In the book, "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," the late Douglas Adams writes that "In the beginning, the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people mad and been widely regarded as a bad idea." We feel the same way about creating a Web site for your vacation-rental property. Just because it can be done doesn't mean it should be done. And you'll make a lot of prospective renters mad if you don't do it right.

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In this PDF (Acrobat) downloadable article you'll learn:

• Our Position: You don't necessarily need a Web site for your vacation property. It's definitely not the way to begin your advertising program. (Create effective listings on several leading vacation-rental advertising sites first.) But there are several scenarios in which it does make sense.
• What are your options if you decide the time is right for creating a Web site for your vacation-rental property? What will you need and what's the best way to go about it? What is it likely to cost?
• Why hiring a professional Web designer (vs. doing it yourself) is the way to go.
• Examples of truly superb vacation-rental Web sites that you can use as a source of ideas and inspiration.
• Our "short list" of recommended Web designers with experience creating sites for vacation-rental owners.
• Tips and techniques for creating an effective VR Web site, one that elicits the "Wow!" reaction from prospective renters.
• Where to go for free critiques of your vacation-rental Web site, by experienced VR owners.
• How to get some of the key benefits of having your own Web site without actually creating one (a low-cost technique that you can set up in minutes).

This article is also available on our Vacation Rental Secrets & Sources CD if you'd prefer to get it that way rather than downloading it. For the Secrets CD, please click here.