Setting up a holiday resort website.

[golfer001]

Hello

I own a property in a holiday resort overseas (europe), I currently use it as a holiday rental, in which seems to be doing ok

I would like to set up a website specifically for the resort that my property is.

The Aim of website would be to provide information on the amenities within the resort whilst advertising my property and trying creating revenue from advertisements.

I have bought the resorts name on domain (.com) and would now like to build a website.

The website would have a dedicated page for holiday rentals, other owners within the resort to advertise. Other sites charge around 200 uk pounds a year and have around 250 properties from my resort, my plan is to charge a fraction of this. As it will be more resort specific I feel it will offer a more personal touch.

Other advertisements would come through, restaurants, bars, cafes, excursions, airport transfers, golf deals, services plumbers, cleaners etc. Where I would charge a small fee for a monthly advert online.

Require advice on best way to build website, how to set up facility that clients can "click to buy" advertisement space. I have never built a website and plan on it being build by approved web designer, but would like to know more before I commit.

Any advice on best way forward.

Regards

Golfer001

(Childrenswear business plan is currently on back burner due to work commitments)

 

[Ryan McFadyen]

There are a million and one ways to do it and which path you go down depends on your exact requirements, your budget and the web designer you end up hiring.

The standard answer is going to be Wordpress though (or Joomla). Incredibly flexible platform that comes with a vast array of additional functionality at your finger tips. Certainly not a bad choice but your post suggests you want a relatively simple website. With only 3 core functions (Advertising, Property Listing & Payments) I wouldn't rule out having it built bespoke. You miss out on the array of easy access functionality but you get something built specifically for purpose and no more. No need to adapt anything, it does exactly what you want it to.

 

[golfer001]

Ryan

Thanks for your prompt reply.

Yes website I want to be simple and easy to navigate.

The first page of site would include a description of resort and photos.

I would require a page to advertise properties, that if you expand the selected property you would have full details of property, photos and availability, prices etc.

I would like a facility that once cleint has purchased adverisement space, it will be their responsibily to input details, photos etc.
My aim would be to achieve 50 of these properties within my first year

What would be the best way to accept payment?

The rest of the advertisements would be services, eateries, and pubs with a "whats on page".

 

[leagueofpixels]

I think the easiest solution would be a Wordpress site. Most of the modules you need are already created and there is plenty of scope for you to expand in the future.

I've designed and built some sites on Wordpress:

wearbrave.com
solomonseurope.co.uk
doigandco.co.uk

So you can see you can get a wide variety of functions.

Emma.

emmareilly.carbonmade.com

 

[golfer001]

The pages on website that I would like to include to bring in revenue would be as follows

• Apartments/villas rental
• services (cleaning, trades etc
• Restaraunts bars etc (possible upload of menus)
• Transfers services from airports

The aim would be for a client to click and buy advertisement but then input the content, which would require verification from myself before going live.

Is this relatively easy? Never set up a website but Im convinced there is a market in it

 

[Liz Perry]

I think setting up a website in this day and age is always a good idea.

Make sure the website can be easily navigated, and that your URL's to different pages are as "clean", simple and clear as possible.

Also make sure you have lots of text on your site that is relevant to your business and make use of the keywords or search phrases that you think possible customers will search for in those texts.

As far as the user experience go, make sure that a possible customer can find all the information they might need - consider adding an FAQ page. And make sure your contact details are visible.

 

[fisicx]

Is this relatively easy? Never set up a website but Im convinced there is a market in it

Yes. Setting up the website is the easy. You could be up and running with a basic site in a couple of hours.

The bit you are going to struggle with is getting people to 1: post their properties and 2: visit the site.

If I wanted a villa then I'd probably use one of the big sites with thousands of properties to choose from.

If I wanted something special then I'd use google and visit the owners website.

You sort of sit in the middle. Why would anyone want to use your site when there are already loads of places to find and book villas?

 

[golfer001]

Fisicx

You seem to have missed the main goal is to advertise the resort, I have registered the domain name of resort to a .com

The purpose would be to give details of resort, yes many owners are registered on the big sites that also have 10,000s of apartments in many resorts to plough through. My aim is not to compete with these sites but to offer a service where everything about the resort would be under one wrapper at a fraction of the cost. (These sites charge around 200-300 GBP per year)

Restaurants would advertise deals, services such as plumbers, electricians, cleaners etc would be charge a monthly fee to advertise. Transfers to and from airports. Small businesses would then have a potentially larger customer base.

hope this clarify my aim, it wont make Rich, but would certainly provide supplementary income for not a lot of time once its set up.

 

[ethical PR]

I think you are right there are a fair few sites out there who promote a particular resort and then it's property for sale/rent /entertainment/local history/area info/travel etc

If there isn't already a website for the area you want to promote/or you can offer something different/better and you have a clear marketing strategy for promoting the site to generate quality traffic on an ongoing basis, then it could be an attractive proposition for those with an interest in the area and advertisers.

 

[fisicx]

Restaurants would advertise deals, services such as plumbers, electricians, cleaners etc would be charge a monthly fee to advertise. Transfers to and from airports. Small businesses would then have a potentially larger customer base.

So who are the potential visitors to your site?

If I'm on holiday then I don't need a plumber, cleaner etc.
If I'm an owner then I don't need to know about transfers.

You need to really think about who would use the site and the sort of infor they require.

Adverts are not the answer, If I want to know how to get from the airport to the resort then I don't want to see an advert for a cheap night out. Nor do I really want to see an advert from a taxi company.

I want to read a well written informative page about the scams to watch out for, prices I'd expect to pay, how to book a cab in advance, which cab companies are trustworthy and so on.

Not saying it's a bad idea - it's just that you need to think about your content first not the advertsing. If it just looks like a site full of adverts then people won't trust it.

 

[golfer001]

Fisicx

I think your looking at this from a very different perspective from myself.

The website potential visitors will be owners of apartments and holiday makers.

As I stated the first page of website will promote resort and provide general information on location, weather, amenities etc.

Within the website I will want the local restaurants etc to promote their business, such as tourist menus, happy hours, specials etc. This will be charged at a monthly fee.

As the resort has 1000s of apartments (150 in our condominium alone, many are not residents of the resort/ country I am promoting), there is a need for the services such as plumbers, electrical etc. People always asking if you know anyone, with this website it would allow advertisement of these trades at the benefit of both the owners and tradespeople. I would never expect a holiday maker to phone a plumber, but there is a market for us owners.

The last statement such as transfer from airport would be advertised with prices to my resort.

The rest would be whats on guides, live music, trips, golf deals etc.

It would be more resort specific than other sites, with the focus being solely on this resort and business. There is currently nothing like it

What Im trying to establish would be a site for everyone whilst creating a small income stream for myself.

 

[thelegalstop]

I am sorry, but I did not read if you will have a booking facility? Basically my advice is to hire a web company, who has already worked on websites for hotels and resorts, as at a later stage you might decide to integrate your site with Booking.com for example and you will need knowledgeable people, who have already done it.

 

[golfer001]

Thelegalstop

Thanks for reply, no I do not want booking facility this will just be a site for owners to advertise their apartments under my website. It will have facility to send direct enquiry to owner of apartment/ villa. All the bigger sites have this and not able to book directly. I will be charging a fraction of the cost of the larger players.

My view is to create a monthly revenue from business advertisements and yearly revenue from apartments.

I am currently sourcing web design companies but thought Id try and test the water here to see if anyone has completed anything similar and at what cost.