What sets a ‘hobbyist’ vacation rental host apart from a professional? A direct booking site!
Direct booking sites can save you serious money on OTA (online travel agency, e.g. Airbnb) fees, improve your relationship with guests, attract more repeat bookings, and build your online brand and expertise fast.
In fact, 2023 research* shows that direct bookings now represent half (50%) of all online reservations, and a 2024 report** found that by 2030, direct digital channels will represent $409bn in bookings in the US (more than the $333bn from OTAs).
That’s why vacation rental managers need to hop on this tech trend now.
But building your own website can feel overwhelming when you’ve historically relied on OTAs. Is it really worth it? What does your website need? What about tech challenges or guest security concerns?
We’re here to help, with a list of reasons why a direct booking website is definitely worth it, a six-step guide on building your site, the pages you need, how to overcome tech snafus, and how to ensure property and guest safety and security even when you don’t have OTA guest verification.
Ready to start reaping the benefits of direct bookings? Let’s take a look.
Why build your own direct booking website?
It’s almost impossible to overstate the advantages of creating your own vacation rental direct booking website — as opposed to relying on OTAs — and the extra success it can bring to your business. A direct booking website offers:
More control and independence
Building a vacation rental website enables hosts and managers to:
- Directly communicate with guests. Direct bookings cut out the ‘middleman’, so you can communicate directly with guests, and create a better guest experience overall.
- Control branding. With a direct site, you have much more control over your branding style, colors, font, and brand voice in comparison to generic OTA page listings. This enables you to stand out, and show guests your style and experience.
- Improve your reputation. Many would-be guests may find your rentals on an OTA page first, but will check your legitimacy by searching elsewhere. Having a strong direct booking website establishes you as a real, trustworthy company.
Increased profitability
A major benefit of a direct booking website is the added profit it brings.
- Save money on OTA fees. With direct bookings, you don’t pay per reservation, so you get to keep more of your revenue per guest.
- Higher profit overall. Overall, the cost of a direct booking website is much lower than the often-high fees charged by OTAs. With a little careful budgeting, the costs of hosting and other investments will pale in comparison to OTA fees in the long-run.
In fact, research by hospitality specialist Skift found that in 2023, hotels (including accommodations that was not affiliated with major brands) paid $47 billion to OTAs and ‘middlemen’.
It’s clear: cutting out third-party OTAs saves you serious cash.
Building brand loyalty
Attracting more direct website bookings helps you to build better relationships with guests.
As hotel tech specialist the SHR Group puts it:
“Every time a guest switches to an OTA, you lose control over the guest relationship (and your profit margin shrinks).”
Instead, maintaining control over the guest relationship brings major benefits, including:
- Brand loyalty. Guests who build positive relationships and have a good stay are more likely to recommend you to friends and family and think of your rentals first when booking another trip.
- More repeat bookings. Loyal and happy guests are much more likely to return, rather than look at a sea of unknown search results. This makes for predictable revenue and a reliable client base.
Improved data ownership and marketing opportunities
Cutting out the OTA gives you direct access to guest data, which enables you to:
- Build your own database of loyal guests. This is huge; your business no longer relies on OTAs and you ‘own’ your guest list, so if an OTA suddenly closes, unexpectedly bans your account, or changes its algorithm, you’re safe.
- Control your own future marketing. Having your own client database enables you to set up effective email marketing strategies and send tailored offers and deals, ensuring predictable revenue, happier guests, and even more repeat bookings.
In fact, research from McKinsey has found that 71% of consumers expect companies to offer them personalized solutions, and 76% feel frustrated when this doesn’t happen.
Similarly, companies that grow fast derive 40% more revenue from personalized offers than their slow-growing competitors. It literally pays to get control over your guest data and send tailored offers.
Better flexibility and customization
Having your own website gives you more flexibility over how you present your vacation rentals. For example, you can:
- Showcase aspects that set you apart from the competition. Do you offer the use of a hot tub or pool, a free gift on arrival, or other guest-specific options that an OTA might not highlight?
- Directly target a specific niche. Aiming to attract digital nomads, guests with young kids, or hikers with pets? With a direct booking website, you can position your brand and features of your rentals that perfectly address the needs of these distinct groups, unlike a generic OTA page.
