Most owners look at their website on a computer, on a big screen, at a convenient moment and on a fast home network. The guest opens it elsewhere: on a phone, on a bus, in a queue or in the evening on the sofa, with one hand and often on mobile data. These are two different experiences. Reviewing your website through the guest's eyes means sitting in their seat.
This article is an example scenario, meant to give you a ready order for one short review. It measures nothing and promises no result. It simply arranges fifteen minutes so that you see your website as a stranger would.
Before you start
Prepare three things.
- A phone that you don't usually use to manage the website. If you have a second, older phone, even better.
- Mobile data instead of your home Wi-Fi. That way you see the speed that travelling guests get.
- A timer for fifteen minutes and a notebook, paper or on the phone, for notes on your findings in order.
Log out of all accounts connected to the website and open the page in a new tab. The guest hasn't logged in anywhere.
Example scenario: a guest house with six rooms
Imagine the owner of a guest house with six rooms who wants to know what a new guest sees. She does the review one afternoon between two arrivals. Here is how her sequence might look, minute by minute.
Minutes 1–3: the first screen
Open the website address and don't scroll. Ask yourself three questions without thinking too long.
- Is it clear where the venue is and what kind it is: a guest house, a hotel, a restaurant?
- Is there one clear next step, for example an enquiry button or a phone number?
- Did anything appear that covers the content: a window, a banner that doesn't close easily?
If the first screen doesn't say where you are, the guest will go back to the search results. Write down exactly what you saw, not what you wanted to be seen.
Minutes 4–6: the rooms and the price
Find how the guest learns what you offer for sleeping. Check:
- whether the rooms are visible with photos and a short description, and which is for how many people;
- whether there is a price or at least a “from” price, and whether it is clear what it refers to, for example a night or a room;
- whether the words can be read without pinching to zoom.
If the price is deliberately hidden, at least say how the guest can get it. The absence of any indication reads as “they won't reply to me”.
Minutes 7–9: getting in touch
This is the most important part. Tap everything that can be tapped.
- Tap the phone number. Does the dialler open, or is it plain text?
- Tap the address. Does a map appear that leads to the door, not to the town centre?
- Find the e-mail or the enquiry form and see whether they are easy to spot, without searching for them.
Stop and count the taps from the first screen to a way of getting in touch. If there are more than two, the guest is at risk of giving up.
Minutes 10–12: the enquiry form
Fill in the form as a guest, with real details but as a test, and send it. Then check three things.
- How many fields are there, and are they all really needed, or does the form ask for more than you need for the first reply?
- Do you see a clear confirmation that the enquiry has been sent?
- Did a notification reach you, and how long did it take?
Remember one more difference: an enquiry is not a reservation and does not take a room. If the website's text gives the impression that the guest has already booked, correct the wording so that there are no misunderstandings on arrival.
Minutes 13–14: the photos and the speed
Go back to the top and scroll slowly. Notice where the photos load late, where they are blurred and where there is an empty space before an image appears. Think about the photos themselves too: do they show the real rooms, or only general shots? The guest compares the website with the room they will see on arrival.
Minute 15: the notebook
Open your notes and divide them into three groups.
- Gets in the way of contacting you: phone, form, price, location. This first.
- Creates doubt: outdated photos, contradictory texts, missing information, for example breakfast or parking.
- Cosmetics: layout, fonts, colours. This last.
Five findings in the first group are worth more than fifty in the last.
If you have a second and third review
After the fixes, repeat the review a week later. Also ask a person close to you who doesn't know the venue to go through the same steps and tell you aloud what they think. Don't explain or defend, just listen. That way you see where they got confused without having led them by the hand.
If the menu or the rooms change often, let the review be a habit, for example at the start of the season and after a bigger change. The review does not replace a professional audit, but it is a good start and costs only time.
When the fixes take longer
Some of the findings get sorted in minutes: a new phone number, a shorter form, new photos. Others mean that the website is hard for the owner to change. Then it is good to ask what you can actually edit yourself before deciding what to order. See also the checklist for a small hotel's website.
For venues that want to edit their own content, ISKA Website is maintained by the owner: draft, review, publishing and rolling back to a previous version. It is offered by individual quote. This is only one option among others, and the review above is useful regardless of where your website is.