Vacation rentals SEO 101

So you want a top ranking in Google? Of course you do - it means more bookings.

You probably stumbled across this article in the hope of the magic formula and a quick swelling of your bank balance from endless Google traffic. Well wo DO have the formula but before reading on, bear in mind this is no quick fix. The joy of lots of Google traffic that comes day in, day out for years takes time and work. If you aren't committed, STOP READING NOW.

Still here? Then you're in with a shot... in 12 months you could be fully booked and your advertising budget could be slashed forever.

But one step at a time - lets start at the beginning.

Quick jumps:
Step 1: Exploding the myths
Step 2: Prepare your website
Step 3: Create innovative content
Step 4: Grab easy inbound links
Step 5: More links - write, write, write!
Step 6: Embrace social networking
Step 7: Repeat and enjoy

Step 1: Exploding the myths

We've been running rental portals for a long time and get thousands of visitors every day that we pay absolutely nothing to attract.

The main reasons for our success are a work ethic and knack for ignoring the rubbish that gets talked about SEO in pursuit of high rankings.

So before we start on what works, lets expose the duff advice you've read elsewhere (normally from loudmouths in bedrooms who still need a day job...)

Only fools follow PageRank

Google has a toolbar that includes a little green bar, with a score out of 10, measuring the popularity of a website. (It's actually just a measure of the number of links a website has attracted.) It is one part of a ranking algorithm that uses hundreds of other factors to determine their search results.

In other words: PageRank is virtually meaningless.

Google hates its own creation and has been warning webmasters not to pay it much attention for years. Their mighty Chrome browser doesn't have a PageRank indicator at all! Unfortunately lots of webmasters DO value it and drive all their search engine optimization at increasing this score.

If you come across these people (or start thinking that way yourself!) then you've missed the point. Any activity solely aimed at increasing PageRank is misguided and you'll be sorely disappointed. So put it out of your mind. Right now. Forever.

Forget keywords, think long tail

Targetting a handful of keywords is the small guy approach to SEO. The successful optimizer will instead try to theme their site around a topic and its related words and phrases.

They do this because the big traffic isn't in the most popular words - only 5% of the traffic to our sites comes from the most popular searches. The rest (95%!) comes from what are known as long tail searches.

For example, imagine you do vacation rentals in Orlando: "vacation rentals disney" may be a top search. But far more traffic will come from the odd things people type: "3br condo near disney" or "villa with pool near mickey", etc.

How do you target these endless word combinations? You forget search engine algorithms and think like a human being: write lots and lots of useful content! You'll hit these combinations naturally.

Linking out is GOOD

You can always spot an amateur webmaster: they are protective over giving links to other websites. That's because they don't really understand how the web works.

The web is an endless journey; a collection of related documents that flow one from another. Linking is why the web works and search engineers stay up nights thinking about the infinite relationships between linked web pages.

So when you are writing content for your website, remember to link to external resources. There's evidence it improves rankings and it makes you a far more useful resource for visitors.

Are there attractions near your rentals? Link to them! Is there a local tourist organisation? Link to them! Is somebody doing good car hire rates? Link to them!

Your local expertise is invaluable. Show it off.

Optimization software? Ignore it

Any software that can supposedly help your search engine optimization efforts is to be avoided. Some of it produces spurious, ultimately misleading data. The more dangerous versions use techniques that breach the search engines terms of use and could get you banned.

We have great rankings and have never used any of this software. You shouldn't either.

That's not to say there aren't some useful tools. One of our favourites is Majestic SEO - a free website that can help you explore how websites link to one another and research the ones that relate to yours.

Shortcuts don't work - we tried

Anybody who tells you they can get search traffic in days or weeks is a liar or they are gaming the engines. The best you can expect is either nothing or a short burst of visitors before you get permanently banned. (Having spent years trying many things, take this as a given. We've done the hard learning for you.)

When we launch a site, we hope to generate natural search traffic in 9-12 months. Sometimes it takes longer. But it's worth the wait - our advertising budget is nil while the big mouths are still paying. Be patient. Be realistic.

Step 2: Prepare your website

We're not going to dwell too long on this bit - there's a huge number of resources online about building websites. There's also lots of good software. Our site uses some fairly advanced PHP and MySQL databases - but our favourite software is good old Notepad. The choice is semantic and ultimately unimportant to search marketing.

