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I was recently planning a weekend away to Cardiff for a live event that I had tickets for. Not having ever stayed a night in a hotel in Cardiff I went to Google Maps, put in the address for the venue of the event I was attending and then searched for ‘Hotels nearby’ - which search, as I assume you gathered, brought up a list of hotels.
Now what I was not expecting was the carelessness of one of the largest hotel chains in submitting their German website to Google Local for Cardiff so I could book a room in German. Yes, you read correctly - if I wished to stay at the Hilton Cardiff, having found their website via Google Maps, I would have to be fluent in German.
It could be however, that perhaps I am the one being silly, and they have a higher conversion rate from German tourists coming to stay in Cardiff than from English-speaking Brits. I don’t really know why they have submitted their German website to Google Maps in the UK, but getting it right from the beginning and knowing your customer (and what language they speak) can go a long way towards getting that sale!
Needless to say, I could not be bothered to find my way to the UK site as my time is far too valuable. Like most other people, I just went to the next link on Google Maps where I found what I wanted - from a competitor.
So it goes to show that attention to detail is everything. If you send the message that you can't be bothered getting your advertising right then what hope do potential customers have that the rest of your service will be flawless? Sorry, but to me, this type of blunder does not inspire confidence!
Moral of the story - check what you do and what the consumer sees because those one, two or even 1,000,000 people could be getting the wrong brand message from a very simple mistake.
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