Help - what do we do next????

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Margaret
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Post by Margaret »

It's easy enough to set up your old address to direct to your new one. But my theory is that a proportion of the people visiting your existing site are not actually looking for an Italian holiday property so as long as the redirection is there it should be OK for people who want to find you.
I'd still say that majoring on the hideaway aspect may not be your best option - look at umbrianhideaway dot com, which comes very high up if you put italy hide away into Google. Their sub title is very similar to yours and comes under my category of 'they would say that wouldn't they'!
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

I've been trying italianholidayhideaway and italyholidayhideaway with various suffixes and they all seem available too!

In the spirit of Margaret's comment about '"hideaway", I also found that both "italyfarmhouseholiday" and "italianfarmhouseholiday" were also available with all suffixes.

They may not have quite the same pzazz, Sarah and Mark, but they will be more likely to come up on a search for the typical keywords, which is what you want to achieve, and sometimes the pragmatic approach wins over the aesthetic one.

The other important point, which has been mentioned on LMH before, is that a domain name needs to be easy to remember.
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saramar
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Post by saramar »

Yes Giddy Goat - just seen that italyholidayhideaway dot com is free - do you think this is too long - it should be good for being found on the search engines!

Will I have to start submitting the new domain name (whatever it may be) to the search engines again or does anyone know how it works linking the old one wioth the new??
Margaret
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Post by Margaret »

I think it is much too long but I suppose the question is, do you think people put 'hideaway' into search engines when looking for a holidat rental. It just seems to be a rather over-used term if you look at the sites it comes up on. I'm not sure what it really means - it could be in a city centre courtyard I suppose.
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saramar
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Post by saramar »

Thanks for the advice. What about lemarcheholiday.eu ???
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

I understand what you're saying Margaret but then your domain name is just as long. I agree with your point about "hideaway" but there's a very successful holiday company who call themselves "Chic Retreats". "Retreat" is just as esoteric really.

Equally, our domain name is "Gascony Magic", and who on earth would use "magic" as a search term in a holiday context - unless they were having a Magicians' convention! But we're found via "Gascony" and also of course, the relevant search terms buried in the text on the home page and elsewhere.

I think one can get a bit too stitched up about domain names and often, the ones with a slightly more unusual name, provided they're short and snappy, are the easiest to remember. "ItalyHolidayHideaway" might just do it, since each word ends in a "y"...

Thoughts anyone else?
sarahandmark wrote: What about lemarcheholiday.eu ???
Someone (Margaret?) said that unless people knew the area and specifically wanted a holiday there, many would think it was in France. That's possible.
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saramar
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Post by saramar »

Does anyone know if the domain names make a difference with the search engines anyway!!! Just a thought.

Like italyholidayhideaway so far but will keep on searching.
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

There'll be people posting with a lot more know-how than I have, but yes is the short answer. If I had a boring domain name like "selfcateringsouthwestfrance" it would do me well I suspect. Maybe I should buy it and have the one pointing to the other!

Off to see if it's taken! :lol:
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Margaret
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Post by Margaret »

As far as use of the word hideaway is concerned, best to ignore my views I think - I have a pet hate of what I regard as hackneyed phrases and words with no easy meaning.

I think a recent discussion concluded that the words in urls don't have an influence on search engines (please someone correct me if I have remembered that wrongly) but I would say that, in terms of memorability, you need to look at what the total combination of words looks like - can people easily see the breaks? (I always hyphenate my urls but am unusual in that). Hideaway is a word where I always have to stop and think about the spelling when I am typing it. I do think that italyholidayhideaway (had to stop and think again!) is tricky. Maybe all the 'y's get around the problem but I would still go for something easier.
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Windy
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Post by Windy »

Lovely site

The only thing I would comment on (and this is very much a matter of personal taste) is that I'd put more space around your text - particularly above and below paragraphs to break the page up a bit.

I don't imagine that's affecting your bookings too much though :lol:

I'd also agree about people not necessarily knowing where le Marche is.

Best wishes

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Post by kirkland »

I`ve noticed google can spot individual words when they are all put together, if that`s what you mean
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DrRichard
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Post by DrRichard »

Lots of great suggestions here folks. This really is a helpful forum! I think you need to get some REAL DATA to look at so here are 2 suggestions:

1. Set yourself up with the Google Webmaster Tools and find out what searches people are using to arrive at your site

2. Use a web analytics tools (I use Google Analytics) to check which search terms and referrers bring people to your site

Now just check these against what you are offering on your site! Actually that's not quite as simple as it sounds. You've got to force yourself to think 'what does this person want when they type this search term' and 'what do they find within 2 seconds of arriving at my site'. You might need to go through this with a friend...

If your lists don't match very well then this means your visitors are not targeted to your site and this may be why they are not staying.

Dr. Richard
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saramar
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Thanks

Post by saramar »

Thanks everyone again - more good suggestions for us to get working on. Thanks Dr Richard - we are registered with Google but have never really understood it all - will have another look as am sure it will be useful information. I never knew you could actually look up which phrases people use to find your site!

At the moment we are working on a new section - 4 Seasons, so have a look to see what you think (following good advice on LMH!) We are aiming to attract guests outside the main summer season as there is so much see and do in every season and very often it's easier to walk/ cycle in the slightly cooler temperatures of the spring and autumn.

Thanks again and please any comments very welcome!
Margaret
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Post by Margaret »

We do a month by month guide to the area on our site, events etc with the weather which actually happened (we are now into our second year on this).
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cottageguru
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Post by cottageguru »

I love the idea of the four season guide and it looks great. Have you thought about including links to activities and events in the area? I find that our out-of-season guests seem to come more for short breaks and have less time to plan. We are working on providing some brief itineraries for day and half-day drives taking in the local attractions.
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