Case study: Gallows Hill B&B and bunkhouse
When I started freelancing in 2014, the Dawnay Estates in North Yorkshire were one of my first clients. They run an amazingly diverse portfolio of businesses, from caravan parks to adventure destinations, business premises to tree nurseries.
I’ve worked on their newsletters and various websites ever since. So I was delighted to be asked to bring their new B&B/bunkhouse venture online. If you’re looking for inspiring bed and breakfast website examples, please read on.
More than just content
Such a long-running working relationship means I’ve built up a deep understanding of the aims of the Dawnay Estates. I suppose I’m a kind of ‘fractional’ marketing expert, brought in as and when needed.
Project liaison
Timescales were very tight, so the client asked me to liaise directly with the design company on their behalf. In this case it was the talented Lazenby Brown agency in York.
I’ve worked with this team before, so know they write sparse, elegant code. This was great news. How quickly a website loads affects its Google ranking, and is something I can’t influence as a copywriter.
The final design is relaxed and friendly, perfectly echoing the atmosphere of Gallows Hill property itself.
Navigation
As well as writing Google and customer-friendly web content, my brief included planning the menu and navigation structure.
Photography
The poet William Wordsworth married one of a member of the Gallows Hill. So it was important to highlight the property’s Wordsworth connection.
Nothing says Wordsworth more than daffodils. However stock photography searches for the church in Brompton where he was married drew a blank. Luckily, I know the village well. And had the perfect springtime shot of the church, complete with golden daffodils.
To avoid clunky copyright image captions, I donated photos for the local area page. For launch, these included those illustrating Scarborough, North York Moors Railway, Castle Howard and The Walled Garden at Scampston Hall.
Spoiler alert: as the bunk barn was still being renovated, events hadn’t yet taken place. So the wreath illustrating the events section was actually my close-up of a door in York.
Two buildings, three audiences
Gallows Hill is unusual as it includes both bed and breakfast rooms and a converted bunkhouse. There is also an exclusive house booking option for larger groups who wish to self-cater.
The target audience therefore ranges across romantic getaways, family get together and school field trips. So not your usual bed and breakfast website example. I made sure to cater for each audience in the most likely page they were reading. While including links to other pages too.
Putting myself in the guests’ slippers
Before the days of Zoom, I used to work at the Lake District National Park. This involved overnight stays in various National Parks for meetings. I’ve also walked the Coast to Coast route across England, staying in many B&Bs. So I had a head start on the questions a guest would want answered.
Many hospitality websites can be unclear as to how many beds each room has, and how many people can sleep in them. I therefore made sure to have these facts as a sub header below each room’s name.
This is just one of the tips from my article 10 tips to make your holiday accommodation website shine
Avoiding the awkward
If possible, I always include a Frequently Asked Questions section. These are the perfect spot to deal with any potentially tricky issues.
However because of the different audiences, I didn’t think the normal one page version was the best solution. Instead FAQs are embedded within each subpage. For example the bunkhouse page section covers details such as quiet times and minimum booking periods.
In the bed and breakfast section, the answers focus on the type of breakfast provided, and the possibility of packed lunches.
Encouraging direct bookings
Potential guests love the convenience of online booking. But booking directly by phone or email will save them money. This is because Gallows Hill won’t have to include the online commission fee. I therefore made sure to explain this on every page.
The highlight for me
Gallows Hill is a lovely, quiet spot down a drive between Brompton and Wykeham. As a teenager, I visited the former café there many times, but never stepped foot in the ‘big house’. So being shown round on a site visit was real treat!
It was refreshing to carry out the first part of my Chat – Research – Write process in person. I could also take in the soft creams, beiges and sage greens of its interiors. This meant I could also give the design team detailed input into which colours would best reflect the property.
What my client thinks
“Helen has worked on all the Dawnay Estates business websites with brilliant results. She is so objective and professional. Helen is practical, succinct and knows her SEOs from her ICOs!”
Katrina Shamel, The Dawnay Estates
Take a look for yourself
Do you need to stay somewhere after a gig at Scarborough Open Air Theatre? Or want a spot close to the North Yorkshire Water Park‘s amazing attractions? I’d definitely recommend taking a look:
Want professionally-written content for your B&B?
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