A few years ago, the question you most likely heard when you told someone you owned a B&B or guest house was, “Yes, but do you have a website?” These days, it’s more likely to be, “Yes, but do you have a Facebook page?” A larger and larger number of people are finding quality UK accommodation through recommendations on social networking sites. A new piece of easy-to-install software from Freetobook enables you to put a booking button straight onto your Facebook page, opening up a whole new source of bookings to you.

View our “How To” video below, along with text descriptions. To see how it looks on our Facebook page: facebook online booking click here

First, if you haven’t already done so, you’ll need to sign up with Facebook – a quick and simple process. Next, log into Freetobook and click on the tab entitled “Widget” near the top of your homepage. Then click the button marked “View Code” on the right hand side and select the last of the three codes that appear. Go to the menu at the very top of the page, click on “Edit” then select “Copy.”

Now, you need to shorten the code you’ve just copied. Go to: http://bit.ly/. Past the code into the empty dialogue box and press “Shorten.” Once you’ve shortened the code, go back up to “Edit” and select “Copy” again.

At this point, you’ll have to open some kind of text editor, like Word, Notepad or WordPad. Paste the shortened URL into it. Keep it open because you’ll need it later.

Log into Facebook. Go to the “Edit Page” button and click on it. On the new page that appears, cross to the left hand menu and click on “Apps”. Then type the phrase “Tradable Bits” into the empty dialogue box that appears at the top and click “Search”.

You will now be taken to the “Tradable Bits” homepage. Click button titled “Install the App” near the top of the page. On the next page that appears, under the heading “facebook.com”, click “+Add Tabs.” A series of tabs appear below. Go to the tab marked “Welcome” and click “Install.”

On the next page that appears, go to the first dialogue box – the one titled “Text (max 60 chrs)” – and type the following into it: “Click below to book online.” Then, immediately below, click “Choose File”. In the window that pops up, choose your booking button (in .jpg format.)

You’ll now need that shortened URL that you pasted into your text editor earlier. Copy it from there and paste it into the dialogue box titled, “Top image URL.” Then click “Save changes”. After a few seconds, your booking button should appear on the screen. Once it has done so, click on the “Add to Facebook” button. On the next page, click “Add Welcome Tab for Pages.” This will take you back to your main Facebook page.

On your main Facebook page, click “Welcome” on the left-hand side list then click the “Edit Page” button. On the next page, go to “Apps” (again on the left-hand side). A list of the “Added Apps” will appear. Go to the one titled “Welcome Tab for Pages” and select “Edit settings.” A pop-up will appear, entitled “Edit Welcome Tab for Pages Setting.” In the dialogue box, type “Book Online” then click “Save”, followed by “Okay”. Then click on “View Page” to return to your main Facebook page.

Go back to the left-hand side and click “Book Online.” Within a few seconds your booking button should appear, with a rubric above it which says, “Click below to book online.” Click on the icon and you will be taken through to your Freetobook booking page.

And that’s it! Now, anyone who visits you on Facebook will be able to book your property online…