Your thoughts appreciated

Get some feedback on your site or ad from other rental owners and techies. Also a library of online resources so you can make DIY improvements to your web presence.
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petemcveigh
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Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 2:26 pm
Location: Davenport, Central Florida
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Your thoughts appreciated

Post by petemcveigh »

Quite new to the whole rental business (bought 5 months ago in Florida), so would appreciate any feedback on how to help my site draw/ hold/ convert bookings!
http://www.ourplaceinfl.com

many thanks

Pete
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gpck
Posts: 223
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 1:01 pm
Location: Kissimmee, Florida

Post by gpck »

Only one comment from me - your prices are way too low for a 4 bed property... :x
gpck
janny
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Location: florida
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Post by janny »

The tax in Polk is only 12% and the prices are a bit on the low side .
There is no secret formula to attract and keep bookings unfortunately in the Floridian market especially you have to kiss an awful lot of frogs to catch one prince.There are forums especially geared towards the Florida market -not that this one isn't full of good advice but it is more centered on the European side of things.
If you want the details pm me .
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greenfrog
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Location: Paris, France

Post by greenfrog »

Hi Pete,

The property looks lovely! And I like the virtual tour facility.
I know nothing about your area or market so I'll leave advice on that side of things to those who do.

One thing that did strike me was your heading "our home". Is this where you live? If not, I think prospective guests may be a little confused. I think most people booking a holiday villa want to know it will be all theirs for the duration of their trip so I don't know that referring to it as "our home" sends the right message. That's just a personal opinion, maybe others here have looked at this a bit more?

Best of luck!
Lounging on the lily pad...
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mpprh
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Location: Languedoc, France
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Post by mpprh »

Hi

just a few points.

Firstly, you want to be highly rated for your customers google key search terms. There are tools to help you identify these.

Currently a google search on your meta tag keywords ( villa, Florida, Rent, Disney, Sunshine State, Pool, Davenport, Kissimmee, Bridgewater Crossing, vacation home ) doesn't find you in the top 50 results ?

Using these keywords consistently reinforces the importance of your keywords of your site to search engines.

The most important variables are :

URL (a bit late to change, but "our-rental-villa-in-florida" hits better keywords)

Page titles (should reflect page contents and keywords)

Use bold with keywords

H1, etc should include keywords

Your page headers are graphics, so invisible to search engines -you can add alt/title tags to them (including your keywords) - equally it may be better to name that graphic file with a name including keywords rather than "logo.gif"

Content - I would try and get more (keyword rich) content text on the first page

Inward links using keywords in the linking text are a must (arrange links with other relevant sites, directories, etc)

All simple things which can help.

It is probably worth adding a "bookmark this page" and a "mail us for special offer news" buttons (build up a contact hit list ?)

Peter
The Languedoc Page
www.the-languedoc-page.com
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enid
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Location: Labretonie France
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Post by enid »

The 360 won't work for me :cry:
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Billywiz
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Location: Murcia, Spain
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Post by Billywiz »

I can't see the 360 either, just blank with a small box containing a red X in top left corner.
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enid
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Post by enid »

It does come up after a while - perhaps you need to warn people of the wait. I do like the 360 - one thought perhaps you could 'dress' the rooms a little - some fruit, a bottle of wine etc in the kitchen for example
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Topcat
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Post by Topcat »

It certainly looks a lovely place. One thing I would want to know is: can you walk to any bars or restaurants? That wasn't clear to me.

Also, if you say something is 5 mins away, I personally think you need to specify walk or drive.

I agree with Enid that it wouldn't hurt to dress some of the rooms a little: flowers, wine, a bowl of oranges or tomatoes.....that sort of thing.

TC
Debut novelist at http://tinyurl.com/or89jle

http://wivenhoewriters.blogspot.co.uk/
Contributor to anthology 'In a Word: Murder'
populuvivu
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Post by populuvivu »

Hello Pete,

Your property looks very nice and your website shows it very well. I've got no problem with your 360° tour. I agree with Greenfrog about your header "Our Home". I think people who look at your property must imagine themselves in your home like if they were in their home. Why not "Your holiday home"?
In my own residence, each property has got a name. it's easier to qualify them.
Also your rates are too low. I've got a 4 bedroomed beach house like yours and without pool and i rent it in peak periods at the rate of 3850$ (2890€).
Your could add on your website an advice about the weather in Florida. It could be useful for a foreigner like me who is interested in coming.

Regards.
Let's fight for the rights of corsican people.
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Topcat wrote:...Also, if you say something is 5 mins away, I personally think you need to specify walk or drive...
Hey, this is America, so by definition, I just assumed it meant drive :lol: :lol:

No, but seriously, thats a good point from TC if you're aiming at an international audience.

Also, back on topic, I'd like to see some reaction from Pete on the pricing issue. Actually Pete, how about some reaction to anything...
Musetta
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Post by Musetta »

you should check out the vacation rentals yahoo group re: price, etc. there are a a LOT of other Florida owners on there :-)
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petemcveigh
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Location: Davenport, Central Florida
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Post by petemcveigh »

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to review my site and offer suggestions. Some excellent advice and I will be incorporating into a rebuild over the next few weeks.

Regarding the charging, this is a really interesting area which has cost me a lot of thought! I reckon my villa is worth more, I have all the usual costs to meet, however (and it is a big however) I am watching the market and the average weekly price in the Disney area is falling as more and more villas become available- it really is a rentors market! There is, obviously, a line beneath which I do not want to go (and I am very close to it!), but still want to cover my costs/ wear & tear). Interested to hear from other owners in 'tight' markets.

Again, many thanks to everyone who gave of their time and expertise. It's a great forum and I hope I can 'pay back' soon.

Pete
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