Today’s vacation rental market is arguably dominated by online travel agencies (OTAs) like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo. These and other middlemen play a huge role in helping modern vacation rental businesses reach customers, so much so that many neglect to set up a functioning business website.
Some property owners might argue that business websites are an anachronism at a time when OTAs offer most of what you need within their system. However, these systems are ultimately geared towards the gain of the OTAs, not the vacation rental businesses they host. Also, once a vacation rental business manages multiple properties, these systems can become too complex to manage, particularly if you depend on multiple OTAs to drive new guests to your business.
Why Your Vacation Rental Business Needs a Website
While building a functioning website may take time, it’s completely worthwhile for vacation rental businesses since it helps them avoid all those issues. As a major perk, a site that facilitates direct bookings can also serve to maximize profits, since you’re no longer paying OTAs for using their systems. Integrating a vacation rental property management software with your website can further simplify this process, enabling real-time updates on availability and bookings, which enhances the guest experience and reduces the likelihood of overbookings.
Additionally, having a website gives you direct access to guest data. This circumvents the hold that OTAs have over customer information and greatly increases your ability to remarket to past guests and interested visitors who have yet to secure a booking. By leveraging both your website and property management software, you can cultivate a more personalized relationship with your guests, ultimately leading to increased loyalty and repeat bookings.
To help you create a credible, income-generating website for your vacation rental property business, here are a few tried and tested tips:
1. Keep Everything Optimized for Mobile
Even if your conversions are more likely to occur over desktop devices, you’ll still want to consider the mobile experience. Most online searches today are done on smartphones so it makes sense to ensure your website is mobile-friendly to accommodate modern business discovery processes. If you’re building your site from scratch, prioritize a responsive design that will work smoothly on any device.
2. Leverage SEO to Increase Visibility
Being able to control your own business’s search engine optimization (SEO) is an important benefit of having your own website. Better SEO drives organic traffic to your website and also builds credibility for your brand, particularly if you’re able to make it to the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs).
To start, research and use relevant keywords in your content and make an effort to optimize your meta descriptions, page titles, and alt tags for images. These basic steps should help your site almost immediately and you can start exploring more advanced optimizations later on.
3. Integrate a User-Friendly Booking System
To minimize dropouts in your visitors’ conversion journeys, your booking system needs to be simple and intuitive. Integrate a booking engine with unambiguous layouts that show real-time availability, allow secure payments, and provide instant confirmation.
4. Simplify Navigation Whenever Possible- Creating a Business Website
Continuing with the theme of user-friendliness, organize your website so it’s easy to navigate. Don’t reinvent the wheel and stick with well-understood best practices for layout and design so that human visitors and search engine bots can quickly find information on your properties, availability, prices, and booking options.
5. Showcase Your Properties with Professional Photos
High-quality visuals are essential for attracting guests on OTAs, and the same principle holds true on your website. Invest in professional photography services and try to highlight the best features of your properties. Include photos of interiors, exteriors, amenities, and nearby attractions so that guests know exactly what to expect before they commit, simplifying their conversion decisions.
6. Use Compelling Property Descriptions- Creating a Business Website
Even with great photos and videos, your guests may still need to know what it is they’re looking at. Be sure to pair any visuals with compelling, detailed descriptions. Don’t forget to list basic features and keep things interesting by describing the ambience and unique selling points of your properties. Lastly, consider what “voice” you’ll use when creating these content assets since your content assets can become a major differentiator in your brand.
Also Read: 10 Best Hotel Booking Software In India
7. Incorporate Guest Reviews and Testimonials
Positive reviews and testimonials build the trust you need to consistently secure conversions. Highlight positive guest feedback prominently on your website, ideally on your homepage and property listings to provide new visitors social proof about the quality of your rentals.
Also Read: How To Build A Rental Marketplace
8. Keep Your Site Updated- Creating a Business Website
Sites that lack updates tend to be viewed as less credible. In fact, if your site hasn’t had an update in the past year, your new visitors might even doubt that everything on it is functioning as intended. Fortunately, something like a blog or news section can keep things fresh and set your website apart from competitors. Be sure to post articles about local events, travel tips, or updates about your properties. This provides something valuable to visitors and helps keep your site high up in the SERPs, benefiting your rental business.
Say Goodbye to OTA Dependency with Your Own Vacation Rental Website
Investing resources into your own business website is one of the smartest moves you can make as a vacation rental property owner, particularly over the long term. A dedicated site offers control over your brand and the overall customer experience, ultimately generating valuable direct bookings that avoid middleman fees.
This isn’t to say that OTAs don’t have their place in marketing vacation rentals. However, relying on these channels is ultimately unsustainable if you want to develop your business to its full potential. Limiting yourself to these avenues ultimately stunts your ability to reach a wider market and differentiate your business, which is not what you want in a time of intense competition in the travel and hospitality industries.
Of course, not all vacation rental websites are equal. Thankfully, you can implement the tips we shared to develop a website that looks credible and drives more bookings to your business. In the process, you might even create a distinct brand that guests seek out. You might even find that you no longer have to compete with other rentals on just price alone.
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