Vacation Rental Encyclopedia

Google's +1 Feature For Adwords

Victor Kasprzak — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:44:35 GMT

Current revision posted to Vacation Rental Encyclopedia by Victor Kasprzak on 12/7/2011 10:44:35 AM

November 30th, 2011 - Posted by Justin_Vanning to Paid Search Marketing

An amazing article that talks about the most recent Google Extension that is now available!

What Are AdWords Social Extensions?

Social extensions within AdWords are Google's way of annotating your Google+ follower count to your PPC ads. Here's what it looks like in action:

Pretty cool, eh?

Now there's 2 types of Social Extensions that Google rolled out with, Personal and Basic. The example above is a Personal social extension. It shows you how many people within your Circles who have +1'd either the landing page or the Google+ Business Page. When the Basic social extension is shown, it will show you how many people across the web have +1'd the landing page or the Google+ Business Page. For example, if Roger Mozbot does a search on robot wheels he might see an ad that has the Basic social extension, "300 people have +1'd this". That means that 300 people across the web have either +1'd the landing page or the Google+ Business Page.

How Do You Set Up Social Extensions?

1. Setup your Google+ Business Page

The first thing you need to do is setup your Google+ Business Page, if you haven't done so already. Our Chief Vacation Rental Specialist, Victor Kasprzak, setup our luxury villa rentals business page and told me it was quick and painless. But, if you need some help on how to set up your business page, check out this article by Search Engine Land.

2. Verify your site

In order for Google to verify that you are the owner of the Business Page, you need to do two things.

In the "about" section of your Google+ Business Page, add a link pointing to your website.
Create a link from your site to your Google+ Business Page by adding the Google+ badge to your website. You can do this easily by adding a snippet of code to your website and formatting the Google+ badge.

3. Activate social extensions in your AdWords account

After completing the first two steps, go in to your Google AdWords account and click on the "ad extensions" button, then make sure you are viewing "social extensions" and click "new extension".

Now you'll have to paste your Google+ Business Page URL in to the box:

After saving the new social extension, it may take a few days for Google to approve it. It will say "pending review" until it has been approved and then the status will change to "eligible". Now your ads should start showing social extensions. W00t!

What Are The Benefits Of Setting Up Social Extensions?

So now that you have everything set up properly, you're probably wondering what type of impact the social extensions will have on your ad performance. I can tell you that I have seen a nice bump in CTR on all of my ads that have been shown with the social extensions. The data is pretty preliminary since Google is only showing social extensions on a limited basis, but so far, the results look very good.

After setting up everything correctly in your AdWords account, if you want to see how the social extensions are performing, follow these simple steps:

Click in to one of your campaigns that has enabled social extensions
Click on the "ads" tab
Click on the "segment" drop down and select "+1 Annotations"

We know that these social extensions are still in their infant stages at Google, and I'm sure Google will be making some tweaks to them as they gather more data. But for now, there are several unique advantages you will have by turning on social extensions in your AdWords account.

Most advertisers still aren't utilizing social extensions so you can roll out with them before your competitors do
It only takes a few minutes to set up, it is free, and it will instantly give your ads more credibility and trust by having the social annotations appear within them
While the results are still very preliminary, it appears that ads with social annotations are generating higher CTRs
Increase the number of +1's you have on your Business Page since users who +1 your ad will count as a +1 to your Business Page

Find the original post here!

Definition of Vacation Rentals

Craig Douglas — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:24:45 GMT

Current revision posted to Vacation Rental Encyclopedia by Craig Douglas on 4/1/2009 3:24:45 PM

Definition of Vacation Rentals

Filed under: Vacation Rentals Definition, Vacation Rentals Wikipedia, vacation wikipedia

Definition of vacation rentals across different Countries

A vacation rental is a fully furnished property, such as a condominium, townhome or single-family-style home, often referred to as villa rentals in Europe. The client/traveler arranges to rent the vacation rental property for a designated period of time, many rent on nightly basis similar to hotel rooms, although the more prevalent vacation rental industry practice is typically weekly rentals.

