Website Creation & Hosting
REASONS YOU NEED TO CREATE A HOLIDAY RENTAL WEBSITE
Having your own website helps establish trust, credibility and
shows a much higher degree of professionalism. This reassures
guests that you are serious about your rental, and their travel
experience with you will be first-class. A well designed and
informative site makes a great first impression, and guests will
be more inclined to book with you.
Let’s face it, the most popular rental listings sites are crowded
and competitive. A website allows you to showcase the unique
features and benefits of your holiday home as well as what the
local area has to offer. Plus, most travellers who contact you via
a booking portal will now expect to see a personal website. So a
listing on Facebook will no longer surface as the only place to
showcase your property.
One day you might even be able to transition away from paid
listing sites such as Airbnb if your own website generates the
bulk of your bookings.
If you’re wholly reliant upon adverts, then you’ll be far more
likely to be forced into competing on price. Yes, you may have
the best property for miles around, but can you convey that in
an advert? When presented with similar properties on a holiday
rental listing site, a guest is potentially going to choose the
cheapest one. Competing on price does not maximise your
profit. If you are the only one who replies to the enquiry with a
link to your own website, you can show your rental offers the
best value for money.
Without a website for your holiday rental, you will miss out on
the opportunity to streamline your business by taking online
bookings 24/7. More and more guests are booking online, and
those owners who adapt will ultimately convert enquiries
better.
In today’s competitive holiday rental marketplace, a personal
website is no longer a luxury but necessary. Having your own
online presence allows you to showcase your home, stand out
from competitors and reduce the reliance on 3rd party listing
websites.
WHAT EVERY HOLIDAY RENTAL SITE SHOULD HAVE
South Devonshire Holidays can off you a dynamic website with
the ability to easily update your own content at any time
without the need for any technical programming skills or the
need to hire a developer.
Users viewing travel websites on mobile devices and tablets are
set to overtake desktop computers. This is because our holiday
rental websites are responsive and provide an optimal viewing
experience across multiple devices. In addition, if your site is
mobile-friendly, it will rank in mobile search results – a growing
segment you can’t ignore.
We offer a professional template designed for holiday rentals
that prominently displays your beautiful screen-filling images,
supported with copy that converts visitors into bookings. A
picture’s worth a thousand words – especially in travel.
An all-in-one solution with:
- Simple to understand and easy to update the calendar. The ability to input flexible rates and instantly adjust them.*
- Reviews from your past guests, a trusted source to drive bookings.
- SEO features that allow you to write meta titles /descriptions, headers and focus on keywords.
- Carefully crafted descriptions, maps, a list of amenities, about us section and contact details.
- A blog so you can be the definitive, authoritative resource about your local area.
- *South Devonshire Holidays can offer an integrated software package to manage bookings, a channel manager that synchronises with listing websites where you advertise and the option to accept credit cards. These tools are designed to save you time and be more efficient and give your website that professional feel. This software can also call to action, whether an ‘enquire now’ button that links to your enquiry form or a ‘book now’ button that allows users to book and pay securely online.
CREDIT / DEBIT CARDS
South Devonshire Holidays is an established holiday rental
property management company. As such, we have negotiated
very low fees with online payment merchants for taking online
credit and debit card payments. If you take out our fully
managed or hosted booking system service, and your guests
chose to pay via credit/debit card, you will be charged only 1%
of the transaction fee (pass-through cost), which is highly
competitive.
Credit Cards Offer Increased Security
We all know that credit and debit card payments are much
more secure than bank transfers. In addition, guests paying by
card receive additional protection from their banks and/or card
providers.
Following the recent pandemic, holidaymakers have become
more aware of the risks associated with booking holidays
privately. Some holiday homeowners refused refunds for
holidays cancelled due to the government lockdown, which
was widely published in the press. As a result, many
holidaymakers now look for accommodation accepting debit or
credit card payments.
Since the #Staycation boom, also many scammers have been
posing as holiday homeowners taking bookings and payments
for fictitious properties. As a result, people lost thousands of
pounds, and it has been widely publicised in the media. The
main word of advice to holidaymakers is to always pay by credit
or debit card via the property’s website. However, scammers are
unable to offer this payment method due to the checks
completed by card merchants.
From our perspective, accepting card payments is the quickest
way to secure a booking, as the payment is made instantly
upon placing a booking. Booking is confirmed and paid at the
same time. No chasing, no follow-up hassle.
An added benefit is that many credit/debit card providers offer
zero per cent interest on spendings over a period of time,
allowing the holiday owner to afford a breakaway. In addition, it
improves the chances of your property remaining occupied
throughout the year.
* 1% is charged by WorldPay per credit card transaction, this is cross-charged
to property owners as a pass-through cost (South Devonshire Holidays Ltd do
not charge for this service), we simply pass on our corporate savings from our
merchant to the owners
IN A NUTSHELL
A few years ago, having a website to showcase your holiday
home was a luxury. Now it is a must-have to distinguish your
rental in a crowded market and reach today’s travellers.
How much time and effort do you want to invest in a website? If
there is a limit to how fancy a website you can create on your
own, then look no further; our expert designers are here to help.
Although a website that generates bookings can cut down on
commissions and subscription expenses, it’s unlikely to replace
your reliance on alternative listing sites. However, referring
prospective guests to your personal website and away from
listing sites and your competition gives you a competitive
advantage to convert booking.
Also, without a website for your holiday property, you miss out
on online bookings. More and more guests are booking online, and unless you adapt to market changes, you will be left
behind.
Getting a personal website opens the floodgates to be creative
and showcase the splendour of your rental. What are you
waiting for? Contact South Devonshire Holidays Ltd to see how
we can assist you and your holiday rental.