Website, SEO, Social Marketing and other tips and tricks

The goal of having a successful website is to ensure that your company generates online sales.  The Vacation Rental industry has more complex goals with a website – mix individual homeowner’s and their expectations into the mix and you have two sets of objectives:  ranking on keywords that will generate bookings/revenue and ranking on keywords that your owners will think is important.  Both are vital and somewhat similar to the chicken and the egg scenario.  

There are some certainties about choosing a keyword goal and the road ahead:

1. Choose your keyword goals wisely – based not only on potential traffic volume, but relevancy to your product
2. Be patient – especially if the keyword set is at the top end of competition.  Google the keyword and see how many websites rank for that term set – if it is in the hundreds of thousands – be reasonable with your timeframe.
3. Two years is not a long time to work on a keyword before you see page one or two rankings – remember, you’re not the only one concerned with that keyword phrase 
4. Search Engine Optimization only works if your website is written with clean code/best technologies, etc – even the most aggressive SEM/Link Building campaign can only get you so far.
5. Remember those keywords ALWAYS – when you are writing your email blasts, when you are placing ads online, when you giving someone your website URL – always.
6. Track your progress and keep an open mind.  If your product/inventory mix changes – then you might have to change your keyword goals.

I have three keywords (phrases) that I have been aggressively seeking for Seascape Resort in Destin, Florida for two years and finally – a few weeks ago – we made it to page one!  There was NO MAGIC BULLET – it was a process that took consistency, relevancy, a premier web programmer/designer who knows how to write code without offending the search engines, a BUDGET, and a massive amount of tracking.  

KEYWORD RANKING RECIPE:     (in order of relevancy!)         Preparation Time:  Six months             Cook Time:  Up to Three Years

1. Website design - don’t miss the small stuff (most people do!).  Pay attention to details – photography should have keyword relevant ALT tags, outbound links should have a no-follow unless you are specifically trying to pass pagerank.  Page Titles, Meta Descriptions and Meta tags should be on every single page.  The content on every page should contain a keyword rich H1 header that is relevant to the rest of the content on the page.  Ensure that your programmer is familiar with how to ensure flash is indexed in the search engines, add rich media to your site including video embedded from popular social video distribution channels, constantly add content via press releases, testimonials, deals, etc.  Make sure it is easy for users to add your site to their favorite social bookmarking site and utilize those same services within your site – Twitter is a great tool for loading dynamic deals that reach a massive audience (including consumers who have not made it to your website yet!).  Be concise – know your product and sell that – don’t go off topic.  You want web traffic that intends on booking a vacation – not golf rounds, dining reservations or groceries (those are like extra trim packages that you can buy on automobiles – but you don’t go visit your local Toyota dealer to check out the stereo in the Tundra… get my drift?)
2. Use your Marketing dollars wisely - every time you purchase an online ad you should be thinking of it as not only a traffic source, but a part of your backlinks campaign.  What page does your ad go on – does your advertiser know have an SEO friendly site that passes page rank or do they use no-follow?  If you are paying to be there – insist that they do not no-follow your link and choose your own anchor text.  
3. Research or hire a firm to produce a backlinks campaign for you BUT STAY VERY INVOVLED.  Subscribing to relevant directories is not in violation of Search Engine Rules – AS LONG AS THEY ARE RELEVANT.  Ask for a monthly report/weekly report of which directories have been submitted and a follow up of each URL where the submission was approved/exists.
4. Write relevant and media rich Press Releases to build amazing backlinks – host the Press Release on your own site so that you can utilize social distribution channels and get the link credit as the source.  I highly recommend hiring a professional copywriter and not trying to do press releases in house – the technical writing skills are key qualifiers for getting some of the better placements.
5. Keep an Eye on the whole picture - watch the traffic volume, track your keyword placements on a weekly basis and identify triggers – both positive and negative and make adjustments throughout.

When you reach your placement goal on a certain keyword keep in mind that you have more competitors than you can imagine – some of which are hundreds of times your size (Homeaway, VRBO, Directory Sites, etc… ) that also want that keyword placement.  So unfortunately, your job is never done….. 

Although once you reach a keyword goal you can pick some new words, phrases, longtails to work on – you must also ensure that you don’t lose your original rankings by being consistent.  

For your homeowners - communicate with them what keywords you currently rank on, and keep them abreast of your progress on your goal keywords.  Just because Destin Florida has a huge traffic volume – it doesn’t mean its the right keyword goal to choose – how many users type in Destin, Florida when they are ready to make a booking?  Think about how your consumers “think” – and focus your time and money on the keywords people will utilize when they are close to pulling the “rent” trigger – not researching the destination.