Written by
This piece was contributed by our friends at DropInBlog.
AirDNA’s latest forecast suggests that there are more than 1.77 million short-term rental properties in the U.S. alone. All of these properties compete for their share of online traffic. Most of them are managed by online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Airbnb and Vrbo, but many hosts also have independent sites.
The problem is that, whether you list your property on an OTA, on your own site or both, the competition is intense. You still have to find a way to stand out among thousands of similar listings.
For this reason, you need an effective way to bring traffic to your site, build relationships with your visitors and establish yourself as a reliable source of information–all of which you can do by adding a blog to your site.
Don’t see the form to download our online marketing guide? Click here.
What a blog does for a vacation rental website
Before I tell you what blogging can do for your site, I invite you to search the term “what to do in [destination]” on Google. Take a look at the search results and count the number of blogs that show up. My guess is that at least half the results are blogs. That’s because blogging is a widely used growth channel, but luckily, it’s still underused.
Blogging plays an instrumental role in helping your vacation rental website stand out because:
- It improves visibility in search engines.
- It helps build trust and authority.
- It lets you create content OTAs can’t replicate.
Let’s get into more detail about each.
Blogging for SEO and organic visibility
Your blog is a place where you can create helpful content, answer guests’ questions and provide detailed resources about your rental locations. All this content naturally uses the terms people search for on Google, which helps your site appear in search results more often.
Here’s an example: your website focuses on vacation rentals in Rome, Italy. Some of the terms you could use on your main site pages, like your homepage, would be: vacation rentals in Rome, family-friendly vacation rentals in Rome, and Colosseum area rentals.
When you also have a blog on your website, you can create blog posts on a variety of topics, such as: best time to visit Rome, Rome for first-time visitors, and Rome neighborhoods for every type of traveler. All of these posts can naturally include various terms people use for Rome-related searches. With a blog that has 20+ blog posts, your content can appear in search results for dozens of these search terms, which will ultimately bring traffic to your site.
By reading your blog posts, your site visitors also signal to Google that your content is helpful. As a result, your blog will show up higher in search results, so more people will see your site. And you’re likely to see more visits as a result of this increased visibility.
At the same time, the way users discover content has evolved, and search engines prioritize clear, helpful content that answers user questions. Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools also rely on clear, well-structured pages when generating answers.
Blog posts that describe destinations, experiences and logistics in detail make it easier for both search engines and AI systems to understand what your rental offers and when it’s a good fit. In turn, this increases your chances of showing up in search engines and being recommended in AI-generated responses.
Blogging for trust and authority
Close to 53% of users trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations. And the better the ratings, the more bookings. The question is: what are the “trust” criteria for blogs? To build trust with your visitors and increase your authority on a specific topic, your blog should, in a way, be like a personal recommendation. It should:
- Provide helpful information to readers.
- Offer knowledge and insights about a specific location.
- Answer the questions that your readers may have.
When you provide this information (without being overly promotional), your blog visitors will learn something new and/or relevant to them. As a result, they’ll start to trust you and your content. They are also more likely to return to your blog (and site) and read other content on your blog. And if you’re consistent in publishing high-quality, problem-solving content, your blog will gradually become a leading travel resource for your rental destinations.
Creating content OTAs can’t replicate
What about the content you won’t find on an online travel agency’s blog? If you visit one of these blogs, you’ll find guides about the top destinations and places to see. However, OTAs cover dozens of destinations and don’t focus on only a few.
You, on the other hand, likely only have rentals in one or a few places and can focus your attention on covering them from all angles. This approach adds depth to your content, offering a unique perspective on the topics you cover on your blog.
Think about hyper-specific topics that revolve around local knowledge and opinions, such as Rome neighborhoods that are quiet by day and noisy by night. OTAs will almost always skip topics that may steer users away from specific listings.
Additionally, OTA blog content is often neutral, which leaves room for hosts to go deeper. By sharing practical advice, discussing pros and cons, and setting clear expectations, you help guests decide what’s right for them.
And when you think about it, what would leave a stronger impression on you: a generic top-10 list, or content that genuinely helps you make a decision?
Real example of a vacation rental blog
The blog in the image comes from the Villa Nepenthe site, created with Lodgify and DropInBlog. On this blog, you’ll find various Crete travel guides written for first-time visitors, couples and Crete enthusiasts in general.
What makes this blog different from OTAs’ blogs is that it also focuses on content that isn’t meant to sell anything. Some of that content includes:
- Visiting places without roads and limited electricity
- Greek words and their meaning
- Advice on creating your own adventure (without promoting places)
This strategy works well because it focuses on creating trust through helpful, experience-driven content.
