How to create a website for holiday rentals
1 minute read // updated
by Kelly Odor, Marketing DirectorKey Takeaways
- Choose the right website route for your skills and budget
- Make sure your site and booking engine work beautifully
- Use your website as the hub for all guest marketing.
Creating a website for your holiday rentals is less about the tech and more about choosing the right tools and strategy to support direct bookings and repeat guests.
This post walks through your main options, what to think about before you decide, and how your website fits into your wider marketing and booking process.
For all options, it's best to test out the booking process first - a slow, extensive or cluttered booking process will slow down your conversion greatly.
How to create a website for holiday rentals
You’ve got lots of options for getting a website for your holiday rental, whether you have one property, or hundreds.
We'll cover the main options, although there will be others available:
- Make your own on Wordpress / Wix / Squarespace etc
- Pay for a developer/designer
- They will use Wordpress / Wix / Squarespace
- Or they will use code like HTML, CSS, JavaScript
- Use a website from your marketing software/ PMS.
Each option has their own pros and cons and each route suits different people according to their own circumstances.
Make your own using DIY website builders or WordPress
- + Flexibility to create a site that suits your brand and design.
- + You don't need a large budget.
- + You can change software providers and keep your own website.
- + You can add a booking engine from your software, or a booking calendar plug-in.
- + You're in control of making further changes to your site.
- +/- The time to launch a site can vary depending on your skill level and other priorities.
- - You may need to learn some technical skills.
- - You don't have technical or expert support to rank well on Google / Bing etc.
Pay for a web designer or web developer
- + A developer can create something bespoke.
- + You can add a booking engine from your software, or a booking calendar plug-in.
- + Your website is not connected to your software so if you change software, you still have your website.
- + You don't need to learn technical skills.
- + Your developer/designer may have technical support on how to rank well on Google / Bing etc.
- - It will be a higher cost.
- - You may rely on the designer/ developer for future changes.
Use a website from your PMS or marketing software
- + The website, availability and bookings are already integrated, which can save time and reduce errors.
- + The website can be created instantly, or very quickly, depending on the company.
- + The cost is often included in your website.
- + You don't need to learn technical skills.
+ Your PMS / Marketing Software may have technical support on how to rank well on Google / Bing etc. - +/- The quality of the website can vary.
- - Future improvements to the website structure are dependent on the software.
- - If you change software provider, you'll need to consider your website too.
If you want an in-house website that comes with your software, it does reduce the numbers of software options, as they don't all offer that.
Bookster provides a high performing Instant Website as part of the package, which you can host on your own domain to boost performance, add trust and visibility - that's important, we undertook website research that showed how hosting on your own domain boosts booking results.
Bookster has a WordPress plug-in that you can use.
Having the site on your own domain (eg, www.yourpropertyname.co.uk) helps you build your brand, makes it easier for guests to remember and return, and strengthens your search visibility over time.
The WordPress plugin route can be helpful if you already have (or want) a WordPress site and just need to drop in live availability and booking.
Having your own website with a book now button is good for attracting direct bookings and repeat bookings.
Launch it now, perfect later
Even if you don't spend lots of time now on perfecting it, it's a good idea to have a site up and running in the background, and you can perfect it later.
A simple, clean site with clear photos, up-to-date availability and a working booking engine is better than waiting for something “perfect” that never launches.
You can always refine copy, add blogs or area guides, and improve SEO as you go.
Using a direct booking strategy
If you're not planning on using channels, then you need to consider how you're going to get visitors to your website with a direct booking strategy.
The key is to treat your website as the centre of your marketing: everything you do should gently point people back to it, where they can learn about you, see availability and book.
You can create your social media channels, email marketing to potential guests and contacts, and work with partners, asking them to link to your website etc.
If you’re putting effort into social media content, reels, emails and guides, it makes sense to send people straight to your own website so you keep more of the booking value and build your own brand, not just the OTA’s.
That means thinking about where your ideal guests spend time online, how you’ll stay in touch with past guests, and how local businesses (cafés, activity providers, tourism sites) can help send people your way with simple links.
Why pay twice?
Advertising your holiday home on your social media and then linking to your Airbnb listings is paying twice for marketing your listings - once for your time, and once to Airbnb!
Test the booking process
For all options, it's best to test out the booking process first - a slow, extensive or cluttered booking process will slow down your conversion greatly.
Walking through the journey as if you are a guest, from landing on the homepage, to choosing dates, to entering card details, will quickly show you where friction might cause people to give up.
In short, your holiday rental website doesn’t need to be complicated or 'fancy' on day one.
Start with a solid, simple site, choose a booking setup that fits your tech comfort level, and make sure every bit of your marketing points back to it.
Over time, this approach will help you build your own brand, reduce reliance on OTAs (otherwise known as platforms or channels like Airbnb), and grow direct and repeat bookings in a sustainable way.
