Website design for a vacation rental

[William Leahy]

Hello BP. I'm looking into establishing my own website independent of the big listing sites (VRBO, Airbnb) My head is spinning with the options. The objective right now is for marketing and managing my two Cape Cod properties but always with an eye toward ease of expansion. I have looked into a couple of the subscription based options that specialize in vacation rentals as well as a couple of companies that do custom websites also purported to be VR/STR specialists. My last consideration is going with one of the local web design companies here on the cape. Any thoughts, advice or experiences would be appreciated.

[Jon Crosby]

@William Leahy I applaud you on your sense of adventure and independence on scaling your operation!  Technology wise, there is nothing too difficult about what you are asking for using a simple WordPress site with applicable plugins. I currently have an entire separate website, FB page, email, etc. simply as a means to supplement my bookings along side the major platforms. I like to use those assets to fill gaps in the off season via direct marketing, FB marketing etc.  

That being said, I don't think I would ever consider using that as my primary marketing option however and will always rely on the main major marketing channels (VRBO/AirBNB) for my main source of revenue.  You simply cannot provide the traffic those sites can produce for your rental and in my humble opinion your efforts are probably better spent optimizing and improving within there to maximize your rental numbers.  

I wish you luck on whatever path you choose however and don't hesitate to reach out directly if you have any more questions! 

Cheers!