Hoteliers know the importance of the mobile channel. With 42 percent of travelers using smartphones to plan or book their trips [*], it's not difficult to see the importance of making mobile booking easy and intuitive.

Our recent webinar, "From Inspiration to Conversion," offers an overview of common booking engine optimization topics, highlighting steps hoteliers can take to convert more website visitors into loyal customers.

It's more important than ever to make sure that your hotel's booking experience is easy to use and device-responsive. According to a Sabre analysis of data from over 100 hotels, in just one year from 2014 to 2015, the number of mobile visits to hotel websites jumped from 20 percent to 33 percent. The share of visitors using mobile devices is likely to increase further this year; for the first quarter of 2016, mobile phone visits stand at 37 percent while, for the same timeframe, tablet visitors account for 11 percent of visits.

We also observed that hotel websites with responsive design see a look-to-book ratio that is, on average, about 1 percentage point higher than hotels without responsive websites.

Our webinar details booking engine best practices that hoteliers can use to keep customers engaged, reduce the likelihood that they'll drop out of the funnel, and (most importantly) assure them that they're getting the best rate through the direct channel. Today's hotel customers are conditioned by the experiences they find on other retailing websites, especially those of OTAs. To keep today's connected travelers engaged, especially on mobile, hoteliers must present the right information at the right time.

Can your potential guests navigate your website and booking engine with ease, no matter what devices they may be using?

Does your booking engine offer too many options, ask for too much information at the time of booking, or offer too many opportunities for guests to drop out before reserving a room?

Do your search results show accurate, up-to-date information, photos and – most importantly – the same rates for the same products, regardless of device?

To find out how your hotel's booking experience stacks up against the industry's best practices and findings from consumer behavior research, click here to watch the recorded webinar and learn more about how you can increase bookings – and revenue – through booking engine optimization.

[*] TripAdvisor, "TripAdvisor Study Reveals 42% of Travelers Worldwide Use Smartphones to Plan or Book Their Trips," 30 June 2015