WHAT'S THE SECRET TO VACATION RENTAL WEBSITE MARKETING? PART 1

March 2004 - If only I had a dollar for every time someone asks me this one!  The answer is difficult to confine to a few paragraphs and is very time-sensitive, but I'll give you my best shot at a 1-minute lesson.

Keywords:
Your site must be built around words that your potential clients search frequently.  These sought after keywords must be in your headings, body text, and meta tags.  There are many tools on the Internet that help you to figure out which words (keyword phrases) to use.  Then it is up to you to include them on each of your web pages.

Links:
Google, the most important search engine in our world, requires that you have at least one incoming link to your site.  That's right, they actually check to make sure you have a link from somebody else's site pointing to your site.  If the site that points to you is a busy site and has related content, Google will give you a higher rank in their search engine results.  If your site does not have any links pointing to it, Google likely will not include it in their search engine results.

Search Engines & Directories:
In the old days, about 6 months ago, it was possible to drive traffic to your website by submitting your site address (URL) to the free search engines and directories, then waiting a few months.  Well, things are changing fast!  Many of the top search engines and directories are now charging a fee in order to be displayed on their pages.  Some charge a flat fee (Yahoo US$299 per year) and some sell off popular words to the highest bidder (Overture).  It is expected that all search engines and directories will eventually switch to a pay-to-play model in the near future.

Obviously these three items, above, provide a very brief overview.  Simply an appetizer to get you started.  If you are looking for the full meal deal, just do a search on your favourite search engine for "website marketing" or "search engine optimization" and pig out!

Taken from Whistler Homeowner's Newsletter.

Follow this link to Part 2: What's the Secret to Vacation Rental Website Marketing?

Follow this link to view: Whistler Vacation Rental Owner Survey 2003/2004.