Why aren't you on Wikitravel?

Wikipedia has grown enormously in recent years. The simplest and most tangible demonstration of this is the fact that in 2005 their fundraising campaign was aiming for $75,000 in donations. In 2009 they are aiming for $7.5 million and received $3.5 million in just over one month. Although the open source nature of Wikipedia makes it a poor choice for an academic source, it is becoming far more reliable and as a guest house owner, you can take advantage of its system.

Wikitravel is a branch of the group aimed at compiling a comprehensive global travel guide, is becoming extremely popular and anyone can add content to it...

Simply search for your guest house's location, click "Edit" and enter your information. Wikitravel aims to create a reliable, factual guide, so this is no time for long-winded sales talk which will be deleted rapidly. Once you submit, your property is on one of the most popular websites in the world and it didn't cost you a penny.

If your location has limited competition, you could be the only guest house on the Wikitravel page.

This should take you no more than 30 minutes, so make it your priority for today.

Trip Advisor

One of the best resources a guest house with limited advertising resources can take advantage of is Trip Advisor. This is an excellent website dedicated to providing open, honest information about accommodation throughout the world.

Extensive market research has shown that Trip Advisor is a key resource for guests when it comes to choosing a place to stay. By encouraging guests to leave reviews on Trip Advisor, you have instantly achieved a credible, far-reaching advertisement, for free.

If you provide free internet service at your guest house, create a Trip Advisor account for your business and set it as your homepage to help encourage guests to leave a review. A high rating on Trip Advisor can have a significant positive impact on your bookings.

If any guest house owners have any suggestions to add, leave them in the comments section below. The best ones will be featured in the next Guest House Guru post, along with a link to your website.