Why is it important that your holiday cottage has its own website?

Booking your favourite holiday cottage is like shopping for your favourite pair of shoes, and just like shopping habits have changed over recent years with shoppers now turning to online websites, so have guests looking for that perfect self-catering property. Gone are the days of having a printed brochure sent through the post, now holiday cottages need a presence, and the best way to do this is with their own personal website.

A bespoke website allows a holiday cottage to come alive, showcasing all its character and personality. With a personal website the property doesn’t have to compete against anyone else, providing all the information a guest needs to know to get them to book your cottage. 

There are many free, off-the-shelf website packages that are available, which market themselves as being quick and easy. However, just like a good quality pair of leather shoes, you get what you pay for, and free or cheap isn’t always going to last or get people saying ‘wow’. 

Whilst a free website may do the job and satisfy some guests, one person it may not please is Google. As the largest search engine, Google is very choosy about what it classifies as a good website, and will happily penalise those that don’t meet its high expectations. Being a well written website with good SEO means Google will help promote it meaning it will gain more visibility and rank higher on key searches. It is therefore easy to understand why many larger companies spend such a large chunk of their money on making sure their website ticks all the right boxes. 

The key elements to making a website stand out from the crowd are the following:

• Good photography - at My Favourite Cottages we have an inhouse photographer who will take a wide array of photos from all angles (we even have a drone for overhead shots) to capture your property in the best light! 
• Good copy - Google loves a well written website and at My Favourite Cottages we have a team that is well versed in writing all about holiday cottages, their best features and where they’re located. 
• Good design - your bespoke website should reflect the character and style of your cottage, and as no two holiday cottages are the same at My Favourite Cottages we never use the same design twice. Instead each property has its own personalised website with a layout that is easy to read and a menu, which is easy to navigate. 
• Good build - A well built website should be easy to navigate and keep guests from clicking on another site. At My Favourite Cottages we build guest friendly websites designed to get a guest to click the ‘Book Now’ button. Our websites can also be changed quickly and easily to incorporate new information, features or photography. 
• Good SEO - Optimising the copy on your website to ensure when a guest searches for a cottage your website is competitive will help it fight through the rough and stand out from the crowd. 

At My Favourite Cottages we believe a bespoke holiday cottage website is one of the most important features when marketing a self-catering property and is essential to effectively rent a holiday cottage and that’s why we give you one for free, because it’s in our interest to do so because we and ultimately you, will sell more weeks and make more money.