If you own a holiday home you probably already advertise on holiday home listing sites and you might be doing okay, but having your own website is by far the most cost effective way of showcasing it, making it stand out from the crowd and promoting it to the maximum number of potential customers.
How can a dedicated website work for you?
- Maximum exposure, minimal costs. In comparison to other marketing methods such as localised or specialised magazines and paid advertising, which have a limited lifespan, a website is a low cost option offering maximum exposure for as long as it’s online.
- Credibility. Let’s face it, if you saw two listings, featuring similar properties, both in the same area at around the same price, one with a website jam packed with photos and information to tempt you, and the other just with a phone number to call – which one would you book? Having a professional website that provides all the information a customer needs is much more credible than … well than not having one.
- Stand out from the rest. Adding photographs, videos, local information, suggestions of things to do etc, to your website can really show off your accommodation and make it stand out from the rest.
- Building customer relationships. You can build a relationship with existing or potential clients by creating a mailing list and even sending out a newsletter! This could promote any ‘special offers’ or could simply be about up and coming events – e.g. a Festival. This sort of attention to detail can help to generate repeat bookings.
- A bit on the side. You even have the potential to earn a bit extra, as your website can also be used to promote other related products and services which you can earn commissions on (for example, car rental or travel insurance).
So, once you’ve got your website, how do you let people know about it?
- Spread your link! Add your website address to rental listings, business cards and emails, whatever you can think of to spread your website link. Some directories allow free listings – adding your website address to these costs nothing and can generate enquiries.
- Use social networks – You can use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to promote your website for free. Simply include a link to your website on your page and let people know about it. You can also join forums and include a link to your website in your signature.
- Get found via search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo! Over time and with a little knowledge, you can start to generate your own bookings via the search engines, rather than relying entirely on rental listing websites. You may never get on page one of Google for the search term “Spanish villa”, but you should be able to rank highly on Google for something more specific like: “holiday villa in Marbella town”.
Having read this, you’re probably excited about the prospect of having your own website and generating more enquiries, but you may be concerned about the cost, or the technical stuff like hosting, or perhaps you don’t like the thought of being at the mercy of a web designer every time you want to make a change.
The good news is that at PromoteMyPlace we can help!
PromoteMyPlace.com allows you to quickly and easily build your own website using a choice of professional designs. And it doesn’t cost the earth.
If it all sounds a bit too easy… well, it is! Here are the important bits:
- We deal with the technical issues – All the boring stuff, such as hosting, browser compatibility and making your website search engine friendly, we have taken care of, leaving you to concentrate on the important job of describing your accommodation to potential customers through text and photos.
- You are in control. Once you’ve created your website, you can change things as and when YOU see fit (though we are here if you need help or you get stuck with something!) You don’t have to rely on your web designer to make the changes for you (and pay them for their time).
Why not browse the site and check out the example websites, which will show you what can easily be achieved? While you are there, why not take advantage of our 14 day free trial, which enables you to see how things work at no cost? We won’t take your credit card details, so there’s no obligation. Why not get started today!
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