NEWBIE LOOKING FOR HELP

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Johnson-Cottage
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Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 5:54 pm
Location: Carperby, Wensleydale
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NEWBIE LOOKING FOR HELP

Post by Johnson-Cottage »

Dont want to go with the big advertisers, looking for help in promoting cottage rental in Yorkshire Dales. Have done a website using Promotemyplace .

Looking for any tips to get up the Google rankings.

Thanks
Silver Fox
Silver Fox
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Post by Guest »

:?:
Last edited by Guest on Thu Jul 16, 2015 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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kevsboredagain
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Post by kevsboredagain »

It takes time and effort. At the moment a search for your property brings up a few estate agents so I assume you recently bought it.

It's well worth having a presence Google maps, Google+ and Facebook and maybe Twitter (although I have no motivation for that one myself)

On your local area page, I only see 3 pictures and no text. 2 of those pictures are blurry. Having some content will help you be found by the search engines.

On a technical side, your site seems to completely lack Meta tags and you have used whole paragraphs for the Alt tag on some of the images. I have a feeling this was not intended.

and welcome to LMH
tavi
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Post by tavi »

Hi and welcome...

I think you need to join one of the listing sites. At least initially.

- unless you can get bookings the old-fashioned way (local cycling/walking clubs/advertising/flyers/tourist offices) :)

Other stuff you can try:

If you haven't already got one, set up a FB and Twitter page and be prepared to spend some time learning how it works. These can drive traffic (and hopefully bookings) to your website.

Join the FB book direct page/dog-friendly pages that some of the others on here have set up, find ramblers' clubs on there too.

Having said all that, I list on OD, Mediahols and also have a PMP website (and a FB and Twitter page) but it's the listing sites that get me the enquiries.
rosebud
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Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:24 pm
Location: Steyning, West Sussex

Post by rosebud »

I also am with the big sites - Owners Direct bring me more bookings than any other site - around 25-30% but am with several smaller sites too

I have improved the position of my web site by posting daily on Google Plus - a did a course with Bookings+4G It was excellent & really helped me understand how to use Google Plua

I spend around half an hour a day writing a post & engaging with others. My posts also go automatically to Facebook and Twitter.

I am always on page one of listings for Steyning - my location - but a place not many people know and page 3 (occasionally page 2) for Brighton (15 miles away)
Johnson-Cottage
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Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2015 5:54 pm
Location: Carperby, Wensleydale
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Newbie Looking fOR HELP

Post by Johnson-Cottage »

Thanks for the responses so far. I know that i have quite lot of work to do in promoting the site. I am aware i need to 'fill out ' the locals attractions page and add more content.

I need to do more research into the 'meta tags' and such.

Part of the learning curve i suppose. Thanks again

Silver Fox
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French Cricket
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Post by French Cricket »

Lots of people here have a good deal of success listing on various sites dedicated to dog-friendly rentals - I'm thinking of Greenbarn and Nemo who might well be along shortly!

If I could make a suggestion about the images on your website ... make 'em bigger! Big photos will really make a splash and help sell your place - very small ones like yours, even if they can be enlarged by clicking, seem a bit old fashioned and mean these days. I really like the bottom two images on your home page, but to be honest I think the rest could do with a bit of work to put more atmosphere and invitation in ...

Yes, having lots of local content will really help you bring site visitors. I have lots and lots of pages about walking, wildlife, festivals, restaurants etc and it's those that are far and away the most successful in getting hits. The vast majority will find what they want and move on; some will bookmark you for a future trip; sometimes people will contact you just to ask a question about the area or (in my case) about walking or birding; and the odd one will get hooked straight away and perhaps make a booking. It's not an approach that many take, and it does take a lot of work to set up and keep up to date, but if you can pull it off it's a great way of avoiding the big sites.

Good luck!
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greenbarn
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Location: The Westmorland Dales, Cumbria

Post by greenbarn »

French Cricket wrote:Lots of people here have a good deal of success listing on various sites dedicated to dog-friendly rentals - I'm thinking of Greenbarn and Nemo who might well be along shortly!
Okay, I'll now be in trouble with Mme Cricket if I don't chime in, so here goes!

Haven't had a chance to look much at your website so nothing to add, but I see you're dog friendly and it's a big market - and my guess is that our market would be similar in profile to yours. (Oh, and Carperby is a nice location too!)

A couple of listing sites for you. I get a lot of hits to our website from DogPeople which is a cheap, no-frills listing site that lets you provide a bit of info, contact details and - most important - a link to your own website. The annual outlay makes it a no-brainer for you to try.

Next recommendation is Dog Friendly Britain who again provide a reasonable level of traffic to our website and are good value.

Nemo can tell you more about the Dog Friendly Accommodation Facebook page - I've just had a booking from there and all it's cost is some time. I was initially put off by reports of the number of looneys posting there, but I eventually signed up and had a lurk and it's well managed and under control. (kudos Nemo!)

Good luck with the venture; the best advice I can suggest is a few days dedicated to reading through stuff on this forum.
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

[quoteIf I could make a suggestion about the images on your website ... make 'em bigger! Big photos will really make a splash and help sell your place - very small ones like yours, even if they can be enlarged by clicking, seem a bit old fashioned and mean these days. [/quote]

I think I'm right in saying that he can't do this FC....it is automatically set by PMP. It is the same on my site.
(PMP is a set format website builder)

Mouse
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French Cricket
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Post by French Cricket »

Ahh ... :idea: What a shame!
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Sue Dyer
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Post by Sue Dyer »

www.facebook.com/groups/dogfriendlyholidays/
www.facebook.com/groups/bookholidaysdirect/

I've had a few bookings through the Facebook pages, worth a try. I don't post everyday, maybe a couple of times a week so I don't saturate the group. I try to find different angles to post on too instead of just a link to my website. For example I took a photo of the stalls at Seahouses which sell boat trips to the Farne Islands and mentioned you could take dogs along too. It had a lot of interest and responses.

Re loonies on the FB page, there are a bunch of admins now (including myself) who watch out for posters moaning about dog charges, discriminating against breeds etc.
waterwitch
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Post by waterwitch »

Sue that's a great tip and many thanks for approving me for the Facebook page!
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GRL
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Post by GRL »

Thanks fora plug to The Book Your Holidays Direct page I am admin on, Sue - come and join us, Silver Fox. We are new but growing all the time and getting bookings for owners.
JaneS
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Post by JaneS »

Welcome

Have a look at http://www.pawsforawalk.co.uk.

I agree you need to be on a big listing site too. Which one? Use google to see which listing sites are on page 1 of your search result.

Good luck and best wishes

JaneS
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charles cawley
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Post by charles cawley »

You have to pay to market. Google gives nothing for free to little people. Do not pay any SEO expert unless you know them personally or have some kind of lever on them. 90% of them are rogues.

Doing SEO, unless you are right on the money, is futile except to avoid pedestrian pitfalls. In that respect, it is a good idea.

Listing sites are a good start if you have the time and wish to manage the booking process, otherwise it's one of us booking agents.

As you get known and grow your web site will become more significant. It is well worth having one.
No web-site for now.
Advice about holiday letting
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