The short-term rental market is constantly evolving, and to stay ahead, you need a robust strategy that can adapt in tandem with the market. However, you could be making mistakes with digital marketing for vacation rentals that are putting you further and further behind! Keep reading to uncover what you’re doing wrong and how partnering with IMEG can transform your business:
1. Having More Airbnb Bookings Than Direct Bookings
One of the most widely used strategies for vacation rental marketing is to utilize an OTA such as Airbnb, which is certainly a great platform for small businesses; however, it could be losing you money in the long run, especially with the announcement of Airbnb’s new host-only fee.
Instead of handing over control to Airbnb, let us show you how to grow direct bookings through real business growth (not just booking gimmicks and hacks). Our methods are data-driven, and we know what works and what doesn’t to create a sustainable business in the vacation rental market.
2. Using WordPress and Other Website Builders
If you think it doesn’t really matter what website builder you use for your website, then you might not be aware of the hidden cost of these tools. While Wix, Squarespace, and even WordPress are helpful platforms, your site is at risk for poor SEO and performance, and even security. Is WordPress secure? When weighing the pros and cons, you should know that WordPress sites are more likely to get hacked due to plugin vulnerabilities and data exposure, which in turn requires constant maintenance.
That’s why we created our own Content Management System, Mercury CMS, to ensure our clients’ websites are secure, reliable, have fast response and loading times, and can handle traffic spikes easily. Plus, with built-in SEO features and optimization for the best user experience, our CMS works for you, not against you.
3. Overlooking the Importance of Backlinks
Another mistake you could be making with your vacation rental marketing strategy is not having backlinks in SEO. Link building focuses on building your website’s visibility in both traditional and generative search engines to drive traffic and boost revenue. Think of backlinks as online recommendations. Just like Google and TripAdvisor reviews build trust for your customer, backlinks make you look more credible and trustworthy to search engines.
4. Thinking AI Will Replace SEO
Will AI replace SEO? Absolutely not, because at the end of the day, if your website isn’t optimized for SEO, then it will be invisible to AI agents. Generative search and other tools, including Google AI overviews, still rely on your website, so if they can’t find you, then neither will your customers. Plus, these tools are using new search methods and techniques, such as query fan-out, which means you need a content strategy focused on broader keyword clusters rather than literal keyword usage. In other words, SEO is not going anywhere; in fact, it’s more important than ever.
Do you have an email marketing strategy? Find out if you’re making any of these vacation rental email marketing mistakes!
Build a Vacation Rental Marketing Strategy with IMEG
Read to discuss marketing strategies for vacation rentals, or want to learn more about what we do? Read more about what sets our digital marketing agency apart from everyone else, and get in touch with us about how we can help you grow your business.
