Holiday accommodation rentals website – like Airbnb – Secret Domus
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SD, Tuscany
Project overview
We were asked to build a holiday accommodation rentals website in a similar style to Airbnb. Users need to be able to quickly browse the accommodation and view the availability before making a booking.
Secret Domus
How to build a successful holiday accommodation rental website
The website design
When searching for a holiday letting people first filter by geographical area and size of the lodging. Following this, stunning images are what will catch the eye and make a letting stand out. Wording too is important, but what really sells a holiday letting is having great pictures showing your property at its best.
The SecretDomus website was designed to allow quick access to all properties from any page. Once on the page, all information is easily available with simple, clear navigation from desktop, tablet or smartphone.
The actual website graphics are fairly simplistic and use lots of icons, which work well on property rental sites. Each property page has exactly the same layout for easy browsing and comparison.
Marketing and SEO in the hotel sector
The hotel sector is one of the most evolved online markets. Sites like TripAdvisor, Homeaway and Airbnb dominate search engine listings. If someone searches for “Tuscan Villas” or “London BnB” a small portfolio website cannot compete in search.
The solution? Market your business through the aforementioned booking websites to bring customers through the door. Repeat clients and word of mouth can book directly through your website making you less dependent on sites like Airbnb.
Website features
- Multi-language website in English and Italian.
- Customized icon-rich design studied for the tourism sector
- Schema.org for multiple locations.
- Easy to maintain and update
- Responsive design for easy navigation on PC, tablet and smartphone.
Software and technical details
- Website software:WordPress WPML multilingual website.
- Plugins used: Gantry5, YoastSEO to help optimise the website and increase website visitors, WP Simple Booking Calendar.
- Programming languages used: AngularJS, HTML, CSS3, Javascript, JQuery.