Listify is the most versatile directory theme for WordPress. The mere plethora of features it provides separate it from its competitors. A simple, visually appealing interface and ease of use further justify our case. The theme boasts a 4.5-star rating and 14000+ downloads on Themeforest. But bragging about this responsive theme is not our mission here. We went ahead and actually tested this theme and fashioned it into a custom rentals site.
You might already know the lucrative appeal of owning a rentals website. Gone are the days when you had to frantically scout for apartment listings in newspapers, coffee shops, and random notice boards. With the advent of digital directories, searching for apartment listings and finding a perfect home is now a cakewalk.
Starting a rentals website with Listify is a great option to generate revenue. Sure, Airbnb is the market leader but you can easily create a niche user base with Listify, and gradually increase your reach. So let’s dive straight into the metrics of such a site.
Starting off
First off, you need to purchase a licensed copy of Listify. Now, you need to install the theme. We have a detailed guide on how to install Listify which you can explore. Then you can proceed to install some plugins which will increase the functionality of your site.
Once you finish installing Listify, you can explore and install the following recommended plugins:
WooCommerce Bookings
This plugin allows you to set up bookable products for various services including rentals. You can customize the bookings by dates, cost, and duration, which can be purchased just like other WooCommerce products. The installation process is the same as any other plugin. Just upload the .zip file in your plugins menu and activate the extension. Once the plugin is active, a “Bookings” menu will appear on your dashboard.
It also adds a new product type called “Bookable Product”. Bookable products include attributes such as availability, pricing, resources, etc. After a successful installation, you are now ready to add a new rental listing.
When a customer proceeds to check out with a bookable product (i.e, a listing), a new order and a new booking are created. The order is used to track payment while the booking has details about the service booked and stores the customer’s information.
With such handy features, WooCommerce Bookings is an essential requirement for setting up your rentals website with Listify.
To buy the plugin and for more information, click here.
WooCommerce Social Login
A lengthy checkout process causes leads to drop out of buying your product. Account creation and entering checkout information increase the duration of the process, thus causing leaks in your conversion funnel. WooCommerce Social Login can increase your conversion rate and improve your sales.
For first time customers, the checkout can be made easy by allowing them to make the purchase as a guest. But if you want them to be your recurring customers, then you must have a better option on the table.
WooCommerce Social Login makes the checkout process easy and secure. Your customers can login using their Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, PayPal and other accounts instead of making a new user account which is a tardy process.
This is also a paid plugin but is worth the extra dollars. You can buy the plugin here.
Astoundify Plugin Bundle
Now, this plugin one is from the makers of the Listify theme and is guaranteed to take your rentals site to the next level. The bundle contains must have plugins with a tried and tested functionality. The plugin bundle contains the following products:
Listing Payments
You can generate revenue by charging users to create a new listing on your site. You can also create listing packages to allow listing submissions for a custom length or the total number of submissions.
Products
When users create listings, they expect to make ample money out of renting out their listings. This plugin allows the listing owners to generate revenue on each sale, thus monetizing their listings. This is a crucial plugin for your site. You can also generate more revenue by taking a commission for each listing that the owners sell.
Private Messages
This useful plugin allows your users to communicate with each other. This one on one communication ensures more activity on your website. Your users can also keep their conversations active using a custom messaging dashboard.
Statistics
Statistics allows you to track views, clicks and easily monitor activity on your listings. It also offers your users the opportunity to see their own statistics for any period they like.
Extended Location
With this plugin, you can allow users to manage their map presence by choosing exactly where their business is actually located on a map. This ensures the listings are found on your website as well as Google.
Reviews
A robust review system is a must-have accessory to assess the quality of your website. With this extension, you can oversee how users leave reviews on your website.
Claim Listing
This plugin enables you to provide a badge of verification to ensure site visitors that your listing information is up to date and relevant. A claimed listing ensures the business owner’s ability to update his/her listing.
With such lucrative plugins in one single bundle, this purchase would be a guaranteed steal. You can buy this bundle here.
Astoundify Labels
With Labels, you can allow your users to easily refine search results by adding one or more label requirements to their current search parameters. This ensures that not only are your guests finding relevant results but also your website’s listings are being discovered easily.
You can also allow your listing owners to choose from a predefined list of labels set by you, or let labels be generated automatically by keywords entered by the listing owner. Giving listing owners the power to choose how their listings are found is a great feature that will distinguish you from other websites.
You can buy this plugin here.
Astoundify Favorites
This handy plugin allows you to add your listings to your favorites list for faster browsing. You can also add notes to each favorite so you can remember exactly what you liked about a particular listing. If users are able to find past listings easily then it helps increase your user interaction.
To find out more or to buy the plugin, click here.
Summing Up.
Astoundify has done a commendable job with Listify. If you are serious about starting a listing website (which is a great decision), then you should definitely consider Listify and the plugins that we are suggesting. Simply put, these plugins will help you focus only on your core business while helping you with marketing and analytics. They also increase your overall user experience.
Go check out the plugins and let us know if we have left out any cool plugin in the comments section below!
