DIY Websites
DIY websites may be acceptable for someone just wanting to show off their stamp collection to Uncle Frank in Canada - but for Holiday Home Owners looking to get bookings from the web?
Many of our customers had previously experimented and given up on a DIY website before coming to us. So we think these services will just waste your time and this is why.
Before spending any time putting photos on the page, make sure you understand how your website will receive and process bookings. Don’t think an email enquiry form on its own will encourage guests to book with you. To maximise your bookings you need to show your availability and ideally accept instant payments
Building your website can be an enjoyable experience but it can also be frustrating if you hit a brick wall. Make sure you are comfortable managing your domain name and get a SSL certificate. Budget your time and add a little more!
To keep things simple for users, DIY websites tend not to give users advanced options to optimise page content. Semantic tags (the instructions that tell Google what the items on your page are) are often overlooked or defaulted to common (but not necessarily correct) values.
Never choose a domain name that is a subdomain of the service provider eg: yourcottage.yourprovider.co.uk. These are generally free but virtually invisible on Google
DIY websites tend not to be properly tested across all screen sizes, and appearance issues that have been identified by the author are, in the absence of a decent website framework, often crudely fixed.
A capable Holiday Home website should be able to automate emails to guests, reliably synchronise calendars to agencies, accept instant payments and much more
If you are using a Pagebuilder service you are committed to the service provider and will most likely not be able to transfer your website to another provider in the future
Website Service Providers
There are also website service providers who provide pre-made websites. Basically all you are doing here is dropping your text and photos into the empty spaces in their template.
These just don't deliver bookings and in many cases these finished websites have been cancelled or abandoned by their Owners.
Many of these services don’t include a booking system or if they do, they recommend integration with a third party service. Some of these services are subscription services, others advertise as free but have premium options that you might find are essential. Â
Easier to build than a DIY website but with even less customisation
These website platforms have in many cases been around for a while and in many cases the architecture of the website is not cutting edge, to be kind.
Never choose a domain name that is a subdomain of the service provider eg: yourcottage.yourprovider.co.uk. These are generally free but virtually invisible on Google
DIY websites tend not to be properly tested across all screen sizes, and appearance issues that have been identified by the author are, in the absence of a decent website framework, often crudely fixed.
This will be a more expensive subscription service than a DIY website. You remain committed to the service provider and will most likely not be able to transfer your website to another provider in the future
If you have some stunning photos you can do some damage limitation here but generally these websites do not engage well with viewers. The lack of attention to type, colour and screen size scalability very much tells the world your website is a template.
Website Design Agencies
You should expect to pay more for a website produced by a developer but the website will be produced more or less to your specification. If you can find a developer who has Holiday Home experience then the development time should be less and the price also!
We like to think Owners Websites are going to be at the very end of that scale!
Essentially you are paying for a greater amount of development time with an agency that is less familiar with the Holiday Home industry and Booking System platform configurations than a specialist developer such as Owners Websites
Many agencies insist upon a monthly management or service fee. Make sure you understand exactly what the value of the service provided to you and whether it includes website support / changes.
While a website designer with 15 years experience is an asset, a designer who has been building websites exactly the same way with the same tools for the last 5 years definitely is not. Older software tools can stop becoming supported by their developers, they can gather malware and they can limit the effectiveness of your website’s speed and search performance. The best-in-class tools that Owners Websites were using 2 years ago have been superceded by today’s best-in-class technologies and processes.