Hi, After a couple of years 'off' I am returning to my WAHM agenda with a clear direction and framework. In a couple of months I will have two holiday rental properties to let and manage. As part of my approach I would like to build a simple website for the properties and am wondering if anyone can recommend a service or template provider. I've come across promotemyplace.com but am pretty sure there must be more out there. I would also really like something that had the facility to accept on line bookings / payments rather than just an enquiry form. Thanks for taking the time J
A lot depends on how you plan to rent them, daily, weekly, monthly? I have used a lot of systems for multi properties but most were resorts. There are many established rental listing services with built in customers. A simple and cheap method would be a WordPress website with a plug-in. There are lots of plug-ins to choose from for property rentals and websites. Some are free and most have premium upgrades and themes, or do it for you. There are even people on eLance who will set it up for you fairly cheap. Using WordPress as a base for your website will help give you an SEO boost. The #1 plug-in for WordPress is WP-Property plus they sell premium themes. There are many on-line rental listing sites that charge a flat fee per reservation. It just depends on how hands on you want to be with the website and bookings. Search for "Property Management System" or "Rental Listing Service".
Thanks Just2EZ, I hadn't even thought of WordPress as an option, I'm not that familiar with it and I guess I always associate it with your standard blog format but I've had a look at the WP-Property plug in and it looks pretty comprehensive. I have a shortlist of rental listing sites that I plan to use but I think it's also important to back this up with a simple clean 'brochure' site for the properties. Obviously I would like this to have as much direct booking functionality as possible. In turn I plan to link back to the brochure site with two SBI sites and Squidoo pages. The question is what basis to create the brochure site from. Would the ideal framework be WordPress, promotemyplace.com, a free template or is there another option I don't know about yet? Your suggestion of WordPress is a real help. Thank you J
WordPress can be configured thousands of ways, including looking like a brochure. The more words and pictures (with captions and meta tags) the better the rank. Pointing to it helps but the major content should be own your own site. You can also put a simpler printable brochure on your WordPress site.
WordPress it is! thank you very much for your advice. Now to find a 'how to get the most from WordPress'... Thanks again, J
Just want to clarify I am referring to a WordPress installation on your own site, not WordPress.com websites. Having your own domain gives you total control without the fear of having please the censors. There are countless threads on this forum and others to teach you "how to" use WordPress. It is one of the most used platforms for building any kind of website you desire. Most website hosting plans come with a WordPress installer built in.
Ahh, that's a really important clarification. Thank you. I shall find the best hosting plan and double check that it has the WordPress facility.... Thanks again, J
