How to Turn Your Website Into a Booking Machine

Your website isn't just a place to show off your bounce houses or tents — it's your storefront. And if it’s slow, clunky, or confusing, customers won’t stick around long enough to book. The truth is, most rental businesses are losing bookings every day simply because their website isn’t doing its job.

The good news? A few simple changes can make a big difference. Let’s walk through what a rental website should do — and the mistakes that quietly cost you revenue.

1. Your Website Needs to Load Fast — Or You're Losing People

Speed matters — a lot.

According to Google, if your site takes more than 3 seconds to load, over half of your visitors will leave before it even finishes loading. Not only that, slow sites are penalized in search rankings. If your website is laggy, fewer people will find you, and the ones who do? They probably won’t stick around.

You don’t need a fancy speed test tool to see this in action — just open your site on your phone and see how fast it loads. If it feels sluggish, it's likely costing you real business.

2. You Need an SSL Certificate (No Exceptions)

Ever visited a site and saw a big “Not Secure” warning next to the URL? That's what happens when a website doesn’t have an SSL certificate. Google penalizes insecure sites, and customers get spooked when they see that warning — especially when they’re about to make a payment.

If you’re using BRS, we’ll set up an SSL certificate for you automatically. If for any reason your site doesn’t have one, contact us and we’ll install it at no charge.

3. Mobile-Friendly Isn’t Optional Anymore

The majority of your customers are browsing on their phones — not desktops. If your website isn’t mobile-optimized, you’re creating unnecessary hurdles at the exact moment someone is ready to book.

We’ve seen some businesses try to cram too much content into their homepage or overload their product pages with long blocks of text. That might work on a laptop, but on a phone? It turns into endless scrolling and tapping — and that’s where people bail.

Our recommendation: go through your own site on your phone. Try to place a test order as if you’re a first-time customer. Notice where things feel slow or awkward. Is it hard to tap “Book Now”? Is the product info buried too far down? Fix those points of friction.

If you’re using BRS Version 2, your layout is already mobile-optimized — but it’s still worth testing from time to time after you make changes.

4. Remove Friction From the Checkout Process

Here’s the rule: only ask for what you actually need.

Every extra step is a chance to lose someone. Let’s look at a few examples we’ve seen that turn into conversion killers:

Surface options: If you don’t charge different rates based on grass vs. concrete, don’t make customers choose a surface. It’s unnecessary friction.
“How did you hear about us?”: We get it — that info is useful. But it’s not worth asking during checkout. You can always call and ask later.
Signature requirements: If you’re on Version 1, you’re asking customers to sign a document as part of the process. That’s one more hoop to jump through, and it’s enough to lose people. Version 2 includes e-signatures that are built into the flow — smooth, fast, and more effective.

Also, use address autocomplete. It’s a small touch, but anything that saves customers time adds up to more completed bookings.

5. Product Pages Should Do the Selling for You

You want customers to be able to make a decision without having to call you. That means each product page should:

Clearly explain the space requirements, power needs, setup surface, and weather considerations
Include an up-to-date inventory status so people know what’s actually available
Feature multiple photos — not just a clean image of the product, but also shots of it set up at a real event (with people using it if possible)

If you're using BRS, you can upload multiple images to each product. If you're still only using one image per item, start adding more. Customers trust what they can see.

6. Make “Book Now” the Star of the Page

This part sounds obvious, but we see it all the time — rental sites that bury their CTA (“call to action”) or make people scroll too far to find it.

Every product page should have a clear, visible "Book Now" button. And every page of your site should show your phone number — preferably clickable, and ideally in both the header and the footer.

Some people want to book online. Others just want to call. Make sure both types can do what they want without digging for it.

7. Answer Questions Before They Call

You can reduce the number of emails and phone calls you get — while also increasing trust — by answering common questions clearly on your site.

Your FAQ section should include things like:

What happens if it rains?
What’s included in delivery/setup?
What time will you arrive?
Can we cancel or reschedule?

Put your most common FAQs on the homepage or main menu, but also consider adding relevant ones on product pages and checkout pages.

The more confidence a customer has, the more likely they are to book.

8. Real Photos = Real Trust

We provide high-quality stock photos of equipment in use — but nothing builds trust like actual photos from your events.

Start taking pictures at every setup (with the customer’s permission, of course). Show people enjoying the bounce house, the tent beautifully set up for a party, or the tables in use at a backyard gathering. Clean, well-lit, real photos go a long way in building credibility.

Final Word: Upgrade to BRS Version 2 if You Haven’t Already

If you're using BRS, we strongly recommend switching to Version 2. It’s built with all of this in mind — faster checkout, mobile optimization, real-time inventory updates, e-signatures, and more.

Click here to learn more about BRS Version 2 →

You don’t need a fancy website agency or a $5,000 redesign. You just need a website that helps people book — fast, clearly, and with no friction.

And if you're not using BRS yet? Let’s fix that. Book a quick demo here →