Kempinski Hotels use Google’s site speed measurement tools to benchmark performance across a range of devices and to optimise the design of their new website.
Goals
- Achieve a swift and responsive online presence on mobile and desktop sites
- Improve conversion rates
Approach
- Used Google’s site speed tools to benchmark site performance
- Implemented changes to their content management system, content delivery network and hosting
- Designed a new site to maximise on performance across all devices
Results
- 11% increase in conversion rates
With more than a century of history and a portfolio of seventy-five 5* properties, Kempinski Hotels have a reputation for individuality and luxury. However, while the experience of staying at one of their hotels might be one of unhurried comfort, the brand know that their online presence needs to be swift and responsive. For this reason, in 2016 they began using the Think With Google Mobile Speed Test and Google’s PageSpeed Insights to benchmark their site performance ahead of a website redesign and relaunch. These tools give site owners everything they need to ensure that their websites load quickly across both desktop and mobile devices, and are regularly updated with new test criteria to reflect the latest best practice in speed and performance.
“These tools are a good checklist that should be utilised as part of any overall site optimisation project”
– Riko Van Santen, Vice President Digital Strategy & Distribution at Kempinski Hotels
“We wanted to better understand the site’s speed performance both through desktop and mobile devices, to identify opportunities for improvement,” says Riko Van Santen, Vice President Digital Strategy & Distribution at Kempinski Hotels. “With website performance there are several factors to consider besides the core content and structure. Booking engine response times, content delivery networks and third-party API’s all need to be benchmarked,” explains Riko. “Google’s speed tools assisted in this process to identify areas that required attention, and made straightforward, clear recommendations."
As part of the site redesign, the brand ultimately made wholesale changes to their content management system, content delivery network and hosting. They also designed the new site from the ground up to be mobile-friendly, with the Mobile Speed Test results providing a useful baseline for comparison. The PageSpeed Insights tool then provided data and recommendations that enabled the brand to fine tune the new site structure to maximise performance across devices.
The Results
As a transactional website, Kempinski Hotels’ main KPI for their website speed enhancements was conversion rate. Following the migration to the new site and the speed optimisations put in place, the brand measured an 11% increase in conversion rate. “We’re growing our conversion rates with various initiatives,” says Riko, “and this was an important step in that process. These tools are a good checklist that should be utilised as part of any overall site optimisation project.”
