Add sparkle to your site

GITE owners often spend a lot of money on setting up their website, wait for the torrent of bookings, only to end up very disappointed.

But look at it this way, if you set up a shop would you leave the shelves bare, not bother advertising and hope people might drop in?
Unfortunately many holiday home websites take this option instead of taking a couple of hours a month to add some sparkle to the site.
Your front page is your shop front so make sure it attracts visitors with simple to read text, pictures that load quickly and an area that promotes interest.
This interest can be created by giving useful information for example up and coming events collected from the tourist information office, local newspapers and shop windows.
Give it a newsy look with headline, date and short descriptive paragraph.
Keep this panel up to date, check the spelling and you could ask people to tell you if you’ve missed something that is occurring and you can add that.
Of course the key element of your site is to get bookings so make this as easy as possible.
Provide a simple diary style page showing available dates and again keep this up to date.
Not only will it free up your time but if people really like the look of your home they may juggle their holiday dates to match a date that is free.
Try to think from the perspective of the purchaser and say what they won’t need to bring, for example maybe you can provide baby changing mats, make sure you tell people.
And if you are willing to collect people from the airport or train station this should feature prominently, not just a single line hidden in a paragraph.
The use of photographs is also vital make sure they are of a common size, both portrait and landscape, and a few smaller pictures are better than a large photo that is difficult to see.
Look to provide a page with descriptions of places of local interest with links to its website if one is available.
People are more likely to remember a site that provides valuable information and clearly laid out pages, plus return to check up on the latest news and events on your front page.