1.

Your website is not secure

Is your website secure? The Google “Not Secure” has finally come into play and this is what visitors to your website are now seeing if your website is not secure. Google now penalizes sites that don’t have something called an “SSL Certificate.”

What is that? In laymen’s terms, an SSL certificate is what makes a website secure.

To put it simply: Google now prioritizes sites that are secure - and penalize those that aren’t. Unsecured sites now have a warning...the dreaded “Not Secure” Warning.

You may have visited a website at one time or another and received this message, “This website may be unsafe, proceed at your own risk.” If not, you will find this more prevalent going forward.

Also, since your website asks for sensitive information – personal info, email address, phone number, credit card numbers, etc. – you really need to make sure that potential guest have a secure experience. I know that personally I will not give any of my information or fill out any kind of form unless I know the website is secure. I can assure you that more and more of your potential guest are concerned as well and will bypass your website if it is not secure.

2.

Your website is poorly designed

I am amazed at some of the websites that I see that are completely out of date or just poorly designed. Nothing is worse than seeing owners using a $100 self-made website to showcase their three quarters of million-dollar vacation property. You wonder why guest visit your website then nothing. No inquiries. No bookings. Nothing.

Could it be that your poorly designed website scared them away?

Instead of giving them confidence and establishing trust, your site did just the opposite. It created doubt, uncertainty, and a general feeling of uneasiness about you and your property and what you have to offer.

It happens more that you know!

The look and feel of your website is one of the most important aspects that effects bookings. If your site looks old and dated, visitors will leave. Your brand is important, and your website should reflect this in its design.

Potential guest who are confused and frustrated are not going to book with you.

3.

Your website offers a poor user experience

Nothing is more frustrating than visiting a website that takes forever to load and then when you finally get into the website it’s laid out poorly and nothing makes sense.



Make sure your content is organized and easy to navigate.

Get rid of superfluous content and other distractions that do not contribute to your overall message.

Make sure your contact information is visible on every page and that it’s easy to get rates, availability and that it offers a clear path to easily booking with you.

4.

Your website is not up to date

Whether you hire a website manager or do it yourself, make sure your website is always up to date. You don’t want to have rates from 2 years ago or old photos when you’ve recently changed the décor of your property.

Keep your site’s content up to date.

Visitors want to see content that is current and relevant. 

5.

Your website is not evolving with technology

The way people consume the digital world is constantly evolving. Fifteen years ago websites were developed to work on desktop computers with monitors capable of a screen size of 800 pixels by 600 pixels. Ten years ago, this was 1280px by 1024px. Today I’m working on a screen with a resolution of 1920 px by 1200 px – and there are much bigger screens out there.

Then came the smartphone ‘revolution’ which took consumers away from the desktop/laptop and provided them with the ability to browse and shop anywhere. There are thousands of different phones and tablets each with different screen resolutions and capabilities. You should keep your website up to date to work on as many of these as possible.

Website development techniques have changed during this period. Initially the strategy was to provide a separate website to mobile devices and desktop devices. This was difficult to manage and a better solution was developed.

A responsive website is essentially one page that will display differently on different screen sizes. If you view this website on a desktop computer and then on a phone you will see that it responds differently. Larger screens allow for more information, but your website should also work on every size device.

If your website isn’t responsive, and has a poor mobile presence, you can lose potential guest very quickly. What would you prefer – having to zoom into a tiny website to see the product you’re interested in, scroll to find the ‘add to cart’ button, zoom again and then click; or simply reading and clicking on a button that looks great on your phone?

6.

Your website does not have an "About Us" page

Tell people about you and your family. People do business with other people. Prospective guest want to know who they’ll be dealing with.

Tell your story. Let people get to know you. Nothing creates trust better than having an “About Us” page on your website.

7.

Not utilizing your website untapped marketing opportunities

Potential guest visit your website, look around and then leave. Unfortunately, most visitors  will never come back after their initial visit.…unless you have a way to stay in communication with them and pull them back in.

This is why it’s important to capture the email addresses of those potential guest who visit your website — it’s critical  if you really want to use your website to generate bookings.

You need an e-mail capture form on your website!

When you capture the e-mail address of a potential guest, you can continue communicating with them via e-mail allowing for them to get to know you better. In addition, it helps establish your vacation rental in their minds eye and it also helps to promote and build trust.

If you can accomplish this, you have a good chance of turning them into a paying guest. It all starts with capturing their contact info when they are on your website.

Do you need a website or need to upgrade your current website?

Check out some of our work at the link below.