A new year brings fresh opportunities to attract guests, refine your marketing strategy, and fine-tune every detail of your direct booking website. Among the many tasks on your to-do list, one often gets overlooked: updating the copyright year in your website footer.
It seems minor, but that little © notice does more work than most hosts realize. When a potential guest lands on your site and scrolls down to see “© 2024,” it plants a subtle seed of doubt. Is this site still active? Is the business still operating? Has anything been updated recently? These micro-impressions matter in an industry where trust drives bookings.
Your Footer Signals Professionalism
Think of your footer as a timestamp that tells visitors your website—and by extension, your business—is current and maintained. A copyright year that reflects 2026 signals attention to detail, the same quality guests expect when they walk through your property’s front door.
Whether you display a single year (© 2026) or a range (© 2019–2026), the update communicates that someone is actively managing this site. For hosts focused on building a brand that converts, these details matter more than they might appear.
The SaaS Advantage—Automatic Updates Across the Platform
For hosts using traditional website builders or self-hosted WordPress sites, updating the copyright means logging in, locating the right theme file or widget, making the change, and saving. It’s simple but easy to forget—especially when you’re juggling guest communications, property maintenance, and seasonal marketing campaigns.
Modern SaaS platforms operate differently. Because they manage infrastructure centrally rather than maintaining separate codebases for each customer site, updates like copyright year changes can roll out automatically to every site on the platform. This means hosts using these platforms often find their footer already updated without lifting a finger.
This same centralized architecture enables continuous improvements to performance, mobile optimization, and SEO foundations—all without requiring hosts to manually update plugins or theme files.
What to Check Before Your Next Booking Season
If your direct booking site runs on a traditional CMS, add “update footer copyright” to your January maintenance checklist. While you’re at it, consider reviewing other trust signals guests notice:
- Updated photos that reflect current property conditions
- Current pricing and availability synced from your PMS
- Recent blog content or local guides that show ongoing engagement
For operators already on a SaaS-based direct booking platform, your copyright is likely already refreshed—freeing you to focus on what actually grows revenue: better photos, sharper copy, and more guests discovering your brand in 2026.
Ready to build a direct booking website that stays current without the maintenance headaches?
Start your free trial with CraftedStays and launch a mobile-optimized, SEO-ready site in minutes—with automatic updates handled for you.