What category does your website fall into? Have you gone for an efficient business-like approach giving just the necessary information? Or have you opted for a more personal approach, revealing a little about yourself – why you own the holiday let and what it means to you?
Generally most holiday let owners will opt for the first approach. However, you may be missing a trick. Whilst you shouldn’t take over the website content, it’s usually beneficial to both you and your website visitor to go for a combination of the two. Adding a personal touch that can make a wealth of difference to the end result.
Let’s look at how you could go about it.
Include an ‘About Us’ page
Your About Us page is the perfect place to give people more information about the holiday let, where it is and why you chose to buy in that particular area. And if you’ve a mission statement for your holiday rental property you could include it here as well.
For example you might have bought the property to provide the perfect place to really escape from it all and explore the Scottish Highlands (or wherever your property happens to be). Maybe you fell in love with the area, the landscape, the people, (the whisky – or its equivalent wherever your property is!) and you wanted to provide the perfect base for other holidaymakers to enjoy it as well. Writing passionately about it may inspire your readers to visit and experience it for themselves.
It’s also a good idea to let people know how long you’ve owned the property. Perhaps it was a wreck when you bought it, but you’ve lovingly restored it over the years. Give your potential guests a little insight into it’s past and you may find that they become fascinated or intrigued enough to want to make a booking.
All this enables you to forge a bond with the people who visit your site – and that will take them one step closer to booking with you.
Tell people who you are and include a photo
It doesn’t have to be an autobiography but it does allow people to connect with you. Instead of hiring a holiday rental from a faceless person they’ve never met, they’ll feel like they have a connection with you – even if only through your website.
A photo is a great idea because once again it shows people who you are. It’s easy to say, “Hi, I’m John and I own this cottage” or “My name is Louise and I’m the proud owner of this charming seaside apartment” but wouldn’t it be better to connect with them in another way as well? Of course it would – so be brave and get that camera out!
Build trust
Even though we are all getting more familiar with booking holidays online, we can still hesitate when considering booking on a site we are not familiar with. Putting a little story about yourself on your website builds trust with the people who visit. It can really make all the difference between getting bookings and having people leave your site in favour of somewhere else.
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