Vacation Rental Desk Blog

At VacationRentalDesk.com we're continually working to add exciting new features and capabilities to our easy to use, all-in-one online booking solution for vacation rental owners and managers. Here's what's new:

Damage and Travel Protection for your Vacation Rental Home
Are you still collecting large refundable damage deposits? With VacationRentalDesk.com guests purchase a low-cost damage waiver when booking direct, eliminating a major headache for you and lowering sticker shock for them. Plus with travel protection guests enjoy the peace of mind to book your rental home without the fear of losing their reservation investment.
Improve Your SEO and Enhance Your Brand with Personalized SSL Certificates
The latest trend in the ever-evolving world wide web is "HTTPS everywhere." Spearheaded by Google, this transition calls for enhanced website security, namely HTTPS enabled web pages not just where they're typically found--on shopping cart and online booking pages that collect sensitive information--but on every web page.
The Importance of Direct Booking for Vacation Rental Owners and Managers
Listing websites such as HomeAway/VRBO and AirBnB are imposing higher and higher guest service fees, of upwards of 12% of the reservation total, resulting in fewer reservations, and squeezed profit margins from having to reduce nightly rates to maintain the same occupancy. If these listing sites are making you feel like you are losing control of your business, what can you do?
Gain Insight Into Your Vacation Rental Inventory's Availability
Vacation rental owners and managers with budding portfolios can often find themselves overwhelmed when it comes to checking availability. Here's how to use our master calendar feature to stay informed.
Track Vacation Rental Website Traffic with Google Analytics
Want to know how many people are visiting your site, how long they stay there, and where they come from? Setup Google Analytics for your website in just minutes and you'll have access to all this data and more.
Vacation Rental Domain Names: Why They’re Important & How to Make Yours Effective
Your vacation rental website is the most important aspect of your business and your brand, but if you’re using a messy or ineffective domain name—or none at all—you could be missing out on a huge amount of business.
Book More Nights with High Quality Rental Photography
Are you losing business due to your rental photos? Stop losing guests' interest, missing potential bookings, and having guests leave your site immediately after arriving with these crucial tips.
Next Generation Websites Released!
Released today, our new Gen2S websites feature an all-new design that compliments your existing website, adding features that improve your guests' experience to help you generate more bookings.
Credit Card and Electronic Check Processing Now Included!
Credit card processing and electronic check payments are now standard features with our vacation rental software solution.
Connect Facebook's Tracking Pixel with Your Vacation Rental Website
If online advertising is the next step for your vacation rental business, you'll want to be able to track that investment directly on your website. We make it easy by giving you a one-step integration process so you can track how people are using your website.
Accept Electronic Checks on Your Vacation Rental Website
Streamline your payment process and give guests more payment options by accepting electronic checks for your vacation rental, while eliminating the need for paper checks.
Sync Up Your Reservation Calendars All in One Place
Keep track of calendar availability from VRBO, Airbnb, FlipKey & more in one easy-to-use calendar.
Why Recent Industry Changes Show Having Your Own Vacation Rental Website is a Necessity
The vacation rental industry is changing rapidly, due in part to a controversial booking fee added to bookings this February by industry listing leader VRBO, a component of HomeAway. The booking fee, which charges guests up to 9% of the rental amount, has caused outrage among owners and guests, many of whom are already noting a significant decrease in bookings.
Example Social Media and Blog Posts for Your Rental
All the information you could ever need to start posting about you rental you already have. Just by owning or managing a vacation rental in a specific location provides you with insight into what types of events, holidays, seasons, and more draw in guests to the area via social networks.
A Guide to Getting Started with Social Media
There are many platforms for sharing content on social networks. The major players are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. The key to successful social media marketing is to honor the differences of each channel and maximize your reach across channels.
How Blogging Can Significantly Increase Your Vacation Rental Bookings
How one vacation rental business went from no reservations to every weekend in that month booked by using the blog feature on their website.
3 Reasons Why You Should Use Social Media
Integrating social media with your vacation rental business has the potential to increase bookings and generate awareness for your business.
The Importance of Taking Guest Reviews
Vacation Rental Desk's professional websites come with a guestbook so you can share positive guest reviews and past experiences directly on your site. After a stay at your vacation rental, guests have the opportunity to write a review about their experience.
Customizing Rates and Fees for More Rental Income
With our booking calendar software, you can completely customize your rates and fees to generate more rental income.
Promoting Your Rental with Booking Coupons
Online Booking Coupons are a great way to attract new guests, encourage repeat guests, increase referrals, and fill up slow seasonal periods.
Accepting Online Credit Card Payments with Your Business
Increase bookings and improve your cash flow by taking credit cards for your vacation rental business.
The Easiest Booking Calendar You'll Ever Use
Our newly-updated next generation websites for vacation rentals include an intuitive, user-friendly booking calendar for screening and taking reservations online. Setup takes just minutes.
Next Generation Websites Now Available!
Our next generation of vacation rental websites are now live! Featuring 100% mobile friendly design, enhanced layouts, and improved search engine optimization.
Google Analytics Support Added
We now support Google Analytics to help you track all vistor and web traffic on your website.
Bigger Discounts on Keyless Entry
Keyless entry eases the burden of managing your vacation rental by allowing you, the rental manager, to give guests temporary access codes that activate at check-in and expire at check-out.
Reservation Management Makeover
We've just completed a visual makeover of the Reservation Management Member's Area.
Accouncing New Lower Merchant Rates
We're now able to provide all of our vacation rental owners and managers with lower merchant processing rates.
Expanding Your Property to Appeal to Business Travelers
How can you make your vacation rental appeal to business travellers in a few simple steps?
Using Social Media for Marketing Your Vacation Rental
Considering that millions of potential customers go online daily, and are familiar with many social media platforms, marketing your property on social media can be a crucial step.
Mobile Friendly Calendar
This new calendar is 100% mobile friendly, showing availability and taking reservations on all Internet capable devices including tablets and smart phones.
Touch Screen Reservation Management
Our reservation management online software has been enhanced and is now touch-screen compatible.
Vacation Rental Success
VacationRentalDesk.com is proud to announce that one of our outstanding clients, Joel Rasmussen, President of the Austin Vacation Rental Alliance, has authored a new book for vacation rental homes owners!
Keyless Entry for your Vacation Rental Home
Ease the burden of managing your vacation rental with keyless entry.
New Management Features
We've added several new features to make the day to day operations of managing your vacation rental home easier than ever before.
Guest Reviews
Now you can add guest reviews to your vacation rental website! This feature comes to you directly by popular demand.
Multi-User Account Access, Date Groups, and Occupancy Reports
Learn about the free new features included with all VacationRentalDesk.com accounts.
New Online Booking Features
Lots of new features! For example, we've improved the Calendar so that it automatically displays major holidays for each year.
More New Features
New features for reservations and management are now available for free!

Vacation Rental Desk Blog

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