The sole purpose of having a booking website is to take your appointment-based business online, become more accessible to potential clients, and increase the total number of appointments.
However, in order to achieve this, it’s essential to know how to make a booking website that actually works in your favor.
Luckily, we are here to help you out.
In this article, you’ll learn the key steps you need to follow to establish a stellar booking website, as well as how to promote it and increase traffic. Don’t worry, no coding skills are required.
So, How to Make a Booking Website?
Creating a booking website is easy – just follow these five steps:
- Choose a domain name
- Pick a platform
- Decide on the design and layout
- Select the suitable booking system
- Promote your booking website
1. Choose a domain name
The first thing to do when making a booking website from scratch is to choose your unique domain name. A domain name is your online address (i.e. trafft.com) that allows users to access your booking website.
When deciding on your domain name, you should either go with your brand name or something short, catchy, and easily recognizable. It’s always a good idea to put your ideas on a piece of paper and research some key concepts and phrases associated with your business/industry.
Once you make the final choice, check the domain name registrar to see whether your name is available. If it is, all that’s left for you to do is register it in a few simple steps.
2. Pick a platform
A website builder is a fantastic option for any entrepreneur or small business looking to set up their own site without contracting a web developer. But picking the right website-building software can be a bit of a challenge.
There is a range of capable website builders out there, but let’s take a closer look at the top four options available.
WordPress
WordPress is considered the digital world’s most popular website builder. More than 43% of websites are powered by WordPress. And it’s easy to see why the self-hosted WordPress content management system (CMS) is the number one website builder.
It’s well-known, boasts some robust features, and it’s scalable and user-friendly.
Another advantage is the sheer number of plugins that you can integrate into your website. With more than 60,000 free plugins, you can easily customize your website. Pick the right option for your online scheduling site from an extensive library of WordPress plugins. These plugins are designed to add new functionalities to your website and thus improve the overall experience.
You can build a site for whatever purpose, whether it be a community forum, an eCommerce store, a landing page, or an official site for a small business. On top of that, you get total control of every facet of your site and online presence.
Wix
Wix is not only an easy-to-use platform but has some standout mobile-responsive templates that you can pick and work with.
The Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) feature is especially worth highlighting. The ADI analyzes your website and assesses what you need to get the most out of your site by offering design layout recommendations. There are hundreds of design and layout templates from which you can pick. Create your own website as you edit your template of choice using a straightforward drag-and-drop function.
In addition, you don’t have to pay for site hosting as Wix is a fully hosted platform.
Squarespace
Squarespace has a reputation for producing detailed-oriented, professional-looking, and eye-catching design options. Some bonus features include easy customization of your site and a built-in analytics report function.
Squarespace offers several website plans to choose from, all of which include some pretty great features and functionalities. Also, if you use the Squarespace annual plan, you get a year-long free domain registration.
Gator by HostGator
If you’re a small business, Gator, created by HostGator, is a multifunctional website builder and hosting platform. It’s also one of the biggest web hosting providers out there.
There’s no need to stress over software utilization, updates, or backups because Gator is a fully hosted platform.
Details to review when picking a platform
If you’re wondering how to make a booking website that converts, we have first-hand advice for you – pay close attention to the choice of the platform you use. Along with your domain name, it’s the base that keeps everything else in place.
When investigating the website builder options, keep the following five characteristics in mind.
- Ease of use – It’s important to confirm whether or not the website builder is user-friendly, even for the least tech-savvy individual.
- Pricing – No doubt, this is a competitive market. Take the time to find out which website builder platform gives you value for your money. Ask yourself: “Do I get a free domain option?” “Is there a free business email?” or “Are there free eCommerce features?”
- Scalability – Think about how customizable you need your site to be. For example, there is a wide range of available themes if you’re looking to use an uncomplicated web design template.
- Features – The website builder should provide an extensive selection of useful features, such as CRM, Google Analytics, third-party marketing tools, and more.
- Integrations – Key details to consider include integrations and plugins. Some platforms don’t provide every integration. That’s why you should determine beforehand what your business requires so that you can select a website builder with the relevant features, integrations, and functionality.
Design and layout
Design a booking website that boasts ease of use and supports hassle-free navigation. If you accomplish this, visitors will spend more time on your site, which will in turn lead to more conversions.
Some features of a user-friendly website include fast loading time for site pages, accessibility for all devices and people, and straightforward navigation.