On-site SEO (i.e. how the structure of your site affects rankings) is less and less important these days so please don't fret too much about it.

Here's the most important steps to follow:

1. Avoid using Flash - it's still useless from an SEO standpoint.
2. Ensure your main navigation links include the words and phrases most related to your site's theme. Text links are better than image or javascript driven navigation.
3. Ensure all images have ALT tags set but don't stuff them with keywords.
4. Check your web pages via the W3C validator and fix any errors. Clean, efficient code helps the engines make sense of your content.
5. Learn how to create an XML site map - this is a machine readable index of all the pages on your website. Newbies start here: www.sitemaps.org
6. Register your website and XML sitemap at Google Webmaster Tools. This will be invaluable. You can also ensure engines know where to find your sitemap by creating a robots.txt file and adding this line to it:
   sitemap: http://www.mywebsite.com/sitemap.xml

Step 3: Create innovative content

So you've got your own vacation rentals website. Great! But is it any good?

Having reviewed 1,433 rentals websites, we can tell you most are woeful. The majority follow a bland pattern of giving a brief property description, some photos, a list of rental rates and a contact form.

Stop selling yourself short! YOU are a local expert.

We'll bet you know a huge amount about the local area and the best ways of getting there. We'll bet you know the best restaurants and where to find deals on popular attractions. If you're an agent, you probably have a handle on which properties are best located or best value - and why.

So go beyond the obvious and pack your website with your expertise. List the best attractions - and the useless ones - with an honest review based on experience. Compile a list of the flight companies you've learned to love or hate. Tabulate it, add pictures, and be honest.

Being informative will win on lots of levels:

• You'll stand out from other websites. This improves your visitor-to-booking conversion rates and that means more money in your pocket.
• The sheer variety of good content will attract long tail search traffic. That means more new guests.
• The quality of your content will encourage other websites to link to you. Believe me, if it's genuinely good, the links will come on their own.

How long should this process take? If you're a proficient writer then compiling a good level of information will take a few full days. If you are part-time, allow a couple of weeks hard graft over evenings and weekends.

Anything less means you aren't really taking it seriously. Don't stint on it - this is well worth the effort.

Step 4: Grab easy inbound links

Phew finally we get to talk links. If you've read anything about SEO then you know attracting links to your website is very important. It can also be hard work.

The other strategies we discuss will produce high quality inbound links over time. But you will need to get the ball rolling when you first launch your website by grabbing a few quick wins.

Web directories

Directories like this one have had a hard time since Google's Matt Cutts started a storm over paid links. Does a listing in a directory count as a paid link? The answer is that some do, some don't.

Ultimately if the directory has a strong editorial policy and any fee is a one-off for review only, then it can be trusted as a quality resource of highly organized listings. If not, then you are probably simply paying for a link and Google won't like you for it.

As long as relevancy is your primary goal, getting your vacation website listed in web directories that match your content is a good thing. Here's a list of the places we still value for vacation rentals websites:

Rental listing sites

If you are a private owner then you probably have advertising with one of the big listing services such as HomeAway. Many of these websites allow you to add a link to your own website.

Always use this facility. First off you get a quality link but just as importantly your own website should be a far better sales tool than an advert on a vacation rentals portal.

Intelligent link exchanges

Most popular vacation destinations have lots of useful websites for visitors. You should research and contact as many as possible and offer to exchange links - intelligently.

In the world of common sense, that means you give them a mention anywhere on your website that makes sense to visitors. Ideally they will do the same in return.

Sadly it doesn't always work this way: say hello to "link exchange pages". These are pages buried in a site's navigation that contain nothing but long lists of inane links to random websites.

We LOATHE link exchange pages. They are the stupidest, most irrelevant, fruitless and downright crazy way to attract links to a website.

(Unfortunately there's a lot of stupid webmasters out there.)

If you have to compromise and accept a link from these crappy pages, then accept it graciously. But remember to try for something more useful before you do.

Step 5: More links - write, write, write!

So you've got a killer website oozing with great information (step 3) and you've got your first inbound links (step 4). Google and the other engines are now aware that you exist and understand what you do. Right now they are busily spidering all your great content and adding it to their indexes.

Unfortunately this is also the part where 99% of website owners get bored and walk away. You know better than that, right?

Now is the time to spread your wings beyond your own website. Remember all the research and work creating great content? Let's set it free and spread it across the web - attracting more links AND a new audience - a double win!

