Is your holiday let website not bringing in the kind of results you want it to? If you’re wondering why few people seem to be making a booking, the reason could be one of the four laid out below. Indeed you may find you’re guilty of more than one of these common errors.
Fortunately they’re all relatively easy to put right. If you know you’re committing one of these sins, now is the time to come clean.
1. Unprofessional website design
It doesn’t matter how high the quality and service is when it comes to your holiday let. If your website design isn’t top notch people won’t be inspired to explore further.
It’s worth investing a little time and energy into creating a good quality website that doesn’t let you or your accommodation down. Look at the sites of your competitors and you may see how you can transform yours.
2. Bad photos
Your photos help tell the story of your holiday let. They say a picture tells a thousand words – what do yours have to say?
Taking a photo is not enough. If it’s poorly lit or the resolution is too low, your visitors won’t be able to see what the property is like and may wonder why you’ve not bothered to showcase it better.
Another mistake is to add pictures with people in them. Visitors have no interest in seeing other people in a shot. It adds no particular value and they may actually find it a little uncomfortable or off-putting – they want to see your property at its best and be able to visualise themselves there. If you have to include people in certain photos for a specific reason, keep them to a minimum.
Be sure to show every room and add in the outside areas too so you provide a full picture.
3. Poor usability
Your website should guide people towards everything they need to know. Make it clear where your rates are and how to enquire about availability or to make a booking.
Some website owners have completely forgotten to provide this information, let alone point their visitors to it. You need to make sure your visitors have as little work to do as possible when finding out more about your holiday rental.
4. Lack of trust
It’s not enough to pop a contact form on your website. You need to encourage people to get in touch. Make sure your contact information is up to date and break down the barriers between you and your visitors wherever you can. Remember, they don’t know who you are so you need to introduce yourself as well as your property.
A good way of doing this is to add an ‘about the owner/s’ page. You can provide some information here and let people know you’re happy to respond to any queries or questions they may have. Adding a little personality will make it more likely people will be motivated to get in touch.
Guest comments are another good way to instill trust. They show your visitors that others have already stayed and had a great time. If you have any comments mentioning your own courteous and friendly nature, this is even better.
As you can see, there are some major mistakes you can make when it comes to your website. But they are also mistakes that can be easily rectified.
Bad photos is the most common problems holiday rental website face when lauching a new website !!!