“We’re on a real push for direct bookings. Currently, we have around 20-30% OTA dependency, so we’re actively seeking to reduce that. We strive to convert as many guests as possible to direct bookings, especially repeat guests. We find that many of our returning guests tend to inquire with us directly anyway, and we encourage them to book through our own channels to enjoy the benefits of becoming repeat guests.”
– Jeni Tocol, CEO at Solena Suites
A 6-step guide to creating a direct booking website
The process for creating your direct booking website for short-term rentals (STRs) will vary depending on the tool, but following these six steps is a great way to cover all the most important elements.
1. Define your brand and target audience
The first step in building a successful direct booking site is to get clear on your target demographic. This goes beyond your ‘niche’, and also includes details such as:
- The types of vacation rentals your ideal client wants
- Their budget
- Their style
- Their expectations
- Their needs, must-haves, and ‘nice to-haves’.
You’ll then need to translate these guest ‘wants’ into a website style. Consider your font, brand voice, photos, colors, descriptions and types of rentals to ensure your site truly resonates with your ideal guest.
2. Choose a website builder/platform
Unless you’re a coding expert, you’ll want to turn towards an easy-to-use short-term rental website builder to create your site. These enable you to choose templates so you’re not starting from scratch.
They also enable you to create important elements (e.g. large photos, an availability calendar, booking portal and payment processing, and booking channel tools) using drag-and-drop features, so you can build your site visually and simply.
Increasing numbers of options tailored to vacation rental hosts and hotel businesses are popping up, with templates and widgets designed especially for easy direct bookings.
Some of the most popular include:
- Lodgify
- OwnerRez
- WebRezPro
- Hostfully
- Cloudbeds.
Many of these also offer property management systems (PMS), which you may wish to use to help manage and coordinate bookings once you stop relying on OTAs.
3. Secure a domain name and hosting
A great domain name is crucial when it comes to establishing your own online presence. It makes it easier for prospective guests to find you if they search your name, or look for rentals online.
Your domain name needs to be memorable, descriptive, and easy to type or read. As a bonus, it might also include a key search term. E.g. Instead of BlueRidge.com, try BlueRidgeRentalsFlorida.com. This is longer, but it shows you have “rentals in Florida”. This makes it easier for guests to find you, and see who and what you are at a glance.
To get a domain name, you need to sign up for a hosting platform and check which URLs are available.
Hosting platforms include:
- BlueHost
- DreamHost
- Hostinger.
You may need to try a few platforms or URL combinations before you land on one you like. Some are free with a new hosting plan, while others cost much more.
4. Design and develop your website
Now you have a domain name and website builder ready to go, follow these three steps:
1. Choose a template/theme
Select a theme or template that will appeal to your ideal guest, and clearly present your rentals.
Different themes suit different businesses; what works for an online retail store won’t necessarily work for a vacation rental portfolio. Ensure your template is visually appealing, simple, and mobile-friendly (most come with this option as standard nowadays).
2. Create the essential pages
Every template will enable you to create a basic selection of pages. Every vacation rental website should have, at the minimum:
- Homepage: Include high-quality photos, a compelling headline and tagline describing who you are and why guests should book with you, and a brief property description.
- Property pages: Include detailed descriptions, high-resolution photos, a full amenities list, pricing, and an availability calendar, so guests have all the information they need at a glance.
- A booking/availability calendar: Clearly display a ‘Book Now’ button, and a calendar that enables guests to check availability and select their desired stay dates easily.
- Payment portal: This page should follow on from the availability or booking page, and securely take guests payment details before triggering confirmation of their booking.
- An About Us page: Include the key information about the host or property manager. Strike a balance between friendliness and professionalism, the story of your rentals, why you host, and how your expertise will ensure guests have a great stay.
- A Contact Us page: This should include a phone number and email address, and might also show your main business location, a contact form, or social media page links.
- Testimonials/Reviews: Including social proof from past guests helps to build trust with prospective guests and shows them why booking a stay with you is a safe bet.
- A local area guide: This can include interesting information about local attractions and activities, showing guests why your rentals are perfect for them. This helps them plan their trip and get excited, and you can showcase your local expertise, building further trust.
Don’t forget to include a page on any important extras, such as directions, offers, or additional services available to guests, if applicable.
3. Feature high-quality photos and videos
Even the best vacation rentals in the world won’t attract quality guests if the website photos and videos don’t do them justice.
