Everyone is online. Studies have shown that over 90% of individuals use the internet to research before making purchasing decisions. Of those individuals, 80% still want to walk into a brick-and-mortar store to make the purchase.

So, what does this mean for rental companies? Well, it means that rental businesses that are not on the internet (or whose websites cannot be found) could be missing out on a large number of potential customers.

This step-by-step guide will help you learn the different options for marketing your rental business online. Each week, a new installment will be added so check back often! This week’s installment is Step 1: Build A Website.

Step 1: Build A Website

The first step to ensuring that your customers can find you on the internet is to build a website.

Gone are the days where “business card” websites with contact information and a few pictures are enough to bring customers through the door. Renters are much more web-savvy now and the most successful websites are well-designed, have plenty of pictures, and are loaded with information: company description, rental inventory, policies, rates, etc.

There are basically two options available when it comes to building your rental website: do it yourself or get someone else to do it for you.

Do-It-Yourself Websites

A great reason to build your own website is that it is often the most cost-effective route. The only downside is that not everyone has the tools or time to build their own website. To make matters worse, websites that are poorly done can often hurt more than they help. Visitors expect to see polished and professional-looking websites.

Outsource Your Website Development

Generally speaking, rental companies do not need to go and hire out an expensive web design firm. Smaller companies and free-lance designers can often get the job done faster, cheaper, and to similar standards.

Whether you go with a large or small design firm or even your nephew who knows how to build websites, always ask for their portfolio of work and references. You are looking for someone who can design professional looking websites and someone with experience designing websites that cater to your audience. The website for a wedding rental company should look very different from that of an extreme sports equipment rental company. Finally, call up a number of their references. Ask whether the design firm was easy to work with, met deadlines, and stayed on budget – three very important criteria.

Websites take time to develop whether you do-it-yourself or outsource the work. In the meantime, a great and fast option to get online quickly is to sign up with Rentcharlie.com (http://www.rentcharlie.com). Rentcharlie.com allows you to easily create a homepage for your rental business, gives you the ability to advertise all your rental items: with photos, descriptions, rates, and contact information, and the best part is that it is completely free.

Check out Granville Island Boat Rental (http://www.rentcharlie.com/granvilleislandboatrentals) for a great example of a homepage on Rentcharlie.com.

Our next installment of How to Market Your Rental Business Online will be Step 2: How to Optimize Your Website for Search Engines.