Its been prob discussed before but im looking for help!

[barrieeld]

bought 2 spanish properties last year and am looking to only cover costs via rentals.

I have launched my own site based on creating a level of quality housing for travellers and golfers but untill i have gained momentum through SEO (google optimising) ill have to consider other sites and forms of advertising

What sites do you guys reccommend and whats the general response/booking return?

Im willing to spend money but only on sites that im likley to get a decient return.

i created e-casa.co.uk under the brand luxuryspanishliving(www.luxuryspanishliving.com) so am hoping to get there eventually but for just now i need results....im prepared to do the hard work and i am confident travellers will love the properties i have specially chosen i just need help from experiences landlarods.

Hope to speak soon, great website btw lifesaver!

[A-two]

Hello and welcome,
Yes, it's definitely been discussed before... good idea to start by reading all the stickies at the top of the categories in which you have an interest. Here's the one about rental listing sites.

viewtopic.php?t=257

Good Luck!

[Topcat]

Hi Barrield,
I know your site isn't finished, but you do need to sort out the spelling mistakes before you launch. Especially as you appear to be going for a very commercial, up-market approach.

Just a few examples:

Oversees should be overseas
beutiful should be beautiful
Alacante should be Alicante

I didn't look too hard, since that wasn't what you were asking, but it would be a good idea to get a good proof reader on it. It's really easy to miss a typo.

Good luck with it, anyway,

Pauline

[A-two]

I have launched my own site based on creating a level of quality housing for travellers and golfers but untill i have gained momentum through SEO (google optimising) ill have to consider other sites and forms of advertising......
i created e-casa.co.uk under the brand luxuryspanishliving(www.luxuryspanishliving.com) so am hoping to get there eventually but for just now i need results....i

I've now taken a look at your site as well and spelling mistakes aside, I don't see how this site is ever going to work for you, however long you wait for "google optimizing".

With my holidaymaker's hat on, I need you to show me what you're offering and I couldn't find the information I need, including number of beds, baths, apt or house, how close to beach/ pool/ restaurants, all the amenities being offered and lots of photos of key areas inside and outside.

As it is, I was very confused as to what I was looking at, it has the feel of being a corporate investment site, as if you're asking me to invest in your venture capital business, otherwise why are you telling me about your VC business? Maybe you want me to buy properties thru you? Are you a real estate agent, time share seller? Then I thought maybe you were soliciting listings, trying to build a listing site? By this point, I think the casual browser would have given up.

It says there's an online availability calendar for each property, but I can't even find the properties, let alone the calendar to go with them. Maybe that's the part you're still working on.

If so and to answer your question, any listing site will do right now, because the site you have doesn't have enough information to entice anyone to contact you for more information.

Love the orange though, very stylish! Just needs different focus and content, essentially putting all the emphasis on the property itself and area activities, with "about us" discreetly off to the side. Yes, you are important, but you're not the most important factor, the property itself is and if it doesn't have the right number of bedrooms, I'm not going to book it, regardless of how wonderfully luxurious you may have made it.

This is kind of a website review in the wrong thread, but I think you might enjoy reading the stickies in that section as well.

Hope this helps.

[paolo]

This doesn't look like a website for an owner's property, it looks like some sort of listing site in the making, so it isn't appropriate to promote it here.

[barrieeld]

Thank you for your comments, my site IS a rental site i have invested alot of money into intially 2 properties in spain and i want to keep adding to this portfolio to offer modern day travellers a wide range of properties. The idea was to buy one a year (maybe not spain)to rent out, but still offer surrounding services like airport travel etc.

The properties are there if you click on the map it takes you to each property page where it tells you all the required info.

I throught it was a good idea to mention my company as it would solidify potential clients that this wasnt some backstreet outfit trying to get folks money...but your opinions are needed on this.

The site is far from finished i have a bit of work to do on it hence why im looking to get these two properties online with another factor to start generating income.

I have taken you feedback on board (especially the spelling mistakes!) but i will put the site up for analysis soon when its complete.

[Alan Knighting]

I throught it was a good idea to mention my company as it would solidify potential clients that this wasnt some backstreet outfit trying to get folks money...but your opinions are needed on this.

I think this is a tricky question to answer.

