Do you need an online booking system? Let’s face it, customers expect to be able to book online these days; they don’t want to call you and speak to people. If you don’t have a booking system, you are definitely making it more difficult for customers to do business with you, and potentially placing your bookings at risk.
There are roughly four ways to add a booking system to your website. Actually, there are five, but one is such a poor option it’s not really worth considering.
How not to add a booking system to your website
You could do nothing more than put a link on your website to an external provider of a booking system. Choose this option and you are sending your customers elsewhere, with no control or data of their experience, as well as posing a security and reputational risk to your business. Only proceed with extreme caution.
Here are the other ways to add a booking system:
1. Embed an inline frame/Iframe for an external website
Why you might:
Embedding an inline frame, or Iframe, for an external website is at least a way of keeping customers on your own website. It’s quite easy to set up with a piece of prepared coding, and cost-wise, makes sense if you have next-to-no budget.
Why you wouldn’t:
Do bear in mind, it’s a third-party system so you still have zero jurisdiction over how it looks and will be unable to track any data. And do not take for granted it will work or look good on mobile. Since mobile makes up more than half of internet traffic in the year (2020 figures) that is a substantial number of customers potentially not able to use it. You’re also open to any security breaches that happen to the third party.
2. Install a plugin
Why you might:
Popular CMS platforms such as WordPress are built to take plugins and can save you time and money in the process of adding functionality to your website. Plugins are user-friendly so there’s no programming to do and you might not even have to hire a developer. Because there are so many of them on the market, there are well-developed options and they are usually optimised for all devices.
Why you wouldn’t:
You’ll need to be careful you don’t install an outdated plugin. Technology moves fast and developers will stop updates to plugins if there’s a newer version, leaving you with potential security issues. And you’ll need to check, if you are installing several plugins, that they all work together. If they are from different developers, they could slow down your website due to a lack of integration.
3. Integrate an API
Why you might:
Besides developing custom code for a booking system, integrating an API (Application Programming Interface) is the closest you can get to seamless harmony of a booking system within your website. You have complete control of the user experience and APIs allow tracking of data and user habits.
Why you wouldn’t:
Getting close to true integration comes at a price. It’s more expensive than the previous options and it requires development to keep up to the changes made to the external system so your website doesn’t falter.
4. Develop your own custom code solution
Why you might:
The system will be something that’s developed within your website so there are no, or very few, issues resulting from lack of integration and conflicting code. You have complete control over everything, including data gathering and user experience. This is the dream answer to having a booking system on your website.
Why you wouldn’t:
Developing a custom code solution requires the most technical know-how, so it’s the most expensive option, and takes time to develop. It will also likely need maintenance into the future too, so the cost will not be entirely a one off.
Which option for a booking system should you take?
You need to consider your budget, and how crucial the level of integration is with your website. If you want to know what’s possible and what options may look like, speak to a developer experienced in integrations, and they’ll talk you through the implications of each.
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