WebChalet, MYVR,  Lodgify, LiveRez & Kigo Reviews

I would like you to participate in this post and share your thoughts, issues, and concerns regarding this topic.

Tyann Marcnk asked myself Jay William and Susan Brubaker of WebChalet to come up with the pros and cons of using vacation rehttps://web.archive.org/web/20141031081725/http://www.jaywilliam.co/ntal website builders, versus owners designing their own websites and to compare the two options, so she can weigh out the options side by side for owners to review.

Here is Tyanns actual message to me.

“I am writing a blog post comparing the pros and cons of a self-hosted website and a software hosted website (like WebChalet) for vacation rental owners. I would be delighted to get your input for the article if you have a few minutes.”

Of course, I accepted the challenge.

Initially, my thought was…. boy, are the vacation rental website template companies and software providers going to hate me….. but if you’ve read my article “Jay The Most Hated Salesman” you know I’m used to it.

I’ll gladly be the vacation rental marketer they love to hate, if sharing the truth of the problems owners face causes them to hate me, I do this for you… NOT THEM!

Tyann mentions all the different vacation rental software companies by name in her blog, MyVR, Webchalet, Lodgix, VacationRentalDesk, Kigo and others, I include a link to her blog below.

Some would say – Jay what are you doing mentioning your competitors in your blog post. The truth is you’re going to run into these options yourself online but when you compare them you’ll want to use us.

I’m not worried I believe our reputation and expertise speaks for itself!

 

Why am I so confident? My USP! Unique Selling Point!

 

Me! I am the unique selling point. I design these websites, I’ve developed a reputation as the expert, I bring over a decade of experience and I am only at Villa Marketers.

If you’d like me to personally help you with your vacation rental website or marketing, I’m friendly!

Click here to contact me directly 

Our expert team is Villa Marketers USP. I’ve hand picked each one of our specialists, each are experts in their field.

 

We bring bookings. They design templates!

 

Find YOUR USP! ASAP!

I couldn’t write this post without including a marketing nugget you could take away. Find your USP and point it out to your guests, then plaster it all over your marketing.

Think – what makes me unique, from anyone else….when you find it, you’ll have an edge your competitors can’t obtain.

I’ve always felt using the same templates as other vacation rental owners waters down your USP.

Now let’s get back to the story……

I sat down and had a hard think about vacation rental website builders.

Honestly, I had trouble coming up with pros for vacation rental website builders because the negatives are REALLY hard to ignore, I think you’ll agree?

Knowing I was going to naturally be biased I really made an effort to play devil’s advocate and come up with a positive point or 2 but all the positives began to feel like negatives in the end.

 

Are Vacation Rental Website Builders & Templates Really Cheaper?

 

For example; I thought to myself the vacation rental website builders are cheap because of some of the services charge approx $15 – $30  per month (on average).Sounds great! Right?

Not so fast…. I’ve often found that in life, the cheaper things end up costing me more in the long run.

For example: if your SEO options are limited, so are your profits, that is one of the big ones but there are a lot of other reasons why you should not use a vacation rental website templates /software services.

Tyann asked that I create a chart for her and show all of your website design options as a vacation rental owner ( of course both sides were involved), listing the benefits and disadvantages side by side and because Tyann is an unbiased source it came out very straight forward.

She provided three options, vacation rental website builder, you develop your own site and outsourcing your own site to a service like Villa Marketers.

 

Check The >> Vacation Rental Website Hosting Graphic” Click Here

 

Most owners were shocked with the biggest issue …. you don’t own  “your website”. I break down why this is so important in Tyann’s blog in more detail.

I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a lot of owners who use these vacation rental builder services and when I asked them this one question, the answer was always NO!

 

“Do you get bookings coming in directly from your website?  

 

What’s the point of a having vacation rental website if it doesn’t generate bookings like a VR website should, and that is why I couldn’t ever recommend this type of service for owners needing to produce bookings and get out from under these listing sites!

If I sat down with you I could likely find good reasons why you may not be making the bookings you could be. The question is….. is it the vacation rental website builder you’re using?

I don’t do what I do just to sell stuff, this is a part of me. I provide the best products that I know work for my clients, selling stuff that doesn’t truly satisfy clients need is not my thing. You’re probably saying “Jay why don’t you tell them how you really feel”   OK!

Microwave Websites

 

I call these vacation rental website templates  “Microwave Websites”. If you were to enjoy a steak how would you want it cooked?

Would you want it cooked on a real fire grill or nuked in a microwave (nothing tastes GREAT in a microwave!) which would you pick? Yes, a grill takes a bit longer but success doesn’t come in 2 minutes.

And neither does a vacation rental marketing machine! That is what you need right? Anybody with me on this???

10 Big Issues In Vacation Rental Website Builders & Software

• You Don’t Own “Your Website” They Do!

• You’re A Prisoner! You Can’t Leave With “YourSite”  If You Wanted To

• You Are Not Allowed Access To The Files/Server -Restrictions!

• Locked Into Expensive Fees For Changes, Upgrades & Modifications

• It’s More Expensive In The Long Run “A Lease To Never Own”

• Can’t Make Customizations To Improve – Stuck With What You Got

• Fewer Bookings Convert Into Inquires (Can’t Increase Conversions)

• You Can’t Market Your Vacation Rental For Free With A Blog (HUGE PROBLEM)

• Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Is Compromised (DITTO- HUGE)

• You Are Limited To Their Staff – You Can’t Call On Other People To Help!

 

What do you think about vacation rental website builders? What Is Your Experience?