How Many Accommodation Booking Sites Should You Use?

  • 2017-10-20

Should you be listing your property on as many accommodation booking sites as possible, or is it best to stick to just one? Although more platforms does not always automatically mean a greater chance of success, it is also never wise to put all your eggs in one proverbial basket, either. A more relevant question than how many sites you should be listing your property on would be as follows:

How do you decide on the best accommodation booking sites for your listings?

Rather than taking an all or nothing approach, keep reading to get our expert tips on choosing the best booking platforms for your listings.

Choosing the Right Accommodation Booking Sites to List Your Property

Not too long ago, Airbnb listings made up the biggest percentage of online listings. Many property owners believed that this platform was all they needed to success. While some have managed just fine with this approach, others have found that they are not getting the exposure they need. As more accommodation booking sites have levelled out the market in recent years, there is more choice available to short term rental owners than ever before.

How Many Accommodation Booking Sites Should You Use

How do you find the ideal solution to marketing your rental effectively? For starters, you can consider the following tips:

  • Focus on the sites that are most relevant to your niche. This could be a dedicated Cape Town platform, a honeymoon booking site, or even a luxury travel booking site. If you focus on the platforms that are most likely to be used by your ideal guest, you will be more likely to be found by these guests. If, on the other hand, you use generic platforms just because you think you ought to, you may not see the same results.
  • Choose sites that have a large audience. Obviously, that tiny niche site that only has a handful of visitors each month will not be the same as a larger site that has regular traffic each day. You want to be found, after all. By the same logic, you may find it harder to compete on extremely large sites that have a high volume of similar properties. Ideally, you want to find a balance.
  • Invest in a rental manager to handle your marketing. The simplest and most effective way to be sure that you are listing on the right sites is to use a professional short term rental manager that provides comprehensive short term rental marketing. This will save you a great deal of time, effort and stress, allowing you to focus on your other responsibilities without wasting hours trying to list your property on every potentially viable platform.

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Essentially, there is just as much risk in putting all your hope onto one single platform as there is wasting time on countless sites that will not convert to paying guests. Instead of leaving anything to chance, try taking the middle ground with the tips we have shared above.

Keen to learn more about working with a manager? Find out how a dedicated manager compares to holiday rental software, or get in touch with our team to learn more about how our marketing solutions help you list your property on accommodation booking sites.