Annual subscription VS One-off payment

This is often a recurring question among our friends the owners of vacation rentals. At yourwebsite.rentals, we like to give you the choice because each one of you is different, not necessarily having the same type of property to rent, with different budgets or different computer skills. Here is a comparison of the 2 formulas with our final opinion on this question. Once again, you have the choice.

Comparison of different solutions for your vacation rental site

Annual subscribtion

Nowadays, we are all used to paying subscriptions for our services, be it Netflix, your internet subscription or your cell phone, etc… For me it’s a service like any other !

Subscriptions are very useful because they allow us to have a constant level of service and to spread the costs through a direct debit each year. Moreover at yourwebsite.rentals, subscriptions are all inclusive. The hosting, the domain name, including the modifications you wish to make to your website. You have chosen to modify some pricing information, new services, etc… it’s included in our subscription. The permanent relationship created by a subscription to yourwebsite.rentals can bring considerable advantages.

You are always a valued paying customer and are never asked to fix things on your own. Wouldn’t that be a better way to invest in a website for your vacation rental business?

I prefer to pay for an all-inclusive website service, without having to take care of it or forget the expiration of my domain name, they take care of it for me. Moreover, they are very reactive when I wanted to change my prices during the Covid-19 pandemic.

My job is to take care of my customers and their well being, the technique is not really my cup of tea, I don’t understand a lot about it. That’s why I chose this option.

One-off payment

We have full ownership of the website at one time. We also have the access codes and we can do whatever we want. This is freedom.

After 3 or 4 years of operation, paying a subscription is less profitable than making a one-time payment.

We have several properties to manage, and we take care of the management of the website. We did not intend to change the design of the site done by yourwebsite.rentals, but just modify if needed the text and prices from time to time. This we can do without problems.

I feel a bit trapped by a subscription formula. If I don’t pay any more, I won’t have my website anymore, whereas after having paid the totality of the site at the order, I don’t have this problem anymore. I consider that a website is like a car, I bought it cash. If I then need repairs or even change things, I go to the garage. With yourwebsite.rentals, I do the same thing. I contact them, they give me an estimate, I pay and it suits me well like that.

The subscription formulas are only interesting for websites with only one vacation rental. When you manage several dozen properties, as we do, it is better to have a larger website, with its own exclusive design, and made to measure.

Our Opinion

Of course, all these remarks are true and we understand them. This is why we offer both choices to meet the majority of vacation rental owners’ expectations. However, it should be pointed out that our statistics indicate that 85% of owners nevertheless prefer the subscription formula.

To find the format that suits you

Single page website vs Multipage website

Single page website

PROS

The one-page website is easy to use for the holidaymaker. Everything is indicated on the same page, the description, the amenities, the services, the rental situation, the rental rates according to the season, the availability calendar and the reservation form.

Another advantage of a simple navigation system is that there is usually only one action to be performed by the user. Studies show that having a single page can lead to an increase in conversions (>37.5%) compared to multi-page sites, as users start the process earlier and go through it faster, without getting lost or distracted by another offer.

Did we mention the unique design, ideal for responsive mobile websites? With small amounts of content (and all on one page), you can easily and consistently adapt single-page websites to smaller screens and devices. Plus, scrolling is an easy and natural movement for touch-screen mobile devices.

CONS

However there are several reasons why a single page design may not be suitable for your website.

Single page websites do not perform well in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). In fact, they can reduce your chances of ranking in Google. With so little content, keywords cannot be very varied. A blog, for example with many articles, ideal for a natural referencing on several keywords cannot be installed on a single page website.

In addition, the single page website is not the ideal candidate for eventual evolution. If your choice is for a single page, it will not be able to be transformed into a multi-page website. You will have to consider a new design, with a new subscription. Which is not necessarily ideal. So, think about what you will do in a few years and keep this in mind when you choose between a single page site and a multi page site.

Finally, keep in mind that you will only have one URL to work with. This may not seem like too big an issue, but what about when you want to share something from your site with the social networking community?

Last but not least, the loading time of a mono page site is always a little longer than a multi page one. Indeed, an important number of photos of your property will impact the loading time of a mono page.

Multi pages website

PROS

The multi-page site has three major advantages over the single-page site.

First, the multi-page design offers unlimited scalability. You can create as many pages as you want and expand the navigation system as you need. For example, replace your top navigation bar with a customized mega-menu with a search bar for unlimited navigation possibilities.

Secondly, the navigation flow of a multi-page site is easy to follow. This type of site has been around since the 1990s, which means that most users are familiar with it and often expect to find multiple pages on the sites. As long as your site’s navigational flow is easy to follow, you are navigating smoothly with a multi-page site.

Finally, multi-page sites have powerful SEO capabilities. We have found that multi-page sites are more likely to have more content than single-page sites. And while the SEO potential of each website depends heavily on your digital marketing strategy, just having the content potential (blog) to optimize your SEO is a good start.

CONS

Here are a few disadvantages to consider.

For example, if you want to add a blog, think about how you will manage regular updates to your site. Don’t forget that all the content of your posts must be designed by you (text & photos), even if we put it on your website. This is a job that can become binding in the long run. Moreover, if you want the content of your posts to promote your SEO, the writing of the articles requires a minimum of SEO know-how. Ask yourself if this is really profitable. Don’t forget that poor quality or under-optimized content will simply be bad for your SEO.

Another element to consider is the bounce rate of your site. Websites with a large amount of content are often much slower to load (see more efficient hosting in add-ons). In addition, they can be distracting (visitors are only interested in your posts) and can drive them away from your primary goal (increase your direct bookings).

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