It’s worth taking time over taking excellent photos and videos of your rentals, and even investing in professional photographers. Photos present a crucial first impression to guests.
4. Ensure photos and videos are:
- Clear and sharp
- The right size for your website page, with no stretching or pixelation
- Bright and well-lit
- Accurate and representative of your rentals, with no clever tricks to make rooms look bigger or more luxurious than they are
- Wide shots and close-ups, so guests get a real feel for what their booking includes.
5. Set up online booking and payment processing
Technically, you could ask guests to call or email to book, but nowadays guests want to book online instantly and securely.
Research from 2024 found that 80% of global travelers want to book their trips entirely online, rising to 86% of Millennials, and 83% of Gen Z bookers.
That’s why setting up an online booking and payment processing portal is so crucial.
There are many legitimate and secure payment portals, but some of the most well-known and trusted include Stripe for credit card bookings, and PayPal for online transfers.
Online payment portals should take customers’ details easily and securely, and trigger post-purchase sequences, such as ‘Thank you’ and ‘confirmation’ emails (see below for more on messaging).
An online booking should also come straight through to your PMS calendar, and block out availability for that rental and avoid double bookings.
The vast majority of website builders and PMSs will enable you to set this up, and connect your bookings with channel managers, your availability calendar, and other tools such as security platforms that will automatically ask guests for ID verification and other must-have pre-stay elements.
6. Optimize for search engines
Now you’re no longer relying on OTA marketing or search results to find your guests, you’re entirely responsible for directing traffic to your website.
Social media marketing and ads can help, but a key way to attract visitors to your site is through SEO (search engine optimization). This makes it more likely that guests will find your website via search engines such as Google.
SEO is a full-time job and industry in itself, buta good place to start is to include major keywords in the:
- Domain name
- Page titles
- On-page descriptions
- Image alternative text.
Research important keywords in your niche, and consider the search terms that your ideal guest will use when searching online. Then, include these terms on your site (without being too obvious or clunky).
You can also start a regular blog, answering common questions. This not only showcases your expertise but also enables you to include important keywords on new pages. This helps to bring would-be guests to you and boost how high your site appears on search engine result pages (SERPs).
5 common challenges with direct booking websites (and how to overcome them)
A downside of building your own direct booking website is that you may encounter more initial obstacles than you would when using an OTA. However, as you become more familiar and experienced in operating your own site, you can easily overcome these and reap major benefits of being independent.
1. Technical difficulties
You may encounter certain technical difficulties when setting up and running your own website, including layout problems, image quality issues, forms that don’t work, or similar ‘bugs’.
Most drag-and-drop website builder platforms avoid these issues, and have extensive help sections if something unexpected comes up. Some even offer live chat, email or phone options.
If problems persist, you can usually find a workaround by searching for other people who have solved the same issue, or by reaching out to a web developer or coder who can help on a temporary basis.
2. Attracting traffic
Unlike using an OTA, with your own STR direct booking website, you are responsible for driving traffic.
This can be challenging, especially if you don’t have an established client email database (if you do, send them an email to let them know your new website is now open, and offer them a discount if they book directly ASAP!).
Marketing strategies are your friend here; research and implement methods such as strong website SEO (see above), create consistent social media posts and ads, and even paid advertising via other platforms such as Google.
3. Managing bookings and inquiries
When offering direct booking, it’s crucial to have a system in place to help manage bookings, inquiries and messages, and guest communication before, during, and after stays.
Many vacation rental managers and hosts will turn to property management systems to help juggle bookings, whether they come from your direct site or OTAs.
Good PMSs – such as Hostfully, Mews, or Hospitable, for example – will offer tools including:
- Channel managers across all booking sources
- Unified calendar to avoid accidental double bookings
- Unified guest communication inboxes to manage and delegate guest messages
- Payment processing for direct bookings
- Housekeeping, cleaning, and maintenance task coordination for all bookings
4. Maintaining the website
Unfortunately, you can’t just publish a website and never touch it again. Instead, it’s good practice to regularly audit your site to check everything is still working as it should.
This might include checking links, images, buttons, and other crucial features such as payment processing. It’s also likely that any plug-ins, widgets, add-ons, and security features will need periodic checking and updating to ensure they’re still working correctly and safely.
You can also regularly update your site, to include seasonal descriptions and new photos to better attract bookings (for example, summer photos ahead of the summer season, and winter photos and features ahead of Christmas).
