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18/02/2025

How to increase direct bookings

Direct bookings let you keep 100% of what the guest pays, without giving 15–18% (and sometimes over 20%) to portals. On a 1,000 € per night rental, that’s 150–200 € more per booking in your pocket. Over time, moving even part of your volume to the direct channel significantly cuts costs and gives you more control.

Dedicated page and SEO on the portal

When you list your property on a portal like Domrentals, your property gets a dedicated page optimized for searches like "apartment Bologna center", "B&B with pool Ostuni" or "sea view rental Venice", helps travellers find you on Google when they’re already looking for the area. Unlike portals where you compete with thousands of listings, here you’re the focus: one property, polished copy, standout photos. Content (text, titles, meta descriptions) should target the keywords your ideal guests use; regular updates and links from local sites (tourism, blogs) improve rankings over time.

Professional photos

Photos are the main conversion driver: listings with quality images get far more enquiries and bookings. Investing in a professional shoot or targeted editing (brightness, colour, visual order) pays off both on the big portals and on your Domrentals listing. Details that tell the story: breakfast on the terrace, view from the window, work corner — whatever shows why it’s worth booking with you.

Inviting guests to book on Domrentals (from other portals too)

Many portals allow mentioning an external site or contact for "future bookings" or "additional information", as long as you don’t push the guest to book elsewhere for the current stay. You can add a gentle line in your description or welcome message: "For your next trip you can also book on Domrentals [link]: same service, no extra commission for you." Offering a 5–10% discount for booking on Domrentals is a strong incentive and still leaves you better off than paying the portal fee.

Email and WhatsApp: building a loyal guest base

Collecting email and (with consent) WhatsApp lets you stay in touch after checkout. A thank-you message with a link to your Domrentals listing and an invitation to return ("Next time book with us on Domrentals and get a loyalty discount") is allowed and very effective. Many hosts also send a light newsletter once or twice a year with updates on the property or the area: past guests convert at a much higher rate than cold visitors.

Domrentals is a portal where you list your property: dedicated page, SEO optimization, fixed monthly fee and zero commission per booking. Payments go directly to you.