Enhancing website usability leads to:
- an increase in the amount of time visitors spend on your website
- greater reliability
- higher reputation and customer loyalty
- increase in sales
When creating a booking website, it’s vital you learn the difference between website content and layout.
Content is what you’re communicating to your target audience and layout is how you communicate the information. If implemented properly, good content encourages visitors to book your services online, while layout streamlines the entire process.
Select a Suitable Booking System
Wondering how to make a booking website that’s going to be a major success? If the answer is yes, you’ll want to implement a booking system.
A booking system is a software solution that enables seamless self-booking and payment processing for all your online customers. What’s more, booking solutions are designed to offer various features that help automatize repetitive tasks, track your business performance, analyze your customers’ behavior, and much more.
So, essentially, setting up a booking system is a must if you want to create a booking website that generates actual bookings.
As there are plenty of options available on the market, when choosing scheduling software you should always keep in mind the features it brings to the table.
Features to consider
Since each booking solution has a certain set of features to offer, it’s best to create a features checklist you can work with as you browse through the available solutions.
Trust us – the more features your chosen solution has, the easier it will be for you to scale your business.
Some of the features to look for in a booking system:
- A customizable booking page where clients can schedule appointments around the clock.
- Smart calendar that delivers a summary of all appointments and available spaces to help streamline resource planning. Bookings online should sync with digital planners like Google Calendar or Outlook.
- Advanced availability settings to let your customers know about your business hours and staff availability.
- Automated email and SMS reminders that you can customize and update.
- Recurring appointments to let your customers schedule appointments in advance instantly.
- Integrations that enable you to use your favorite tools.
- Automated payments, taxes, and invoices so you can manage all your business transactions in one place.
All these powerful features need to be integrated into your booking website through an efficient booking system made to fit your business.
A system like Trafft.
How can Trafft help you?
Trafft is scheduling software that delivers an exceptional booking experience to both you and your customers. It’s the most feature-rich booking solution designed to help you streamline, organize, and manage your schedule and your business.
Trafft enables users to:
- set up a dedicated booking page
- embed Trafft in the current website
- track and organize all appointments using a single dashboard
- manage employees and customers
- display employee and time slots availability
- send automated notifications
- provide discount coupons
- integrate third-party apps (Google Calendar, Google Meet, Outlook, Zapier, Zoom, Mailchimp, etc.)
- display employee and time slots availability
- have online bookings and payments available around the clock
Trafft works with any business that requires an online booking system, from salons and barbershops to coaches and medical centers.
Here’s a quick video that will tell you what the app is about:
Promote your booking website
Now that you know how to make a booking website, it’s time to market it, increase its visibility, and enable it to reach as many potential customers as possible.
How to market your newly-found booking website
Email marketing
Email marketing is a direct line to your intended audience and, as such, a very powerful marketing strategy to implement.
The first step is to put together an email list and then craft several engaging emails that provide value to your subscribers. Make sure to use a marketing service to remain connected with them.
Remember – the aim is to turn leads into paying customers.
Social media marketing
Social media is another great marketing tool that, if used properly, could generate thousands of followers. However, you first need to discover the platform your target audience uses the most, as well as the type of content they enjoy consuming.
Pick at least two platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok, for your booking site promotion. Sharing attention-grabbing content will build a following that converts to potential customers.
Google My Business
Add your online booking details to your Google My Business page so that users can make online book appointments directly from that particular page.
Merge your own booking system with your Google My Business page or pick from Google’s integrations.
How to make a booking website more visible
SEO ranking will reveal if your website’s optimization strategy is productive or if you need to revisit the drawing board.
Every business wants to boost organic traffic to its website. But you cannot create an effective SEO strategy without a checklist. Such a list would include a set of plans that would strengthen the website’s ranking across search engine result pages. These plans would be made up of embedded keywords vital to your content, memorable headings, and providing Google Search Console with your sitemap.
Think about implementing the following:
Optimize current content. Undertake keyword research to highlight high-ranking keywords. Compare your findings to words and phrases used in your current content.
Maintain the value of your evergreen content. Update publication dates or come up with new titles. Search engine algorithms will register this as “new” content and will increase visibility.
Emphasize long-tail keywords. Determine which keywords are less competitive and use them in your content creation.
Establish credibility and authority. Expand the variety of superior-quality content you’re providing. Have people seek you out as an expert voice on a particular topic.