3 essential safety considerations for direct bookings
Accepting direct bookings may open your business up to some security challenges, especially if you have previously relied on OTA features such as ID verification and host protection policies.
When switching from OTA bookings to direct — or working to boost your direct bookings alongside OTAs — you’ll need to consider the following to ensure the safety, security, and positive reputation of your rental business.
1. Guest screening
All responsible vacation rental managers and owners should screen their guests before they arrive, to minimize risks of vacation rental scammers, and prevent bad guests from damaging their property and reputation.
This is even more important when using a direct booking website, as you no longer have the minimal protection offered by OTAs (such as ID verification, previous reviews, or host protection plans).
A tool like Truvi’s Guest Screening offers robust guest screening and checks guest data before they arrive. Guest screening prevents:
- Bad guests from staying at your rentals
- Unauthorized, destructive parties and the damage, noise, and disruption they cause
- Fraud, chargebacks, and credit card criminality
- Criminal behavior taking place on your property
- Non-compliance with local laws on guest ID and STR rules
2. Damage protection
Even high-quality guests can sometimes cause damage, which can present problems for future guests and even lead to loss of host earnings due to downtime or costly repairs.
That’s why it’s so important to have damage protection and short-term rental insurance. This is true whether you have the minimal protection offered by some OTAs, and even more crucial for direct bookings.
Truvi’s platform includes multiple ways to protect your property and save you money, including:
- Damage waivers: Enables guests to pay a small fee upfront in case of any damage. Encourages guests to be more responsible while staying, and prevents any future disputes. Waiver fees are smaller but non-refundable, whether anything is damaged or not.
- Security deposits: Enables hosts to delegate the admin of collection and managing security deposits to Truvi, and includes dispute and incident resolution in the event of damage. Security deposits are larger, and paid upfront, but refunded after check-out if no damage occurs.
- Protection services: A comprehensive plan that covers property managers and hosts for up to $5m in damages. Also provides dispute resolution and damage payouts with guests to prevent bad reviews or conflict, and even steps in for last-minute and direct bookings.
3. Communication and guest support
Most OTAs offer some kind of messaging platform that enables you to communicate easily with guests. Some even send automated emails so you don’t have to.
In contrast, with direct bookings, there is no ready-made message solution, so it’s even more important to establish your own messaging system to ensure excellent service throughout the guest journey.
Consider setting up a messaging system, or configuring your PMSs’ message system, to send:
- ‘Thank you for booking’ and payment confirmation emails or texts
- Upcoming stay reminder, and a ‘what to pack’ or ‘what to expect’ message
- House rules reminder and agreement
- ID verification check and/or damage protection and waiver confirmation
- FAQs and helpful pre-arrival information, such as directions, parking, and check-in details
- In-stay help and the option for guests to ask questions
- Option to extend the stay or buy extras, if applicable
- Check-out reminder before the final day
- Request for a review, rating, and/or feedback
- Repeat the request for a review if needed
- ‘Thank you for staying’ message, and a follow-up offer or discount for a repeat booking
In addition, you will want to set up a system for managing messages from guests, to ensure prompt and helpful replies, whether they ask questions before, during, or after their stay. Some platforms can send AI-assisted replies 24/7, or provide common answers to frequently asked questions. This can buy you more time to reply personally (if necessary).
You’ll also want to advise your guests on what to do, and who to contact, in case of an emergency.
Building a direct booking website: Worth the challenge
Building your own direct booking website for your vacation rental business can be daunting.
Obstacles can include technical difficulties, managing traffic and bookings, and ensuring proper security measures for guests. You’ll need to understand SEO, guest screening, and set up online booking systems, which can be time-consuming and complex.
However, the benefits are immense. A direct booking website gives you more control over guest relationships, saves money by cutting OTA fees, and allows you to build brand loyalty.
It also helps you establish a reliable client base and manage your marketing efforts, resulting in higher short-term rental profitability and independence.
Plus, services such as Truvi’s Guest Screening make it easier to navigate these challenges.
By offering comprehensive guest screening, damage protection, and communication tools, Truvi ensures that even with direct bookings, you maintain the same level of security and reliability as you would with OTAs, allowing you to confidently run your vacation rental business away from OTA control.
*SolutionInc Ltd, April 2023.
**Hotel Distribution Outlook 2024 report, Skift Research, November 2024.
