3rd party website

[Paul Carmel]

Hi,

Would someone here be prepared to have a look at a site I am thinking about advertising with? They are specialist to my area.

The reason I ask is because they want a hell of lot of money to advertise with them and whilst I am interested I want to know if the site is up to scratch.

I don't really want to do this on a open fourm as thay may well be looking in too!

PM me if you are up for it.

Thank you in advance.

[A-two]

Hi,

I don't really want to do this on a open fourm as thay may well be looking in too!

Why do you care if they are looking in?

Just curious.

Joanna
ww.propertyangels.com

[Paul Carmel]

Because the site is very expensive and if someone can find fault I will use that to bargain a better price.

[livinginitaly]

Wouldn't it be of more use to provide them with the opportunity to rectify any 'perceived' problems, they could then provide a better service and justify the price?

Besides, stating the sites name here may provide other people here with an alternative advertising stream too.

[Paul Carmel]

Ok, I give in........http://www.directcorsica.com/index.html

Go for it.....Cheers

Paul

[HolidayWebs]

First of all, shouldn't this post really be under 'Rental Listing Sites'? Having had a quick look at it, the site does seem rather amateur. You say they are very expensive - how much are they charging? as they don't advertise their rates which is suspicious.

Also there are no real contact details. Are they UK based? Any bona fide company offering 'distance selling' should publish company details, postal address etc. as well as Terms & Conditions - see holiday-rentals.com etc.

Re the site, as mentioned in other posts the best listing sites are those that do well in the search engines. The home page only has a ranking of 2 & several of the other pages have no ranking at all. To see which sites do well, enter a search such as "rent villa in corsica" or whatever you would use to find a rental in Corsica, into Google, MSN, yahoo & your favourite Search Engine & see which appear on the first page. These are the sites worth advertising with.

Hope that helps..

[Paul Carmel]

For the price go to search then you will find a purple box to your left in french click on that and then you will find the costs,

PC

[livinginitaly]

Yes, have to agree with holidaywebs on this one ... pretty amateur. Seems the parent company is UK based http://www.certainaspects.co.uk.

The domain has only been registered since August this year, so obviously it's very new and still developing, therefore i believe it would be a little harsh to be 'hypercritical' of the site design.

Pricewise though ...... i'd be 'shocked' if you said they were attempting to charge over Euro 30 for 12 months. Obviously, it's in their interest to get as many properties onboard as quickly as possible. Premium pricing for a site with no outside links (according to google) just wont 'cut the mustard'.

Even at Euro 30, i wouldn't hold my breath while the 'bookings' roll in .... the site's not in the first 5 pages of google even when you search for 'Direct Corsica' and only 886 visits since August isn't too impressive.

If the site owners are around .... please accept this as a 'site review' together with 'constructive criticism'

[livinginitaly]

oops missed this part .......

For the price go to search then you will find a purple box to your left in french click on that and then you will find the costs

1.Une demi-page avec une photographie et descriptif 150 euros+tva
2.Une page avec 2 photographies et descriptif 260 euros+tva
3.Une page avec 2 photos et descriptif, plus une deuxieme
page des photographies (jusqu’a 6) 450 euros+tva

..... Sacre Bleu!

[HolidayWebs]

Quite agree. Those prices are crazy! The majority of new sites - ours included 3 years ago - offer free trials to get the site going & to get the ads. The more you have, the more you get. Then you start charging & hope for renewals, which we got & we only charge £135 + VAT.

[paolo]

Paul,

The first way to judge this site, or any other, is - does it get found in the search engines? If you type in all the phrases that might be used to find a house like yours (e.g. 'villas in Corsica') in Google, have a look if this site comes in the first ten results (or 20 if you are feeling generous). If it doesn't come up for any searches that gives you serious negotiating leverage! The price of 450 euros can only be justified by very good rankings in the major search engines.

From a user's perspective, the site does look a little home-spun, although that is not necessarily a bad thing for a small, local site.

Not making the address and rates crystal clear would scare me off from any listing site.

[alexia s.]

Paul,
Once bitten.......I paid (not much, but still £50) to be on a new site about one year ago. I had no enquiries. It no longer exists.
I won't pay for a site with an unproven track record again.
Alexia.
http://perfectplaces.com/VictorianVilla.htm
http://perfectplaces.com/BeautifulOliveMill.htm.