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How To Add An Online Booking System To Your Website - HostPapa Blog

The document discusses five different options for adding an online booking system to a website: 1) Directing users to an external booking website, 2) Embedding a booking system iframe, 3) Using plugins, 4) Using an API, and 5) Developing a custom coded booking system. It provides details on the pros and cons of each option.

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28 views

How To Add An Online Booking System To Your Website - HostPapa Blog

The document discusses five different options for adding an online booking system to a website: 1) Directing users to an external booking website, 2) Embedding a booking system iframe, 3) Using plugins, 4) Using an API, and 5) Developing a custom coded booking system. It provides details on the pros and cons of each option.

Uploaded by

brandy57279
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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31 How to Add an Online Booking System to Your Website


JAN
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(Last Updated On: January 11, 2021)


If you’re a business that relies on taking appointments from people, you need to make it easy for the
appointments online.

For example, let’s say you have this amazing villa right by the ocean that you’re renting through you
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Imagine the convenience you’d be offering to your customers by letting them book a room in the vi
of the day, without having to wait in long queues or taking extra steps like contacting you via email
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That’s exactly why you need an online booking system on your website! And we’re dedicating this e
helping you learn about your options to create, develop, and integrate an online booking system th
the pros and cons of each one!

So let the fun begin.

1. Direct Users to an External Booking Website


The easiest way to provide an online booking option is to insert a link to an external booking engine
to do is pick the online booking system you like, and then add a link to your website for it.

This method requires no time or cost investment in building your own customized online booking p
also one of the fastest ways to provide a booking facility to your users. But, of course, you’ll most lik
pay for using the services of an external online booking website service provider.
The only drawback of using this method is that you’ll be sending your website traffic to another loca
your own website. It’s possible customers might lose interest by having to go to a different website,
not trust to make a booking if something goes wrong in the process.
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Another factor to consider is that you’re reliant on another booking platform’s infrastructure, so you
many things under your control. The external link will most likely have their own branding (so it won
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to your brand), and your image will be connected to the performance of an external booking service
keep that in mind!

2. Embed a Booking System IFrame into Your Web


Another way is to embed a booking system on your website, along with the actual calendar or fram
allow people to make bookings. This is what you’d call a “booking system IFrame”, and only requires
code onto your website, just like you would for embedding a video that plays on your website.

The benefits of such a system are that you can do it with minimal time and money investment, and y
technical background to embed some code into your website’s backend. Your users continue to stay
website while they’re making bookings, so there’s no risk of them losing interest or patience while t
a booking.

The downside, however, is that once again you’re reliant on the code and infrastructure of a third pa
booking system provider, which can be unstable. Search engines, at times, find it hard to index exte
embedded code that you put onto your site. So this solution may not be the best fit for SEO purpos

3. Use Plugins
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Online plugins offer an efficient way to add a booking system to your website. One example is Book
booking system plugin for WordPress that works beautifully, since it gives appointment bookers con
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notifications, and integrates well to allow users to make bookings even through their mobile device

This plugin is great for small businesses with WordPress sites, like photography studios, wealth man
advisory firms, and hair salons. You can start with a free version, which has all features apart from ac
payments. Later you could decide to upgrade to the paid version which comes with the ability to ac
payments.

Most CMS platforms will have plugins that are compatible with them. So you should put some effort
investigating which plugin would be a perfect fit for your website CMS.

The online booking system these plugins provide is perfectly mobile responsive and comes with an
you can work your way around with ease. No coding experience is required to install and use this pl
makes it simple for any website administrator, regardless of your expertise level.

Another great thing about using these plugins is that they allow you to configure and customize the
booking system to suit your design needs. Moreover, they also include an inbuilt analytics feature p
insights on all bookings, which can be used to improve your services.

4. Use an API
Another way is to use an API (application program interface) for online booking systems. Most CMS
come with an inbuilt online booking system API that you can make full use of. As it comes along wit
also usually the best fit as an online booking system.
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Since API enabled booking systems are built into your website CMS, they are easily indexed through
engines, making them super SEO friendly. These booking systems integrate both external data collec
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website, and internal data collected through previous bookings in order to provide you with meanin

Two things to watch out for when using APIs is that, firstly, they may require technical expertise, so
pretty technical yourself, we suggest you put some budget aside for having an expert by your side.
recommend that you make sure your APIs are always up to date with the latest version, to avoid the
booking system crashing and becoming obsolete.

5. Develop a Custom Coded Booking System


Finally, if your business is complex and relying strongly on a booking system, developing a custom-c
booking system is the best, most robust solution you can have for your website. Bear in mind that y
engage the services of a team (designer, developer and product manager) to build this solution.

The benefit of going down this path is that it’s a solution for the long term. So you’ll feel like your inv
worthwhile over time. We’d recommend using this solution if you have a large number of bookings w
details, so your investment in building the platform is well-justified.

It’s a solution worth looking into, but given the investment level and required time, you should mak
right one for your business!
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So Which Booking System is Best For You?


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Like anything in life, there might not be such a thing as the “perfect online booking system”. You nee
what your needs are, what you want your online booking system to do for you, and which one wou
audience best. The good thing is you can always experience. Start with one of the options mentione
then switch to other better, more expensive options when you have the budget, or depending on w
works best for you!

Have you ever used any of these booking systems? Let us know!

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Post Tags: Booking System marketing tips

María Bustillos
María is an enthusiast of cinema, literature and digital communication. As Content
Coordinator at HostPapa, she focuses on the publication of content for the blog an
networks, organizing the translations, as well as writing and editing articles for the

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