Making a strong first impression is essential to start your guests’ online booking journey on a positive note. Since their experience begins with your hotel website, the messages displayed should be engaging and the design visually compelling. With the tips in this blog, you can impress your guests with a topnotch online experience. For a deeper dive, our Hotel Website Messaging Design Guide offers even more strategies to inspire your next update.

Design Harmony: Keeping Your Website Balanced

Colors That Speak Your Brand

Your color palette represents your brand identity and makes your guests recognize you easily. Consistency is key, using your brand colors across the site creates a unified look and feel. All marketing messages and graphical elements on your website should align with this scheme to strengthen recognition and trust.

Importance of Respecting the Color Scheme

Readability First: Clear Text, Clear Impact 

If your message cannot be read, it’s far less likely it will resonate with your audience. There are a few key points to keep in mind when designing your website. The most important thing to consider is choosing contrasting colors for text. Using colors in contrast will help you deliver your message clearly.

Example of Contrasting Colors

Font selection matters as well. The fonts that you choose should match your brand’s personality and be harmonious. Limit yourself to three fonts, and use bold or italics when needed. This keeps your design professional and appealing. 

Do not try to use all of the space you have, keep your design simple with white space. When a banner is overloaded with elements, the message becomes unclear and users are likely to ignore it. A clean, minimal layout helps guide attention to the most important message and creates a more professional look.

Example of White Space Usage

Scale and hierarchy are powerful design tools that guide the viewer’s eyes to what matters most. Enlarging key elements draws attention and helps users quickly grasp the main message. Hierarchy applies not only to text but also to images, graphics, and layout choices. Color is another simple way to highlight details, making calls-to-action stand out and encouraging interaction. Used together, these techniques create clear, engaging designs that are easy to navigate.

Choosing Images That Tell Your Story 

With the rise of social media, high-quality visuals are more important than ever. Audiences quickly recognize staged or generic images, so choose photos that feel authentic and engaging. Unique, natural-looking shots stand out far more than overused clichés. While custom photoshoots best capture your brand’s personality, they aren’t always practical. That’s why THN’s platform provides an extensive image gallery with a wide range of professional, eye-catching visuals for your campaigns.

Authentic vs Staged Images

Personalized Design for Every Guest

Creating a personalized experience for your guests will help your message resonate with them. THN’s platform allows you to design truly customized messages. With several different website message formats including Notes, Layers, and Inliners, you can choose the format that delivers the greatest impact. 

Swaps takes personalization to the next level. With this feature, your existing website content and images can automatically be replaced based on specific targeting rules. Each visitor sees customized content that is suitable for their needs and preferences, making the experience more relevant and engaging.

Example of Swaps

The THN platform offers brand themes and templates to make creating website messages fast and consistent. The library includes designs tailored for specific goals and dates, so you can easily build impactful messages. Timing is just as important as design. Setting strategic timing ensures visitors aren’t overwhelmed and gives them space to process the content.

Template Library on THN Platform

Since guests may browse on any device, it’s important to ensure consistency across them. Keep messages shorter and lighter for mobile while maintaining the same tone of voice for a unified brand experience.

Example of Adapting Messages Based on User Device

Design decisions aren’t always straightforward, especially when it comes to knowing what will engage your audience. It’s often hard to know which message format, image, wording, or CTA will resonate most with visitors. The best approach is to test, measure, and compare. With THN, you can run A/B tests to understand what works best and help guide users smoothly through the booking process.

Example of Experiments

Designing an effective hotel website is about more than looks, it’s about creating an experience that feels intuitive, engaging, and true to your brand. When you pair these key design principles with thoughtful testing, you not only create a beautiful website but also an experience that feels seamless and relevant for every guest. With THN, these ideas become practical, helping you transform design into connection.

Ready to put these ideas into practice? Explore our Hotel Website Messaging Design Guide to start shaping an online experience your guests will love.