When it comes to vacation rental ads, there is good, there is bad, and—I know this all too well—there is sometimes ugly. To help vacation rental owners write well balanced ads for both travelers and search engines I have put together three simple tips you should consider when you submit your next vacation rental listing on a portal or directory:
1. Keyword Inclusion – Whenever possible, make sure to use relevant keywords in your titles and descriptions. It can help make your vacation rental listing more attractive to the vacationers searching vacation rentals. Since most vacation rental directories and portals use your chosen title and description also for the web page Meta Tags, it may help your listing rank higher on search engines such as Google, MSN, etc...
2. Quality and Clarity – Clear, effective titles and descriptions give travelers a distinct idea of what type of vacation rental you have to offer. Avoid superlatives such as "best", "#1", etc... and do not use ALL CAPITAL letters (using all capital letters is not good for search engines and it comes across as shouting on the Web!) Avoid spelling and grammar mistakes, as well as poorly worded titles and descriptions as these will turn potential clients away and may also affect search engine optimization in a negative way.
3. Competitive Advantage – If there is something special about your vacation home, flaunt it! For example, if your vacation property has a jacuzzi, a fireplace, or an amazing view, be sure to mention it in your advertisement. There is so much vacation rental competition and sometimes these details make the difference. Using very targeted keywords in your title such as "jacuzzi", "fireplace", etc... may also give your vacation rental web page a competitive edge in ranking higher on the major search engines for more targeted vacation rental searches.
These are just some ideas to make your listing more attractive to travelers and more friendly to search engines.