How to Find Renters: Marketing Your Vacation Rental Online

You've furnished your vacation home with top-notch décor and high quality linens, and you have your ducks in a row regarding insurance, contracts and taxes. Now it's time to get your wonderful property out there for renters to find. Just a few years ago, you might have had to try a variety of expensive marketing tactics like newspaper or magazine advertising. Luckily, the Internet offers many easy and cost-effective vehicles to drive potential renters to your vacation home.

Vacation Rental Websites
Vacation rental websites range in size from local or regional sites with only a few hundred properties to large-scale worldwide sites like HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com that have thousands of listings and millions of visits each year.

Choose the best websites for your vacation home. When deciding which of the thousands of vacation rental websites to list on, start by thinking like a traveler. If you were searching for a vacation rental in your area, where would you begin? For most travelers, the answer is at search engines like Google and Yahoo! Look for a vacation rental in your area by typing a variety of terms into the search engine. Keep track of which websites show up consistently on the first page. Those websites likely get the most traffic to your area and are probably a good place to start advertising.
List on 3 to 5 websites to ensure the most exposure. Search engine rankings change daily. By listing on a variety of websites, you're more likely to be found by a traveler searching for accommodations in your market. Also, different travelers prefer the look and functionality of different types of sites and you may miss out if you don't advertise on the website that appeals to that particular traveler's sensibilities.

Make the most of your rental listings. Don't squander your marketing dollars by putting up lackluster listings. Listings with an attention-grabbing headline, detailed descriptions, high-quality photos, reviews from past guests, and an up-to-date calendar tend to get significantly more inquiries than less compelling ads.

Specialty Websites
Specialty websites cater to the needs or interests of a certain group of people. Some are devoted to listing vacation properties specifically and some are not. Examples of specialty websites include Chamber of Commerce websites, hobby-specific websites like golf or scuba diving, and travel websites targeting particular groups of travelers like seniors or pet owners.

Personal Websites
While a personal website for your vacation rental is by no means necessary to book your home, many vacation homeowners choose to build a personal website to complement other marketing efforts. The personal website is a great tool to help you seal the deal with potential renters by giving them all of the information they need to emphasize that your place is the best home for their vacation needs. Your personal website can be a 360 degree showcase of your cottage, cabin, condo, or villa.