Promoting your Holiday Cottage

Creating an advert for your self catering accommodation

It is incredibly important that you do everything to make your holiday cottage stand out from the crowd so you can maximise the bookings you receive.  The two key elements of achieving this is by ensuring that you have the best possible photos of your self catering cottage and that you provide an enticing description of your holiday cottage within your advert.

Photos of your holiday cottage

High quality pictures of your holiday cottage will give you the best chance to sell your holiday accommodation to the general public.  It is important to provide both external and internal photos and you should include pictures of the main living area, kitchen and bedrooms as well as photos from around your property.  We have set out below a few hints and tips to consider:

• Consider hiring a professional  photographer to take pictures of your holiday cottage – although this is not cheap you will be rewarded with high quality photos
• Take as many photos as possible and try to get external shots of your self catering cottage on a sunny day in early evening when the light should be at its best.  For internal shots ensure the rooms are well lit
• Make sure you have a good mix of internal and external shots including all the main rooms of your holiday cottage and include pictures of the facilities (eg swimming pool or tennis court) and gardens surrounding your self catering cottage
• Consider ‘dressing’ the photo by putting fresh flowers in the cottage, perhaps having a cream tea set up on an inside or outside table
• Include some photos of the local area near your holiday cottage including any stunning scenery or attractions
• Name all your photos as these will also be picked up by Google and other search engines

Writing your advert about your self catering accommodation

When writing your advert for your self catering accommodation make sure you include a concise and clear description of your holiday cottage and the facilities you provide.  Things to include in your advert:

• Clear description of your accommodation including number of bedrooms  as well as any facilities on the site
• Provide information on your location and what is nearby in terms of beaches, pubs and local attractions
• Describe any unique selling point, for example the stunning views or the tranquil countryside location

It is worth looking at a few competitors holiday cottage websites to see how they describe themselves to get some ideas however do not copy word for word as many search engines do not like this.

Pricing

The easiest way to establish your pricing for your self catering accommodation should be to look at some of your local competitors with similar tourist board grades.   You will need to consider any facilities or extras that your competitors provide and whether their location might be a differentiating factor (for example if they have a sea/river view).  You will have different prices for different parts of the year so ensure that you price your property accordingly and consider having last minute discounted deals which may be particularly useful in the off season.