A Cambridge hotel set in a converted Massachusetts firehouse, the historic Kendall has a lot to offer: lovely rooms, great specials, and the kind of boutique appeal that could inspire a network of referrals. But although the Kendall’s website is generally in good shape, some reorganization would bring good content forward, while attention to relationship-building could open up significant opportunities to grow the business.

Keep It Simple—and Targeted
The average visitor to a website spends 10 seconds evaluating where to go next from the homepage; if you don’t want him to hit the “back” button on his browser, you have to catch his attention with appealing and useful information.

For quick impact, the Kendall’s menu has a few too many options, some of which aren’t really targeted to visitors’ interests. Additionally, valuable page real estate is occupied by links with limited appeal, while the helpful virtual tour has been relegated to a spot that visitors could easily miss. A shift in emphasis toward the most popular and most enticing information—Rooms, Amenities, Dining, and Specials—would offer visitors what they need to become guests.

Cast the Net Smart
The Kendall could also benefit from targeted outreach and relationship-building—with the nice side effect of improving the website’s Google ranking. With a “News and Specials” blog, the hotel could streamline layout and provide new searchable content, while allowing visitors to subscribe and receive updates, building a sense of familiarity and inclusiveness. Submission to broad and targeted directories, as well as the use of social bookmarking would increase the number of good quality inbound links, again appealing to Google, but also taking advantage of high-tech—and highly effective—”word of mouth.”

In short, the Kendall Hotel can improve its already good standing by making a few simple but strategic changes to its website. First, bring the best content to the forefront, simplifying options and highlighting the most compelling information. Second, add a blog to manage news and special offers while building relationships with visitors and improving site rankings. And finally, strengthen the hotel’s network position by submitting kendallhotel.com to directories and utilizing social bookmarking.