New Feature! Build Your Vacation Rental Website with iGMS in under 2 minutes

The year 2022 is set to be another bumper year for digital growth. Every legitimate business needs a website, and short-term rental is no exception. It’s time to boost your business by generating direct reservations from your own branded website.

With our clients in mind, we at iGMS have introduced a robust and extremely easy-to-use Website builder. Now you can secure additional earnings and build your brand in minutes. Keep reading to discover the benefits of setting up and utilizing a simple but powerful website.  

If you are not an iGMS customer yet, this is the perfect opportunity for you to check out how the website builder works – no strings attached. You can preview your website instantly!

Why You Need a Website for Your Vacation Rental Business

Still not sure if building a direct booking website is worth the time and effort? We can prove it is! Here’s why:

Enjoy an additional revenue stream

Become the king of your own castle! A direct booking website not only provides a new source of vacation rental income but also allows you to take charge. 

You decide what traffic finds its way to your listings and you decide when and how to act if things don’t go to plan. 

In addition to this, you can make use of guest contact information, which you can obtain as soon as a guest submits a form to your website. Build yourself a useful list and you can send promotional offers to past guests, encouraging them to pay a return visit.  

Save money on OTAs fees 

OTAs won’t list your properties for free, and it’s no fun giving away a percentage of your earnings each time you get a booking. Save your hard-earned cash by developing your own direct booking website. You can then spend more money on growing and developing your business. 

When you’re not paying extra to OTAs, you can also funnel money into providing a better guest experience. Good investments include refurbishing and redecorating your property, offering a virtual assistant, and providing a gift basket for visitors. 

Build your personal brand

A direct booking website allows you to create a unique and memorable brand – just the job when you’re trying to attract the right audience. You can attract visitors and encourage guests to get to know you by adding your logo and customized domain name. 

It’s important to be consistent with your branding. Your brand colors and logo should fit with your rental properties and company, and visitors should be able to identify who you are and what you have to offer. 

You can also invite guests to reach out by adding your company name and contact information (email and telephone number). 

Experiment with upselling 

Guests like value for money – so why not offer extras when promoting your vacation rental via your direct booking website? You can charge a reasonable fee for the extras – so it’s good news for your profit margin too. Here are a few ideas to get you started: 

• Early check-in/ late check-out

Offer guests the opportunity to access the property early or enjoy a leisurely lie-in on departure day for an extra fee. 

• Transportation 

Visitors might need a lift from the airport or train station arrival or departure or may require a car or bike rental during their stay. 

• Activities & Experiences

Offer bespoke experiences to enhance their trip. 

• Catering

Breakfast in bed? Dinner on the balcony? Go all out and cook for guests or deliver a breakfast box, lunch hamper, or dinner platter. 

Creating a Website with iGMS vs Online Website Builders

A direct booking website is definitely the way to go if you want to build your brand and increase your profits. There’s an abundance of tools available online to help you get started, so make sure you weigh up the options. 

You may have considered going for regular online website builders such as Wix or WordPress. However, choosing a website builder that’s specifically built for vacation rentals has a number of pros.  

One of the major benefits of the iGMS website builder is its ability to create a bespoke direct booking website. It’s quick and easy, and the best part is you won’t need any additional development resources. Our comparison table outlines all of the benefits of choosing iGMS over standard website builders: 

How to Build Your Vacation Rental Website With iGMS

In just a few simple steps you can get your new website up and running with iGMS.

1. Preview your future website by adding an Airbnb listing URL to our external website builder engine.
   
   
2. Create an account with iGMS to publish your website and start accepting direct bookings right away.
   
   
3. Connect your Airbnb account and Stripe.
   
   
4. Add your website name, logo, review your content and you’re ready to launch!
   
   

If you already have an iGMS account, you can start creating your own website right away by selecting connected to iGMS listings.

Pro Tip: Although you do not have to do it, a professional short-term rental website always has a custom domain. You can buy one online and set it up in iGMS in under a minute.

In the competitive short-term rental market, you need to be seen. Use the iGMS Website Builder to build your brand, attract guests and boost profits. It’s time to up your game.

Why not try out all of the iGMS tools for yourself? We would like to invite you to join our bi-weekly live webinars and start your free 14-day trial. 

Here at iGMS we’re committed to helping hosts to make the most of their business – stay tuned for more updates!