure date and the number of guests. On confirming, it opens Beds24, the hostel’s booking engine, with the search already filled in.
The Rodos Backpackers search form opens the booking engine with the dates already selected.
A reason to book direct
At Blife, which runs two hostels in Faro, Portugal, each hostel page opens with a date search and a clear benefit: a 5% discount for booking on the website. The button goes straight to Cloudbeds, its booking engine.
At Rodos Backpackers, a rotating badge on the home page reads ‘Best price, book direct’ and also leads to the booking engine.
At Blife, the discount for booking on the website appears next to the date search.
The benefit must be visible before the search. If the discount only appears at the final step, the guest has already compared prices in another tab. It is best shown next to the search form.
Trust on display
Before booking direct, travellers want to know what other guests think. The Rodos Backpackers website displays its ratings on Hostelworld, Booking.com, Tripadvisor and Google.
Blife displays on its home page its Booking.com Award 2024 as a market leader, together with the company’s history.
Platform ratings, shown on the hostel’s own website.
Designed for mobile
Many travellers search for accommodation on their phones. On both websites, the search form spans the full width of the screen and the buttons are easy to tap with a thumb.
What to check on your website
Can guests book from any page in one or two clicks?
Does the search form open the booking engine with the dates already filled in?
Is there a visible reason to book direct, such as a discount or a benefit?
Joaquín Martinez Herrera 2 min read
