Here are 10 tips for hostel websites:
Don't use HTML frames
HTML "frames" is an older technique that was often for building websites. Search engines don't like HTML frames. Google says:
Frames can cause problems for search engines because they don't correspond to the conceptual model of the web. In this model, one page displays only one URL. Pages that use frames or iframes display several URLs (one for each frame) within a single page. Google tries to associate framed content with the page containing the frames, but we don't guarantee that we will.
Don't embed much text in images
Search engines are text-based tool. Search engines can only read HTML-based text. That means that they can't read text that is embedded in images.
See my post on Making a Search Engine Friendly Website for more information on how search engines see your website.
Don't open links in new windows
Many websites still make the mistake of opening external links in new browser windows.
Make sure your site works with JavaScript turned off
Don't build a Flash-based website
Don't used Flash movies that require Flash cookies
Flash cookies are a special kind of tracking bug that are required by some flash movies. Some users block flash cookies completely in your website were if it requires Flash cookies.
If you include flash movies inside of your website, don't use any flash that requires Flash cookies.
Don't put Google AdSense on your hostels website
Google AdSense is an advertising program from Google that allows webmasters to place advertisements on their websites. Income from these ads on a small site is usually not very much money. The amount of money from Google AdSense is almost always less than the amount of money that a hostel can make from hostel bookings.
There are some hostel booking websites that use Google AdSense, such as Hostelworld.com, but these websites typically have a lot of visitors. Hostelworld.com has tens of thousands of visitors per day and the income from AdSense is probably significant. If your goal is to attract hostel bookings, it's probably not worth while to put AdSense on your website.
Use clean URLs
Make pages scannable
Don't use a Spash page
don't resize browser windows
Don't Autoplay Videos or Audio
Use the correct format for embedded media
E.g., Don't embed .mov files.
