1. Getting started
To get started, we recommend following the steps in this article series to lay the foundation for your website.
If you prefer a video tutorial, we also offer these in this help section. Our Intro to the Editor video is a good place to start.
2. Your website pages
Now that you've got the basic design and layout done, let's get into the structure of your vacation rental website. Remember, these are simply suggestions - you're free to add as many pages and categories as you need.
Page 1: Home
Your homepage is the face of your website. This page should be engaging and make the visitor want to explore the rest of your website. For a vacation rental website, we recommend adding a banner (or slideshow banner) displaying high-quality photos of the property and surrounding area. You can also overlay a welcoming message or greeting text.
Page 2: Accommodation
The second page of your website can be dedicated to showcasing the property. This page could have subpages detailing specific areas (e.g. rooms) inside the property. In this article you can read more about how to add subpages.
Page 3: Contact
A third page that's essential for a vacation rental website is a contact page. This page can feature your contact details, a contact form, and a map showing the location of the property.
Page 4: Tourist information and/or Blog
Many vacation rental websites also provide information about the region the property is located in, such as local attractions and places to eat. Why not do this in blog form? You can also share seasonal information and local news and events.
Here's an example of a website with the page structure described above:
3. List rooms for rent & show availability
You can accept bookings for your property in the form of a product using our online store feature. Although technically a workaround, this approach can bring you new customers directly, without involving intermediaries.
Availability is shown using the vacational rental's Google Calendar, which is embedded on the product detail page using the Embed code element. The customer can review this and enter their date of arrival based on it.
- Create a product using the product element, and enter the name and description of the room
- At the bottom of the Edit product dialog, use product variants to list the number of nights and guests and corresponding prices
- At the top of the Edit product dialog, click on the Advanced tab to access the product personalization function
- Add a text field and name it "Date of arrival" or similar
- Create a new Google Calendar for your rental by following the steps on this page
- Follow the steps on this page to obtain an embed code for your calendar
- Go back to the Webador Editor, go to the product detail page for the room, and place an embed code element on the page. In the embed code element, go to the Custom HTML tab and paste the code in the text field to embed the calendar.
When a room is booked, you can block out the relevant dates on the calendar via your Google account. It's always possible to check your website using preview mode or by visiting the URL to make sure the changes are reflected in the calendar on the product page.
You can also opt to only require a deposit for booking. In this case, you'll enter the deposit amount as the product price, and specify in the product description that it's a deposit. The booking is confirmed in the same way as any other online store purchase - with an automatic confirmation email sent to the customer and to you.
In this example, we've set up the Checkout form as described above, emphasizing that the booking is not final and recommending the customer review the terms and conditions.
Finally, we've edited the order confirmation text as follows:
4. External tools
If you've followed every step so far, your vacation rental website is already complete. However, you can take things a step further using some of our recommended external tools, which can be embedded on your website using the Embed code element.
For example, you can display the property's current occupancy using a calendar such as Google Calendar.
It's also possible to use an external booking solution. Sagenda offers a comprehensive free version of its tool, as well as a premium service with secure payment options.