There’s plenty you can do to help your website generate more direct bookings, from improving its speed and visibility on Google to making booking easier.
This list focuses on smaller changes you can make without a full website overhaul.
We don’t know your technical experience, so we won’t assume every task will be easy for you. But many of the owners we work with can carry out these improvements themselves.
Some may take 20 minutes. Others may take a couple of hours, depending on your website and how comfortable you are editing it.
Improve Navigation
An overcomplicated main menu is one of the issues we regularly find when reviewing accommodation websites.
Start with the labels. We sometimes see “Staying With Us”, “Guests” and “Booking” in the same menu. Would a new visitor understand the difference between them, or would they have to click through each one to find out?
The distinction between your menu labels should be obvious at a glance. Guests shouldn’t have to click through each one to work out what it contains.
You don’t need to include every page in the main menu either. For a single short-term rental, links to your property, about us, contact and booking or availability may cover the essentials.
Other pages can sit in submenus or the footer, depending on how useful they are to someone considering a stay.
Combine Pages That Don’t Need to Stand Alone
Review your pages and ask whether each one really needs its own page.
We sometimes find a business’s story spread across several pages, such as “About Us”, “Meet the Owners” and “Our History”. If each contains only a small amount of information, one well-structured About Us page may be easier for guests to follow.
Every business is different. Does the page answer a useful question, help someone decide to book or attract visitors through search?
If it earns its place, keep it. If it repeats another page or adds very little, consider combining the useful content.
Optimise Images
Large image files can slow your website down and leave guests waiting for pages to load.
A small image halfway down your page shouldn’t mean downloading a 10MB file when a much smaller version would look just as good.
When uploading images:
- Resize them to suit where they’ll appear.
- Compress them without noticeably reducing quality.
- Save photographs in WebP format to help keep file sizes down.
- Give them clear, descriptive filenames.
- Add alt text that describes informative images. Leave it empty for purely decorative images.
For most smaller images we upload, we aim for around 50KB. Larger images, such as your main banner, will usually need more.
Don’t force every image below that target. Your property photos still need to look sharp and inviting.
Choose the Best Format for the Information
“A picture is worth a thousand words” is especially relevant when showing guests what your property offers.
Does your outdoor BBQ area need a 200-word description, or would a couple of photos and a short caption explain it better? Guests should be able to find and understand the information quickly.
Keep any details the photos can’t explain, such as whether the BBQ is shared or charcoal is provided.
For amenities, we often see short-term rental websites using lengthy paragraphs where a simple list would be easier to scan. A bed icon labelled “6 bedrooms”, for example, gets the information across immediately.
Use photos to show, short captions to explain and clear lists for details guests need to check.
Keep Your Content Useful and Concise
It’s natural to want to paint a picture of a stay at your property. But someone visiting your website for the first time should be able to quickly understand who you are and what you offer.
You don’t need to lose your personality or enthusiasm. Just check whether every sentence adds something useful.
Does it help guests understand the property, answer a question or imagine their stay? Keep it. If it repeats something you’ve already said or adds little, cut it.
Break longer paragraphs into shorter ones so the useful details are easy to find.
Help Guests Find What Your Property Offers
Many short-term rental websites describe their properties without making the most of what guests are searching for.
You might offer dog-friendly accommodation, for example, but have no page clearly focused on dog-friendly stays in your area. You may already have a suitable page that just needs improving.
Start by listing your location, property type, amenities, nearby attractions and the types of guests you cater for.
Use Google Ads Keyword Planner to explore related searches and estimated monthly search volumes. Make sure you select the countries your guests come from.
Then check whether an existing page meets that need. For “Dog-Friendly Cottages in [Location]”, use a clear page title and main heading, and explain what makes your cottages suitable for guests bringing dogs.
Simply changing the heading isn’t enough. Include useful details, such as enclosed gardens, any dog charges and nearby walks, where relevant.
Start with pages you already have. A few focused improvements could help more of the right guests find you, without creating a new page for every search phrase.
Give Guests the Option to Enquire
Not every guest is ready to book and pay on their first visit to your website.
Some want to ask a question or speak to the owner before committing. We’ve worked with and spoken to businesses that get good results by taking enquiries through their website, then arranging the booking and payment directly with the guest.
If this suits your business, make “Enquire About Your Stay” easy to find. Explain what happens next so guests know what to expect.
You don’t necessarily need to remove “Book Now”. Offering both gives guests a choice: book when they’re ready, or get in touch if they need a little more reassurance.
Remove Unnecessary Sections
Look through each page and ask yourself: “Does this section help a potential guest understand the property, answer a question or decide to book?”
If it adds little or repeats information elsewhere, remove it. If there’s something useful buried within it, tighten the section or move that detail into another one.
Give each section a clear purpose so guests aren’t scrolling past content that doesn’t help them.
Share Your Local Knowledge Through Blog Articles
This takes more time than some of the other improvements, but useful local articles can help people discover your website while planning a trip.
If you live locally and have explored the area, you probably know things someone researching from a distance would miss.
Which walking route has the best views? Where would you take children on a rainy day? Which nearby pub would you genuinely recommend?
Those details make an article more useful than another generic list of local attractions.
With many of our clients, we research the topics, angles and article structure, then speak to the owner about their experiences. Their recommendations and practical advice become part of the content.
You can take the same approach yourself. Start with one subject your guests regularly ask about, and share what you know from experience.
Offer Something Useful Beyond “Book Now”
Someone reading your local guide may still be planning their trip, rather than looking for accommodation.
A “Book Now” pop-up might be asking too much at that stage. What could you offer that would help them take the next step?
If they’re reading “10 Family Things to Do in [Location]”, you could offer a downloadable day itinerary with suggested timings, travel distances and places to stop for lunch.
Give them something genuinely useful, rather than the same article repackaged as a PDF.
They provide their email address, and you send the guide. Separately, give them a clear choice to receive news and offers from your business.
For those who opt in, you can stay in touch with useful updates and relevant offers. When they’re ready to choose somewhere to stay, they’ll already know who you are.
What Else Could Your Website Improve?
Take a look through your website with these improvements in mind. If you spot something familiar, start with the changes you feel comfortable making. Be sure to apply these fixes to both desktop and responsive (mobile) view.
These are just a few of the things we check. When auditing websites, we often find other issues and missed opportunities that could be making it harder for guests to find the business, enquire or book.
If you’d like us to take a closer look, get in touch about a full website audit. We’ll explain what needs attention, why it matters and which changes we’d prioritise.
