A historic estate that sold well on booking portals and barely at all on its own website.
The owners of a historic estate with a winery asked us for a new website. Before designing it we looked at why direct bookings had collapsed: the problem was not being found, it was letting the people who arrived actually book.
For a historic estate with a winery in Tuscany we analysed the website, Google profile, booking portals and reviews as a guest sees them. The booking engine had no button on the website, the property appeared under four different categories, the restaurant was shown as open where it isn't, and there was no measurement at all. The result is a five-phase plan that puts the owners' decisions and the direct channel before the new website.
Context
A historic estate with a winery in Tuscany: suites, apartments, a villa, tastings and its own wine. Guests leave excellent reviews and describe the place as essential and timeless. The owners called us with a clear request: a new website.
The problem
Nights sold through the direct channel had dropped sharply on the year before, while the portals kept selling. The booking engine was there, but the website had no way into it. Across channels the property appeared as an agriturismo, a B&B, a 4-star hotel or a farm stay; the restaurant, open only to groups on request, was shown as open on Google, on review sites and in AI-generated answers. With no GA4, and old Universal Analytics tags still on the pages, nobody could say where bookings came from.
What we did
- 01
Diagnosis first, website second
We read the website, Google profile, portals and reviews as a guest sees them. The conclusion was that the problem was conversion, not awareness: a new website with the same problems upstream would have brought more visitors to the same mistakes.
- 02
The booking path
The booking engine checks availability by date, not per suite, and the suites are sold as a single offer. We designed the pages around that constraint: a date check that is always within reach and a Book button on every accommodation page. A popup still showing the restaurant rules from two seasons before had to go at once.
- 03
One story on every channel
A Google profile with the property's name and no added keywords, a single phone number, the same category everywhere, the restaurant's status clear on every channel. The portals spoke of modern comforts, guests of an essential, timeless place: we proposed using the guests' own words.
- 04
Measure before spending
GA4 and booking engine conversions before any campaign, with the old tags removed. We also warned the owners that the Wi-Fi score on the portals would rise slowly: old reviews weigh for a long time, even after Starlink was installed.
- 05
A five-phase plan
Owners' decisions, fixes to the current site, channel alignment and measurement, new website, less dependence on portals. Each phase has explicit preconditions: the new website starts once the decisions upstream are made.
How it went
The diagnosis and plan have been delivered to the owners, and the demo site was well received. The new website will have an accommodation hub with Book buttons, pages for each experience, a section on the estate's history and content on the area designed for organic search. The work is ongoing.
Tools
FAQ
Why not start with the new website?
Because the drop in direct bookings came from the booking path and inconsistent channels. A new website with the same problems upstream would have brought more visitors to the same mistakes.
Can wrong information on Google and in AI answers be fixed?
Largely yes, starting from the Google profile and the website, the sources search engines and assistants read first. It takes consistency: the same name, hours and service status on every channel.
Should you cut back on booking portals straight away?
No. Win back the direct channel and measure what it brings first; only then does it make sense to reduce the availability given to portals.