Add more captivating multimedia. Lower your bounce rate by offering visitors an assortment of interesting multimedia options that will make them want to stay on your site and navigate further.
Boost the number of backlinks. Increasing the number of backlinks from expert-based websites lets Google know that you are providing credible and informative content for your visitors.
Check the loading speed of your pages. Enhance user experience and interactivity by optimizing page loading speed. Visitors will spend more time engaging with your website, which increases your chance of converting visitors into clients.
How to drive website traffic
Build targeted landing pages
When a visitor finds your dedicated landing page, they should find all the information they seek in one place. This keeps them interested in your website and what you’re offering.
Website analytics will enable you to create pages with content especially made and geared to visitors’ preferences.
Generate appealing, quality content
Premium quality content that delivers necessary information and solutions to your client base boosts website traffic. Such content establishes your brand credibility.
Take advantage of digital ads for website promotion
Digital (or banner) ads are designed to drive traffic to a particular website or landing page – use them to your advantage.
Add Book Now buttons to Facebook Pages or Instagram accounts
Make the booking process smooth and easy for customers by adding Book Now buttons to a Facebook or Instagram business account.
Knowing How to Make a Booking Website Boosts Business
Recent statistics show that about 5.16 billion people are using the internet in 2023. That’s a lot of market potential, and you can increase the number of appointments and grow your business by offering convenient booking methods via an online booking system.
Creating a booking website puts your business at an advantage and will support business revenue growth. From this article, you can see that setting up your own appointment-scheduling website is pretty straightforward.
In summary, when looking at how to make a booking website, you should:
- choose your domain name
- pick a platform
- focus closely on design and layout
- select a platform with functionalities relevant to your business needs
- market and promote your online booking website
Last, but not least, look into Trafft’s booking system to help you provide your customers with a stellar booking experience.
FAQ about building a booking website
What type of booking website should I create?
The type of booking website you build depends on the industry you’re targeting.
It could be for hotel or restaurant reservations, event or activity ticket bookings, appointment scheduling for services such as healthcare, or vehicle or equipment rental bookings.
What features should I include on my booking website?
A user-friendly layout, a search function, a booking calendar, booking confirmation, payment processing, and customer support services are all important things to have on your booking website.
To improve the user experience, you may wish to integrate additional features such as reviews, ratings, and user profiles.
How can I make my booking website user-friendly?
To make your booking website more user-friendly, focus on designing an intuitive, easy-to-navigate layout.
Add unambiguous calls to action, such as “book now” or “reserve,” and highlight your offerings with high-quality photographs and descriptions.
Additionally, make sure your website is mobile-friendly, as many consumers make their reservations on the go.
How can I ensure my booking website is secure and protects user information?
To ensure the security of your booking website, utilize SSL encryption to protect customer data and establish a secure payment method.
To prevent spam or fraudulent activity, you may also wish to include security measures such as two-factor authentication or CAPTCHAs.
What payment gateway should I use for my booking website?
There are numerous payment gateway alternatives available, but some of the most popular are PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net.
It’s critical to select a payment provider or gateway that’s secure, dependable, and works well with your website’s booking system.
How can I market my booking website and attract users?
Search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, paid advertising, and email marketing are all possible marketing techniques for a booking website.
Consider collaborating with other businesses or industry leaders to promote your website and attract new users.
Should I use a website builder or build my booking website from scratch?
The choice between using a website builder and building from scratch is determined by your technical skills and finances.
Website builders like Wix or Squarespace might be a decent alternative for those with little technical skills or a restricted budget, although developing from scratch allows for greater personalization and control.
How can I integrate third-party APIs to enhance my booking website’s functionality?
Third-party APIs can be utilized to improve the functionality of your booking website by adding features such as weather predictions, mapping services, or reviews.
You’ll need to collaborate with a developer to integrate these APIs into the code of your website.
What analytics tools should I use to track and measure my booking website’s performance?
Google Analytics is a well-known application for monitoring website performance, including metrics such as user behavior, traffic sources, and conversion rates.
You may also want to collect user feedback and identify areas for improvement using a platform like Hotjar.
How can I provide customer support on my booking website?
A live chat facility, a support email address, or a phone number are all examples of customer service alternatives.
You should also make sure that your website’s FAQs and help documentation are up-to-date and easy to find.
