Google has a simple framework to address what it says are two of the main mistakes with user experience on travel websites.
The first issue is a fixation on conversion, and the second is a focus on existing digital assets or, in other words, trying to shoe-horn your website into a mobile site.
So, how might a travel company think about its website to avoid these mistakes?
Google industry head for travel, Anna Sawbridge, says the "see, think, do, care framework is a useful place to start" to fix these issues because it focuses on the customer.
The point is that consumers are coming to websites looking for different things as well as coming from different places.
"When customers land on our digital assets they aren't all in the same state of mind. 4% is a fairly average conversion rate on travel sites but that means 96% of people do not want to convert. So, what are they doing on your site?
"They're not all turned off by a bad conversion experience. Some are there for something else."
Sawbridge, who was speaking during a Travel Technology Initiative session entitled the User Experience Revolution, goes on to explain the framework:
- See - your large addressable audience, people who travel, those with a certain demographic or customers identified by certain parameters.
- Think - again your large addressable audience but with some sort of 'commercial intent.' They are thinking about their holidays but are not ready to start booking.
- Do - these people are actively looking to book with you. The 'commercial intent' is there. They've been on Google and typed in terms such as 'flights to Majorca.'
- Care - your loyal customers and need looking after. They booked with you more than once, had a good experience and are back for more.
So, these are the various people that need to be catered for when they land, perhaps from search, perhaps via a mobile device, on websites.
Sawbridge provided an example of a travel company she considers to be getting it right in terms of thinking of the user.
Thomson, she says, does well against the framework with the "do" part of framework provided right at the top of the homepage and probably accounting for about 4% of the real estate - in line with industry conversion rates.
The homepage also caters for the thinkers in terms of lots of appealing images and help to drive them to take the next step.
The care elements are there too in terms of manage my booking and 'recommendations just for you' but what's missing is the "see" part of the framework.
Sawbridge points out that the "see" content needs to inspire and is difficult to get right.
"The user does not yet have commercial intent so you have to think how they arrived on your website. It might be that the see content is only discoverable through a certain type of user journey."
With Thomson, that "see" content is available by clicking on the destinations tab. And, most searching more generally, via a search engine, would be linked directly to the destinations section.
"They have the content and are directing the user to it at the right point rather than forcing it on the user at the wrong point."