Many Airbnb hosts only see the short rental business<\/a> through the prism of Airbnb. They\u2019re only on that platform, and they will only stay on that platform (Airbnb). I know this because on the many Facebook<\/a> groups that I belong to I\u2019ve seen evidence of people sticking to Airbnb religiously, almost as if it\u2019s a cult (!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The way I see Airbnb, or indeed Booking.com<\/a>, VRBO, Expedia, and all the other OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) is as a means to source guests\/bookings. It\u2019s just a way of getting people to pay to stay at your property. If you invest in a website, and indeed in building a brand<\/a> around your business, you will naturally get more bookings, but you\u2019ll also be doing something that most people don\u2019t bother doing. So therefore naturally, it makes sense to take advantage of something most people won\u2019t do as it really doesn’t need much effort to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people are also scared of trying to build a website. They look at page builders like WordPress, Wix.com, etc, and are horrified at the complication of it, so give up. In fact, it\u2019s very easy to build your own website (on average we build up to 20 websites every week for Airbnb owners), so slowly the tide is turning on this trend, especially after so many bookings were arbitrarily canceled due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Direct bookings<\/a> mean one thing and one thing alone: no commission to online travel agencies! Many people actually look at online travel agencies (many of whom don\u2019t have a great reputation) and then Google the property to book direct. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t have a website, it\u2019s impossible for people to contact you to book directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the reasons I have been successful in renting my short-term letting properties is that I don\u2019t simply treat it as a spare apartment that I let out (on Airbnb for example). I\u2019ve taken the time to create a brand <\/a>around it. Having a brand means you look professional and credible and therefore you\u2019ll get more bookings<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But what specifically does having a brand mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of these things cumulatively present my apartments as a professional business rather than someone\u2019s spare property. This means you will attract many more bookers<\/a> including business bookers which are often the most lucrative bookings.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most online travel agencies including Airbnb, Booking.com, etc, have fairly limited ‘fields’ (spaces\/sections) to add information about your property, and even when they do, it’s quite generic information you can add. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s certainly very difficult to customize, and what is important is that you sell your unique selling points, whichever they may be. For example, in one of my properties, I have large balconies and the building is a grade 2 listed building. This is a tremendous selling point, and my own website emphasizes this greatly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Focus on your unique selling points<\/strong> on your website.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Your own short rental<\/a> website gives you tremendous opportunities to add features that will help you market your business. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your own website enables you to provide visitors (and indeed guests) with links and information to other helpful information. Examples of these include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This information will not only be helpful to your guests and website visitors, but it will also help with SEO (which means search engine optimization). Put simply, this means Google rewards websites that provide people with helpful information by giving them greater visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In<\/strong> order to make everyone\u2019s life easier, high-quality arrival information is vital and it will make a huge difference (to everyone) if this is easily accessible. Having a guidebook\/house manual<\/a> at your property is useful, but in 2020 it\u2019s far more relevant and appropriate to have it on a website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One thing to be aware of is to make sure NOT to put confidential information (about arrivals\/your property etc) on searchable pages. These pages should be on a sub-domain (guests.your-property.com) and have a no-index tag.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In addition to pages with specific information about the property and the local area, I use embedded videos of my various properties features to show guests around, if I\u2019m not able to meet and greet them (which when you start to scale your business you won\u2019t be able to), and this means, for example, you can show guests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to videos, I also have separate pages with the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an absolute minimum, the following features will give you a tremendous boost:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if your website is simple, and only has these features, it will be effectively your online business card, and enable people to reach out to you. However, you may wish to go further and add the following features:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having your own website means you can sign up for a GMB (Google my business) account. This has a number of benefits. Firstly all of your reviews will appear in one place. Google very cleverly combines reviews from TripAdvisor, booking.com, Expedia, etc in one place, of course as well as their own reviews. Not only that but your property will shop on Google Maps making it easier for guests to find you, and of course, validating you as a serious credible business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s true that anyone can use a platform like WordPress or wix.com to build a website, however, the best way of building a website for a short-term rental business or indeed a B&B or hotel is by using people who are in the business and also in the web design business. Like us! <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to a career in business spending almost 25 years, I have been a web developer (albeit for some of that time part-time) for almost 15 years, and I\u2019ve been hosting (with fantastic reviews) for over five years. Put simply I understand the Internet, web design, and hosting, so I can put a website together for you extremely quickly, without you having to give me direction, And with a completely risk-free payment structure. You can find some examples of my work here<\/a>. If you wish to work with me, there is a link to get started on this page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I really hope you found this article useful. If you have any comments, suggestions, or ideas, please leave them in the box below. Finally, I also have a Youtube video on this subject which you can watch just below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n2. If you have your own website you can take direct bookings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3. A short rental website makes you look professional<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"own](\"https:\/\/shortrentalpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/st-andrews-apartments-1024x717.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n4. Selling your property<\/strong> via your website<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5. Advertising on your website<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6. Helpful information<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7. Guest arrival information on your website<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
8. What features do<\/strong>es your short-term rental website need to have?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
9. Google my business<\/strong> = website visibility boost.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
10. How can I build my own website?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n