Write articles for other websites

The web is awash with sites looking for great content. You are now in a position to supply it.

Start by contacting websites related to your travel destination. Approach the editor and offer to write something about the area - a brief history, your favourite attractions - whatever. Many will be happy to have someone do their editorial work for them, just ensure you get a credit and link back to your website.

For a head start, The Vacation Rentals Directory provides a place to publish travel articles on destinations worldwide. Submit an article here »

You can also try the shotgun approach and submit work to article banks. These make your content available to anyone who wants it, saving you some research time. The downside is you have almost no control over where your work gets published.

We're not great fans of this strategy (being control freaks!) but it is worth exploring. Try TravelArticles.org and ArticlesBase.com as starting points.

Start blogging

This is a specialist topic and only truly dedicated writers make a real success using blogs. (For the uninitiated, a blog is a timelined online diary on subjects of your choice.)

Successful bloggers post news and thoughts regularly, although it doesn't have to be daily - just timely. If you write quality, informed content regularly, then there's a couple of wins: first you'll build a solid body of content, attracting more long trail traffic. Second - if you are good - you'll build a regular readership.

Bear in mind the web contains millions of blogs, started with the best intentions, that peter out in a couple of months. If anyone finds you this way, it doesn't look good and certainly won't help you attract guests.

So approach blogging only if you love writing and can set the time aside.

If you do, the good news is you can get a blog up and running in minutes. The most popular software is WordPress, although you'll need to find a hosting company for this. An easier alternative is Blogger.

Step 6: Embrace social networking

The web has always been a social place and using it to share things and talk to people of like mind is both enriching and a good way to attract links.

Facebook, Twitter and Search Engine Optimization

Social networks and SEO aren't natural partners and you'll probably be frustrated if you try to join the two activities.

Many companies have started official Facebook fan pages and Twitter feeds, which offer a place for staff and customers to connect. Unsurprisingly they have discovered Facebook is a marvellous way to connect with people who use Facebook. Twitter is a great way to connect with people who use Twitter. Doh.

These networks can have a place in your marketing efforts - but not your SEO efforts. We'll steer clear for the purposes of this article.

Join online forums

Forums were the first form of social networking and its hard to find a topic that doesn't have a forum for like-minded people to meet. Most forums allow members to include links to their websites in their posting signatures and this is an attraction for people who want web links.

BUT! To succeed with forums you absolutely must join the conversation with a good heart. Forum members loathe link spammers and can be pretty harsh if they believe your motivation for posting is purely a backlink. You don't need that kind of bad publicity.

Forums are a wonderful chance to talk to people like you, share ideas and swap stories. So research carefully and only join forums that are likely to hold your interest.

Dozens of rental forums have started and failed over the years. However the two most successful, and worthwhile for owners, are www.vacationrentalscommunity.com (for US owners) and www.laymyhat.com (for European owners).

Most vacation destinations also have local websites, many of which have their own forums. Having established your expertise in step 3, these forums would love to have you! Join up and get involved.

Add share buttons to your site

Regardless of whether or not you use social networks, it's fair to say many of your website visitors will. Therefore you should make a point of adding social network buttons to your website; these provide an easy way for people to share your content with friends.

The top services are Twitter and Facebook, both of whom provide code snippets for adding buttons to your web pages. Try the Tweet button and the Facebook "like" button.

For an all-in-one solution, AddThis.com provides a brilliant button that packages up links to all the major social networks into one menu. It will also track what people are sharing from your website.

Step 7: Repeat and enjoy

Some of you just scrolled to this bit, right? You're wondering how it all fits together. By following each step, here's how you created an endless stream of business:

• You created a content hub and got it found by the engines.
• You shared your expertise, attracting quality links.
• Others shared and talked about your content via social networks and blogs. You got even more links.
• More links drove up your referrals and search rankings, generating even more quality traffic, referrals and links.
• Your site just snowballed. Congratulations!

The initial heavy lifting gave you a web presence that will endure for years. Assuming you keep it fresh, that traffic means an endless stream of bookings for zero cash.

Anybody can generate high search engine traffic; the reason they don't is because it requires tenacity and patience up front. But it also only requires an Internet connection. The barriers to entry are low if you are prepared to invest your time.

Now go forth and conquer!

This article was written by Richard Speigal, Managing Director of The Breaks Company (UK) Ltd (who also own this directory). They have been successfully running holiday rental websites since 2002.

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