Many people prefer the idea that they are dealing with an owner on a personal basis and are very suspicious of what might look like a “fly-by-night� company.

Others imagine that dealing with a company gives them some sort of guarantee or come-back if things are not as they expected them to be.

As an ex-holiday maker and as a current holiday property owner I prefer the personal approach but it’s not for everybody.

Fluffy

[barrieeld]

I understand what your saying...

It's hard to try and get that balance, i mean its myself and my father in the business but its a family venture that were effectivley trying to run as a business so to speak hence a slightly more professional approach.

what do you reccommend i do to get the "happy medium"?

thanks again.

Oh P.S if anyone has good suggestions as to which sites i should use for getting rentals it would be most appreciated.

thanks
Barrie

[Alan Knighting]

Barrie,

what do you reccommend i do to get the "happy medium"?

I simply wouldn't know other than to say I see nothing wrong with having a professional edge to a personal approach.

I’m not based in Spain so I don’t know about individual Rental Sites. Overall I think it takes a year or two to find out which one’s work for you.

Fluffy

[Topcat]

I've just had another look, and found the properties. I'm assuming that for one of them you don't have the pictures yet, as the pictures for the other are nice. Captions would be useful.

However it took me a while to find them (it's actually simple once you've grasped it, but it isn't immediately obvious), and enlarging them is a bit idiosyncratic, since it takes 2 actions.

It's quite an attractive site, nice colours, the text looks quite good in the little boxes and the photos are good when you find them. I don't think I'd have one of the little lockers!

But your immediate problem is that it's still difficult to identify what you're about.

I suggest you sit down an ask yourself - who is our target market? When you're clear on that, get rid of extraneous stuff. The initial impression is that you're into sales, but then there aren't any properties to buy, so that can't be right. If you want to be both a rentier and a selling agent, then have two sections clearly demarcated.

To answer your intial question, people seem to find Owners Direct and Holiday Rentals good for Spain, but if you look at all the headings in the forum you'll get more information and you'll also realise that it's pretty hit and miss. Oh, yes, if you use one of them they'll have a template for your site, so you won't need this one immediately. Actually using one of their templates first might discipline you into identifying your priorities for your own site. You have the basis of a very nice site, but the information needs to be more clearly organised.

Pauline

[vrooje]

Oh P.S if anyone has good suggestions as to which sites i should use for getting rentals it would be most appreciated.

Sorry, I'm confused... isn't this the question that Joanna already answered, or do you mean something different?

[A-two]

I have taken you feedback on board (especially the spelling mistakes!) but i will put the site up for analysis soon when its complete.

Barrie,
If you are genuinely trying to promote these two properties that you own and don't have another hidden agenda, then I would stop work on the website now and ask for a review.

I'm all for innovation, but you have some major navigation problems going on that are not going to be fixed by a quick tweek. Your site needs a complete redesign to be effective, and Pauline's advice above is excellent.

Also, if you take the time to click on 10 or more signature files here, you'll start to see a pattern in the way folks are presenting their properties, each with their own unique style, but certain common features. Why is that do you think? Did everyone consult each other before producing their website and decide to do a similar thing? Do you think nobody else is offering a high end property or running it in a professional and business like way? Or could it be that other folks here present themselves in a way that they know from experience works best?

If you're brave enough to throw your website away and start again, well, know that you'll be in good company. You're not the first here that had to do that... and yes, it hurts, but see what they say over in website review, I'm only one opinion..

[Big Sis..]

Hi All,

Just a little tech query
I got the email message that this subject was being discussed but when I clicked on it I got the
This Topic Doesnt Exist message
But of course it does and its here...had this happen a couple of times
but it sometimes happens when it hasnt......

[Topcat]

I got that message as well. Has somebody said something naughty and Paolo has removed it?

Pauline

[Big Sis..]

Has somebody said something naughty and Paolo has removed it?

Aw shucks Pauliner,.....I miss all the fun.... x
mind you if your ever up at 5am youll be surprised whats been posted....But the titles usually frighten the life out of me so I darent look any further anyway[honest]

Maybe thats it ,I thought it would take you into the topic though even if a post has been deleted...but it usually says the topic doesnt exist.....
At least I know its not just me....