This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
Hi There,
I am looking to open my Air BNB in the fall. I am also a web designer so I was looking for ways to help my place stand out and of course, a website helps! I just built a website for my friends Air BNB. I was wondering if anyone else would be interested in an affordable Wordpress website, meaning $1000 or under?
Not trying to get business (although that would be great) just wondering if its a service others would be interested in.
Thanks!
I have my own private guestroom-rental website at: MeadowsLair.com
I designed it myself through Webstarts.com that charges me $85 annually.
The Webstarts design platform is âdrag and dropâ that is similar to using Microsoft Publisher. You donât need to master HTML coding when moving and resizing text and graphics.
Great site Don! That is what I want to find out, of hosts are willing to pay more for a done for you service, that tends to index alot better on Google, or if I am barking up the wrong tree! Thanks for your feedback
You can find the site I did if you google - The Light Suite at Carnton Cottage
I paid someone $250 to do a website for my in home dog sitting business. She was going to charge $500 but got a new job and we agreed that what she got done was good enough for my current purposes. If I want to change up the text or add/delete pics, itâs easy to do via godaddy dot com
If you google K9 Karma Casa my place the is first page of results. Some of those results are placed there by aggregators, I had nothing to do with it.
Wordpress is one of the easiest website builders for someone with little knowledge of CMS or coding to use to build their own site @JJSL and itâs free.
Iâm not sure youâd get many takers at $1000 a pop, but if you think there is a market why not invest in some targeted Google ads and paid ads on host forums to test the market and see if you get any interest.
i know there are already people out there advertising this service to hosts so you would need to demonstrate that what you offer is better value. than whatâs already out there.
By the way having your own website only works if a) a host is looking for direct bookings b) it is optimised to drive traffic from key target audiences.
Why do you think a site you build would âindex better on Googleâ, than a site I would develop myself on Wordpress?
Yes Wordpress is free (other than hosting), I am more targeting hosts who donât either have the knowledge, time or the desire to build their own site. My friend built a Wix site and hated the way it looked and was frustrated figuring it out, and took a ton of time. Itâs harder than a lot of people think.
I am more than willing to invest in advertising. But over the years I have learned to validate ideas before investing, which is what I am trying to do. I am offering a one page at $500 or 3 page for $1000. Again maybe their isnât a market at that price point, thatâs why I am asking.
As far as indexing, I ALT tag, and use meta tags to help the site show up better in ranking, no guaranteesâŚits Google 
.
I am also offering a 1 page at $500 as well. Glad your sit turn out well for a great price and performing well!
Yes I am not surprised your friend had problems with Wix itâs a pants platform.
As I said there is a market out there and there are fair few web âdesignersâ already specifically targeting hosts, so itâs about you identifying how you add value and what you can offer that others canât.
Wordpress provides free plug-ins for SE0 and I would hope anyone building their own site would know to use tags.
Quite honestly I am not teccie at all and I can knock up a Wordpress site fairly easily using the huge selection of free templates they offer, so I canât agree that itâs that hard.
However I agree that there will be people who wonât have the inclination to do it themselves, who would be your target market.
What is your competition charging to build sites in Wordpress?
By the way I donât have a website for my listing, as a) I get all the bookings I need from Airbnb and b) I donât have the time or inclination to vet direct bookings and do the paperwork, I much prefer to pay Airbnb a minimal fee to do it for me.
JJSL: Is this the website you designed for $1,000?: https://the-light-suite-at-carnton-cottage.business.site/
I have a few suggestions:
Include links to local tourist sites and community events calendars.
Make the URL address shorter and easier to remember, such as CarntonCottage (dot) c o m
Delete the posting dates above text blocks (I thought they were all guest reviews at first glance).
Add subheads to indicate which clickable text-blocks are guest reviews or a description of the house and community.
Add a light wallpaper background that best reflects Franklinâs trees, city flower or Civil War history; or at least add a solid light-color for the background.
Use the houseâs front exterior photo (or a Franklin landmark image) as an icon to click from page to page.
Use bullets, and not asterisks, in your list of kitchen and bathroom amenities. Also, the text breaks are off in this section.
There is too much âwhite spaceâ on your home page. Maybe rearrange the text blocks and photos closer together.
No thatâs no the site, she has no idea where that site came from! Mine is thelightsuiteatcarntoncottage (dot) com
Yes she is quit full as well but there are always dry seasons. We did direct booking through air BNB as well, she doesnât want the hassle either. You would be surprised on how many âprofessionalâ websites I see that have no tags, no pic or meta tags. They didnât bother to take the extra hour or two, a lot is lazy or sloppy work. They get away with it because most people are non the wiser which makes me mad!
There are other offerings for template work for similar price points, and of course custom work (which is mostly what I do) but I donât think itâs financially feasible for most to pay for a high end custom website. Hence the reason I was asking if a semi-custom site was an option for some.
JJSL: Your website is MUCH, MUCH better!
Ask your website hosting company who owns the other website URL. They can easily trace the owner who paid for that domain address. Then contact that URL owner and demand it be deleted.
I think your client or her friend tried to design that website and forgot all about it.
Ha thank you!! Yes thatâs the next thing, trace that down! Appreciate the feedback!
I decided to use the hosted website for my property management system provider. About $10 extra month and it seamlessly pulls from the same descriptions and functionality and payments that Airbnb and booking.com and the HomeAway family use.
And essentially I get free backups and hosting and a template and updates and tech support and security and a community to talk to. No need for buggy plug-ins or other stuff.
So, $1,000 seems a waste of time.
SEO is essentially not much help with the OTAs dominating page 1 of Google.
Thank helpful thanks!!
Building your own website just to forward people to an OTA is a total waste of time and money.
The main purpose of a website should be to generate direct bookings.
Why spend $1k on a website and still hand over 14% per booking to a 3rd party that does not offer anything extra.
Processing a creditcard yourself trough Stripe or Paypal cost you 3%, wat does AirBnB offer you for the other 11-17%?
I wondered why direct bookings are on the increase and airbnb have helped by making my contact details more prominent on the listings.
When you click on business details, where does it take you?
Thatâs interesting! As a guest itâs very helpful and it seems to be helping you but it doesnât seem smart for Airbnb.
You get a pop up window with business name, business address, direct e-mail and contact name.
