Free to List sites - worth the effort!

[DivineMrsM]

I had a mad burst of energy earlier this year and listed us on loads of free to list sites. Most were free for the first month or so, after which I didn't renew. However, some are free for good and offer lots of space for photos etc.

The one that really came good was www.perfectplaces.com. They currently offer a four month free period. We had our first ever real French people (!) guests book this way - they're staying next summer. Well worth the hour or two spent fiddling around with pics etc. I haven't bothered to check to see if paying for a listing after the free trial would be worthwhile financially and to be honest we haven't had a single enquiry via them since so I may not bother.

However, it has bumped up our Google rating significantly and it's better than a poke in the eye though, eh?!

[Vitraux]

Hi there.

Thanks for the advice on free sites, I have just put my B & B on the perfect places site.

To be honest we have been open since the end of August and are not having much luck, only had about 6 bookings and money is getting very short - getting very depressed at the mo, so anything that gets me thinking positively is worth a try.

do you have any more freebie sites up your sleeve. It gives me something to do and I live in hope.

Thanks again

Ann

[DivineMrsM]

I found most of them after coming across another rental property in our area - www.chauffour.com. This site kept popping up when I was testing out key search phrases. So I checked out all the links on their pages and also Googled the word "chauffour" to see what came up.

Very enlightening!

[paolo]

If you want to see which sites are linking to a successful competitor (or to yourself), use Google or alltheweb.com and type in

link:[domain]

and replace [domain] with the site's address, e.g. link:www.vacationcasa.com

The results you see from this search are the inbound links to that site, or at least some of them. I don't know of a search engine that shows them all. It used to be that alltheweb showed the most, but I'm not sure that is still the case. Anyway, they give you an idea.

Links are very important and by looking at a competitor's site you can pick up some ideas for link exchanges with sites you haven't thought of.

Edit:
To add to this, the way to see all links to a site is to type this into Google:
www.domain.com -site:www.domain.com
substituting the site's address for domain.com. This asks for all mentions of that address on the internet, and the '-site:' bit means exclude any mentions that are on the site itself.

[John Borg]

Vitraux,
give www.self-catering-breaks.com a try.
It's also free and you get some queries every now and then. It also has a calander.
I wouldn't panic about your bookings just yet. True, the early-birds have already booked for next summer (I have 15 weeks booked so far), but not everyone's an early-bird.
I find Feb/March as the busiest "query time", then you always have the last minute deciders who don't always know when they can get away for a holiday. The world is full of different people, so don't give up hope!

[paolo]

That site, self-catering-breaks.com, does occasionally appear on page one of Google for searches I make when I am testing which sites appear in the top ten. That's for Provence in France - I can't speak for anywhere else. It states it always will be free, too.

[helene]

I have not been on the sites for very long yet so cannot make any comments about the response rates but I found the following:
frenchaccommocation.co.uk (free untill sept 05)
holidaylets.net (first 3 months free)

I have also read elsewhere that sometimes free websites make their money by selling your contact details so am not convinced that they are as attractive as they are meant to be - but hey what else have I got to do with my time
regards
helene

[Ross Hugo]

Just wanted to assure Helene and everybody else that holidaylets.net do not sell, or pass on, Owner details to any third party.

I can't speak for other directory sites but we believe in building good relations with the Owners who use our site and passing on info would not be in the interest of either party.

Kind regards,

Ross Hugo

MD HolidayLets.Net
www.holidaylets.net

[A-two]

The one that really came good was www.perfectplaces.com. They currently offer a four month free period.

Thanks for tip! I listed our house with Perfect Places using their free trial only a couple of days ago, and received my first inquiry today through the site. What's floored me is that it's from a family who rented from us in 2003 wanting to re-rent this year.

I have no idea how or why they contacted me this way, rather than directly, but I'll try and find out. I cannot conceive this very new listing would appear at the top of a search result so soon, if at all, but if this is an example of what they can achieve, I'll definitely be renewing with them.


Joanna
www.propertyangels.com

[betty]

thanks for this, i will try perfectplaces also. we registered with http://www.holidayhavens.co.uk just before christmas who also offer a free trial and we have also received enquiries and booking via the page we created . I did look at perfect place but i thought it covered a very large area and might not be very specialised, initially i thought they were only based in america only (being a .com) and thought it might only attract american bookings.

I think this is a really useful discussion and would welcome any more ideas on websites to register with. especially if they have a free trial !

betty

ps. for the record (Paulo and others) i have no direct association with http://www.holidayhavens.co.uk only that we advertise our property with them and have been very satisfied with the service and bookings we have received, we chose them after reading an article in 'The Times' newspaper suggesting where to advertise overseas property. I do not see why this should resort to censoring my message..

[helene]

Just wanted to assure Helene and everybody else that holidaylets.net do not sell, or pass on, Owner details to any third party.

I can't speak for other directory sites but we believe in building good relations with the Owners who use our site and passing on info would not be in the interest of either party.

Kind regards,

Ross Hugo

MD HolidayLets.Net
www.holidaylets.net

Thanks Ross for the re-assurance
regards
Helene
PS I am very pleased with our listing on your site as it has already receievd a number of enquiries and at least 1 firm booking

[paolo]

I think this is a really useful discussion and would welcome any more ideas on websites to register with. especially if they have a free trial !

Anyone know any other free trial sites?

I know that vacationrentals.com, a big US-based site, has a 60-day trial, and at this time of year that is certainly worth taking up. If you are based in Europe it will be harder to get Americans over this year because of the dollar's weakness, but not at all impossible - most of my bookings for my French properties are still from the US.

There are a few others mentioned in this thread.

[Hanorah]

Re self-catering breaks. I have recieved 2 enquires in the last couple of days from this site so for a free site that is not bad. I have had a steady trickle of enquiries over the last year, including from France and Switzerland.

Most were after peak season weeks last year that were already taken so I couldn't help but asked them to bear me in mind for the future.

Re my present enquirers one decided not to go ahead as felt the transfer (2 hours) after a 4 hour flight would not go down well with their 3 year old.

The 2nd enquirer looks promising so I will keep my fingers crossed. If you are not listed on this site as it is free it might be worth giving them a go.

[charles]

Anyone know any other free trial sites?

Yes I do, but your rules don't allow me to mention it, 'cause I own it!

Cheers,
Charles

[paolo]

Hanorah,

I have had a couple of good enquiries from holidaylets.net on their free 3-month trial - I think that is definitely worth trying. Their user interface for uploading info and pics is very pleasing too.