How blogging helps increase direct bookings
I mentioned blogging as part of an SEO strategy designed to drive more organic traffic to your site, but it’s more than that. It allows you to guide users through their booking journey. The moment a visitor starts thinking about a vacation rental, you can use your blog to help them make these decisions:
- Where they should go (a blog post about the most visited cities in Europe)
- When they should go (a comparison guide for traveling in the low season vs. the high season)
- How long they should stay (the experiences of guests who stayed for a week vs. a few days)
- What venues they should see (your guests’ or your favorite places of interest)
- Where they should stay (which neighborhoods fit different travel styles)
By offering this type of content on your blog, you’re answering visitors’ questions and reducing the decision fatigue that often accompanies trip planning.
Your blog is also the perfect place to share your favorite travel spots and personal anecdotes about them. Contrary to OTAs’ one-size-fits-all approach, this approach gives your audience a chance to get to know you. It builds trust, which ultimately leads to more bookings.
Common blogging myths (and why they’re wrong)
At this point, you may have concerns about blogging and whether you can do it. You’re probably thinking about the things stopping you from starting a blog. Most of those reasons are common myths about blogging. Here are a few of them:
- I’m not a writer: You don’t have to be a writer to start a blog. You don’t need to use complex words or overly technical jargon to sound a certain way. In fact, simple and clear writing is often more effective. Write content that will help your readers–that’s all it takes.
- Blogging takes too much time: It doesn’t have to. There’s no set word count or number of posts you should publish within a week or month. So, unless you plan on creating long-form content every day, blogging won’t take much of your time.
- Blogging won’t lead to bookings: If you create helpful content, it will. Every blog post can spark readers’ interest and clear their doubts, which streamlines their journey and leads them to a final decision–booking a vacation rental. However, be patient as nothing happens overnight.
What to blog about as a vacation rental host
A vacation rental blog can cover dozens of topics that can be divided into four major groups:
- Local guides and things to do
- Property features and guest experiences
- Seasonal travel tips
- Guest FAQs
The table below shows examples of blog titles for each group.
Blog post title examples by topic group |
|
|---|---|
| Local guides and things to do |
|
| Property features and guest experiences |
|
| Seasonal travel tips |
|
| Guest FAQs |
|
That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. Many other topics are perfect for vacation rental blogs, just take your pick.
How to start a blog easily (even without technical skills)
Starting a blog doesn’t require technical skills, complex setups or a large time commitment. When you decide to add a blog to your Lodgify site, try to follow these unwritten rules:
- Choose a blogging platform you can easily integrate with your site, such as DropInBlog.
- Look for a blogging platform that’s easy to use. You don’t want to spend days learning how to use it.
- Keep the content format simple. Add a couple of headings, be concise in your writing and don’t try to force a specific word count.
- Establish a consistent publishing schedule, but don’t push your limits. Publishing content even once every 2 weeks or month is fine as long as you can create new content regularly.
- Don’t worry if your content isn’t perfect. You’ll perfect your writing voice in time. And creating new content will gradually take less time.
What blogging looks like for a real host
Starting and managing a blog as a host isn’t as difficult as it sounds. From your side, it would involve:
- Choosing a topic: To start, you can use the post ideas from this article. As you publish more content, it’ll be easier to find new topics.
- Creating a post outline: A post outline is like a guide for your writing, so you know exactly what to write about. It’s a time-saver and a great way to stay on topic.
- Writing your content: The seemingly difficult part of blogging is writing. But you just need to focus on being helpful and concise. Use plain language and remember–there’s no set word count.
- Publishing your content: Proofread your content to ensure there are no grammatical mistakes, check that everything makes sense and you’re good to go.
- Staying consistent: Decide how often you want to add new content to your blog. For most hosts, posting once a month will be just fine.
Ready to start blogging?
Now that you know how blogging can help your vacation rental website, are you ready to add a blog to it? I encourage you to start small. Don’t try to populate your blog homepage immediately after starting a blog. Instead, create a single blog post this week.
Then try to add a new one each month, but also try to stay consistent to give your visitors a reason to come back. And above all, always strive to be helpful in your content. When your content genuinely supports travelers in planning their stay, the results follow.
About DropInBlog
DropInBlog is a lightweight blogging platform that lets you easily add a fully functional blog to any website without complicated setups or plugins. It comes with an easy-to-use content editor, advanced SEO features, and a design that instantly matches your site, all of which make creating and managing a blog a breeze. DropInBlog integrates with Lodgify, making it easy to publish high-quality content consistently without disrupting your existing site.
(function(d,u,ac,a){var s=d.createElement(‘script’);s.type=”text/javascript”;s.src=”https://omcdn.lodgify.com/app/js/api.min.js”;s.async=true;s.dataset.user=u;s.dataset.campaign=ac;s.dataset.api=a;d.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0].appendChild(s);})(document,29132,’tw37pixmwahkvryqbfh2′,’omapi’);
Don’t see the form to download our online marketing guide? Click here.
The post Why Every Vacation Rental Website Needs a Blog (and How to Start One Easily) appeared first on Vacation Rental Owners & Property Managers Blog – Lodgify.
Discover more from Desi Rover
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.