Should I be panicking yet?

[Linda]

Hello All

I have hardly any bookings for this year yet and am wondering if:

a. I have advertised on the wrong sites
b. the cottage is just not appealing to people - so why?

We finished the cottage last July and had it fully booked for August (last minute on ebay) and it has been booked from mid October 2005 through to the end of March this year (winter lets).

This will be our first full year for holiday letting and I had thought that maybe I would have had more bookings by now. Perhaps I am being too optimistic! The rental from this cottage is to get the second cottage we have renovated and we were hoping to be able to start at Easter!

I am on Holidaylets & Holiday-Rentals - paid for, plus a couple of free trials - click4holidayhomes.com being one of them. I also have my own web. http://www.champgiraud.com

I have had positive feedback from customers last year and the current tenants.

Any thoughts would be appreciated?

Thanks
Linda

[Alan Knighting]

Linda,

I have some very nice bookings from my regulars but not much in the way of new people. Enquiries are now coming in a steady stream but not in huge numbers.

For me, this is typical for the time of year. January, February, March and April have always been my period of enquiries and bookings. I think the location, the type of property and the profile of the people who visit have an awful lot to do with the progress of enquiries and bookings.

If I had an early rush I would almost think I was doing something wrong, such as underpricing.

Now is not the time to worry. May and June is when I make the judgment.

Alan

[gh]

Hi Linda,
What's the competition's availability? I always have a look to see, who's on our listing site's with a comparabile property and peak at there availability to guage how we are compared to them. If similar then all is well, if not....... what if any are the difference's between you and them, from a renters view point.

Regards

[Giddy Goat]

Just a first reaction Linda, on checking your website and those you are listed on - it's a lovely cottage, and the photos are not doing it sufficient justice; almost without exception, on your site and on the others, they are fuzzy. I would be put off if I were looking at others in the area at the same time. Can you do anything to sharpen them? Wrong time of year for exterior shots to be re-taken, but certainly the interior ones could be re-done if need be.

[alexia s.]

Linda,
I certainly wouldn'y have as my first, attention-getting sentence:
"The cottage is attached to a barn (which belongs to us but is not in use) in an acre of land."
Why not transpose this from your first page:
"This lovely (18th century?) stone cottage and its 1-acre garden are surrounded by undulating countryside with  fields of maize, wild flowers & sunflowers."
I'd only put 1 photo each of the bedrooms (the better one!).
The sunflower photo could be added to the main page: tourists are crazy about sunflowers.

You should show the barn (& mention that it is there): is it too horrible to be seen? The photos (house cut-off at the left)make me think that you are hiding something that would put me off if I saw it!

Jane is right about the photos. It's a pretty cottage which is being poorly presented. Good luck!

[la vache!]

Hi Linda,
Its your homepage which needs to catch the eye and I think you need a few more (good!) photos on it. It is a nice looking place, but not shown to best advantage at the moment. I don't think that most people would get as far as the photo gallery based on the look of the homepage at the moment. It really is photos that sell places!
I'm sure you will get bookings though - it is early days yet!

[Linda]

Many thanks to all for the comments, which have been taken on board.

Yes, photos have always been an issue, but I won't bore you with the circumstances of how they came about! It is hopefully in hand now and we should be getting new ones soon.

I guess it's down to a matter of taste as to what each individual likes about websites. Personally I don't like too much on a page and like it kept clean and simple, but I guess we are all different.

Keep up the good work everyone

Linda

[Giddy Goat]

Linda, the home page is a bit like a shop window. It can still be kept clean and simple, but there has to be enough on it to whet the shopper's appetite and tempt him or her to venture inside. We're not talking major changes here, just sharper pictures, and more of them on that all important first page.

[robzter]

Hi Linda and Hello Everyone !! we bought our Townhouse last april and didnt advertise it till may and we were full all summer... why? well who knows the secret??? i made it look the best i could,furnished it well.and priced it well i think or maybe it was luck?? i also respond to e-mail however mundane asap.

[Giddy Goat]

Hi Robzter - what a great start to letting last year, and it sounds as if you did all the right things. Spain is hugely competitive too! How's it going this year so far?

Tried to get onto Holiday Lettings to have a peek at your property but there's a problem with it at the moment - will try again later.

[Ju]

Linda

I can only get the home page on your site, I can't even see any contact details. It is asking for additional plug-ins. If I were a potential customer I would go elsewhere.

I am running firefox, this can make a difference.

Ju

[gh]

Hi Robzter,

Got in no problem, love the views you have from your Townhouse, stunning.

[CostaBlanca]

Hi,

I think bookings here on Costa Blanca is well down going by previous years experience. Sure, there are many reasons why it should be so but the most obvious one is the ever increasing number of properties for rent. Doing a Google search on "villa rental Costa Blanca" yields 2,6million results!!

No need to panic yet
Maria

[alexia s.]

2,6million competitors & you're not panicking? I offer my admiration & congratulations. You are a woman of steel. Or a man. Or both. Whatever.

[paolo]

That's 2.6 million sites that offer any one of those words.

Put the phrase "villa rental costa blanca" in double quotes to search only for the exact phrase and there are 929 pages.

Search for pages that include the phrase in their Title tag - i.e. the page is deliberately optimised for that phrase - and you are down to 131. Still quite a lot, but manageable!