Is a Direct Booking Site for Your STR Worth It?

When we started doing Airbnb in 2013, I listed my dungeon apartment in Denver on Airbnb, complete with a red leather couch and almost no nature light. And I killed it.

Gone are those days. Short-term rentals here in Colorado and across the country are as competitive as ever. To stand out you have to bring your A-game in amenities, photos and style. And with this professionalization, STR hosts are asking if you need a direct booking website to capture your own leads and guests.

I'm of two minds on this. I mostly think they're a total waste of time, and all of my STR investor clients in Colorado are operating without one. But to be honest, I've softened my stance a touch recently.

Here's what I see as the pros and cons of a personal booking site for your STR.

PROS

CAPTURE FUTURE BOOKINGS FROM CURRENT GUESTS

You're not going to get a lot of traffic at first. Maybe not even for a year or two. But what you can do is direct all guests that you get through Airbnb and VRBO to your personal site to book there in the future.

Don't try to do this through the platforms. Airbnb especially punishes hosts for any attempts to divert business (current or future) away from their site. But you can leave laminated card that highlights your website in a prominent spot in your home. Or if you're communicating during the stay with them through text or email, you can pass along your site that way.

If they want to return, they can now book through your personal STR website, likely saving them money and increasing your returns.

LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA

Got yourself a killer A-frame in the mountains that's all the rage with Gen Z-ers on TikTok or Instagram? Good for you. Pace your personal website in your social bio and capture business. My client's A-frame in the mountains outside of Colorado Springs is a great example.

SHOW UP ON GOOGLE MAPS

Google is taking a stab at the vacation rental world with Google Vacation Rentals. Are they a serious competitor to Airbnb? No. Nor VRBO, nor Booking.com, nor any other major site.

But A) if they do ever put serious money behind it, you may be happy to be in early and B) most importantly, you can show up on Google Maps if people happen to search on maps for local accommodations, including for hotels.

PROTECT AGAINST THE ALGORITHM

To succeed with Airbnb and VRBO, it's all about the algorithm. You need to show up near the top of searches or else you're toast.

"Yeah, I'm there already," you might think. But not to sound like an Airbnb hater -- because I'm not -- but I don't trust them. If they decide to shift their algorithm and your listing nosedives in the rankings? Good luck getting support to help any time soon.

If you can build up some kind of business that's not reliant on the STR platforms, then you can inoculate yourself (a little) from any algorithmic freakout.

-- Looking for a short-term rental or second home in Colorado? Reach out today. --

CONS

TIME AND COST ISN'T WORTH IT

I've built several websites before -- past iterations of this site and a few for a walking tour we ran once (past life). It's some serious work.

On top of that, you ain't getting noticed on Google unless you put in some serious work on your SEO or you buy ads to push your site to viewers. Compare any money you spend on this to the booking fees you pay to Airbnb or VRBO. Is it worth it?

IT'S NOT HUMAN NATURE

When have you ever typed into Google "V-a-c-a-t-i-o-n-R-e-n-t-a-l-A-s-p-e-n"? Unless you're a Boomer, never.

Personal booking sites ignore how humans look for vacation rentals. We are programmed to go straight to Airbnb or VRBO.

And even if you did a Google search for vacation rentals in a particular area, the first several pages are going to be popular listings ... on the Airbnb site. Back to the first point, you'd have to pay so much money to compete with the SEO of today's STR platforms.

MOST CYNICAL TAKE?

This is a corollary to a larger complaint my wife and I have about real estate gurus -- they overcomplicate things to sell you a solution.

Without a direct-booking site you'll lose thousands of dollars in Airbnb fees ... so pay me thousands to tell you how to avoid that.

Save that hard-earned money and put it toward your next purchase. That's the best use of that money.

Do I think direct booking websites for your short-term rental are as stupid as I used to think they were? No, I can see trying to move some business off of Airbnb. And if you have a really unique property that can generate interest on social media, you can now drive your own bookings.

But if you're a run-of-the-mill property, I just don't see how you compete with the SEO of the booking platforms themselves. In that scenario your best bet is to list your property on this site that garners millions of views every day. It's called Airbnb.