Free ad sites

[Alan Knighting]

Ann,

This just goes to illustrate the difference between printed brochures and Websites. I am not advocating one above the other but printed brochures are "set in stone", Websites can be changed "on the fly".

The entry I was talking about is simply with the local tourist and information office. It is not with a separate commercial guide. Have you talked to your local tourist and information office about what they have to offer? I don't think it's something to get excited about. I am also on the Lot-et-Garonne Website and have only had one enquiry between the two of them.

I remain amazed that you are having problems with bookings. I know you are addressing a narrow market but it is surely a market that exists and you have such an attractive product. Why you don't have a full diary is quite beyond me!

Alan

[willemijn]

Hi Jim,

you are totally right, it is no longer free now. Sorry about that.

[paolo]

Thanks for sharing that list, Jim.

You could add to it vacationrentals.com - one of the big US sites which offers a free trial.

[jimadept]

Have done, thanks Paolo. Keep the suggestions coming, everyone!

Jim

[Tom's the name]

Hi Willemijn,

I can't see anywhere that says it offers free advertising or a free trial period. Please correct me if I'm wrong! (and post the URL for the free ad/trial please).

kind regards / groetjes, Jim

I noticed this too. I signed up to click4holidayhomes.com on a three month trial basis and had some success so recommended the site to a friend who couldn't figure how to sign up free.

I contacted them and apparently they temporarily suspended the offer as they were getting an influx of spam or poor quality properties. They say they have updated their approval process so the offer should be available in the next few days.

In the interim they have said if I refer anyone they will happily honour the free trial if they e-mail in advance, so please feel free to mention my name

On the topic of free trial sites. I would pay to use a site if I was confident it worked. I am on three sites two offered a 3 month trial, the other I had to pay up-front. I would have probably paid for all three up front as I researched them in advance but being given the opportunity to "try before I buy" certainly made the decision an easier one. And much easier to justify to the wife!

[jimadept]

Have had to take a bunch of sites off the list as they have apparently withdrawn the free trial period, but have added three new sites this morning. See the link below.

Again if anyone has any suggestions for sites offering free, no-commission advertising or free trial periods of at least 1 month, that are not already on the list, please pass them on or post them here.

cheers, Jim

[Alan Knighting]

Jim,

Is the following on your list? I think they offer free advertising.

European-Holidays-Online.co.uk.

Alan

[jimadept]

Thanks Alan. It looks like they charge the renter £20 and the owner £15 per booking. Does anyone know if this is correct, as it's not very clear exactly who pays what on the site? If there's a fee payable by the owner per booking, it doesn't fit the criteria of free advertising as I've set them at the moment. I'm thinking of adding 'commission only' sites, which this would come under in this case.

Quote:
We charge the customer a £20.00 administration fee.
We would also look at adding a £15.00 increase on your charges.

cheers, Jim

[jimadept]

Rachel wrote (in another thread):

Quote:
The problem with these sites is that they may be free, but do they get good rankings? I remember Self-catering-breaks being high on the rankings last year, but this year they're not featuring as well - perhaps worth an email to find out why

How have you determined your advertising? Are paid sites value for money?
/Quote

We've addressed this issue quite a bit already in this thread and in other ones in this subforum. The general consensus seems to be a high Google ranking for relevant keywords combined with reasonable advertising fees. It's also worth investing some time to make a shortlist of candidate sites and watch what they do over the course of a few weeks or months. Do they update their site regularly, is it ranking consistently high on the search engines.

Another thing worth considering is using free listing sites to get a picture of where your enquiries are coming from, before investing in paid listings. Most of the tourists we get in our village, apart from lots of Spaniards, are British, French and Dutch, so I focused on those countries when advertising. Two months later I haven't had a single enquiry from my Dutch ads. So I started thinking about it and realised that a lot of Dutch come with caravans, campers or tents - the Dutch stereotype of caravan-pullers! I guess almost all of them must travel like this, with hardly any renting property.

Some thoughts to be getting on with, let's have some more from input folks.

Jim

[jimadept]

Five more sites added this week, click here to see the list

If anyone knows of any other free listing sites (including paid sites offering free trial periods of one month or more) please post them here or email/PM them to me.

cheers, Jim

[paolo]

My experience is that the genuinely free listing sites "We'll be free for ever" don't generate a single enquiry. The short-term free trials on decent sites do give some enquiries. I have found the 3-month trial on holidaylets.net to be the best performing for me, with enquiries and bookings from the UK.

We like to think that free is good. But it's seldom true. You have to ask yourself - where does a free site get the resources to compete against the paid sites?

[jimadept]

You're absolutely right Paolo that paid sites are far more effective, but the fact remains that none of us have bottomless pockets. Once you've spent your paid-site budget, it only costs you the odd spare ten minutes here and there to put your property on as many free / free trial sites as you fancy. It can't hurt. And I for one already have a 2-week, 1100 euro booking in this year through Spanish-web, a 'free for ever' site. OK it's in the high season and it would have gone anyway, but I'm glad it's gone sooner through Spanish-web rather than later. If I'd stuck to my paid sites only I might have had to pay extra at some point for a last-minute listing in order to shift it, who knows?

cheers, Jim

[roxytoo]

thanks for those links Jim and I agree, it's like entering comps really 'you got to be in it to win it' so a free advert is better than not having one at all once you have used up your budget (which I have!)

[charles]

Jim,

Here's another free one: rdfo.com (for US properties only)

(no, I'm not involved with them)

Cheers
Charles

[jimadept]

Thanks Charles, I've added it.

Jim