It seems that the big American portals are slowly making 'vacation rentals' the most recognized and popular term for describing self-catering accommodations.

However, in some other Countries 'vacation rentals' are still known by other terms such as holiday rentals, self catering rentals, holiday cottages, tourist rentals, etc...

In Italy they call them "agriturism" or "bed & breakfast".
In Germany they call them "ferienwohnungen".
In France they are called "gites".

In Europe we don't use the phrase 'vacation rentals'. In fact, the English word 'vacation' is very rarely used. Similarly, most people in the UK and Europe would have no idea what a 'condo' or 'condominium' is.

The most widely used phrase for vacation rentals in the UK is 'holiday villas' and this generally refers to holiday accommodation in the Mediterranean countries (Spain, Greece, France, Italy etc). The phrase 'holiday cottages' is widely used for vacation rentals within the UKUK,where the property is detached,however,"holiday apartment" or "self catering apartment/flat" is used when the property is in a building containing lots of units..

In Spain there is a huge market for 'Casas Rurales' where an old rural building is converted into holiday accommodation. This is very silimar to the French 'gites' concept.

The concept of 'rural tourism' is growing rapidly in Europe.

Definition of Vacation Rentals

John — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:18:04 GMT

Revision 2 posted to Vacation Rental Encyclopedia by John on 11/2/2008 7:18:04 AM

Definition of Vacation RentalsDefinition

Filed under: Vacation Rentals Definition, Vacation Rentals Wikipedia, vacation wikipedia

Definitions

Definition of vacation rentalsfrom in across different Countries

It seems that the big American portals are slowly making 'vacation rentals' the most recognized and popular term for describing self-catering accommodations.

However, in some other Countries 'vacation rentals' are still known by other terms such as holiday rentals, self catering rentals, holiday cottages, tourist rentals, etc...

In Italy they call them "agriturism" or "bed & breakfast".
In Germany they call them "ferienwohnungen".
In France they are called "gites".

In Spain there is a huge market for 'Casas Rurales' where an old rural building is converted into holiday accommodation. This is very silimar to the French 'gites' concept.

The concept of 'rural tourism' is growing rapidly in Europe.

Vacation Rentals Definition

John — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:12:35 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Vacation Rental Encyclopedia by John on 11/2/2008 7:12:35 AM

Definitions of vacation rentals from in different Countries.

Pros and cons of vacation rentals

M Gravlee — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:16:37 GMT

Current revision posted to Vacation Rental Encyclopedia by M Gravlee on 11/9/2008 5:16:37 PM

Pros and cons of vacation rentals

Vacation rentals or villa rentals are generally appealing for many reasons, some of the foremost being cost savings, more space, and no tips, taxes or service charges that are associated with hotel rooms. Villa and vacation rentals have kitchens for cooking, living rooms for gathering together and offer the appeal of living in a real neighborhood and soaking up the rhythm of the locals. In the United States, hotels often enjoy the advantages of brand recognition, familiar reservation processes, and on-site staff for problem resolution. For a guest, booking a vacation rental may mean stepping out of that comfort zone in order to garner some of the advantages they offer. Perceived cons of vacation rentals can include having to communicate directly with the property owner, being unfamiliar with the property, lack of on-site staff, and concerns about quality or cleanliness -- however, these are most often mitigated by dealing with villa or vacation rental agencies that manage vacation properties for owners and they offer many of the same services hotels offer to their guests, e.g., front desk check-in, 24-hour maintenance, in-house housekeeping, concierge service.

The benefits generally outweigh the potential negatives, with many vacation rentals offering more space (multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, separate living areas), more amenities (fully equipped kitchens, fireplaces, private hot tubs), convenient locations (on the beach, ski-in/ski-out, city centers in real neighborhoods) and greater privacy than a hotel, including the fact that many villa/vacation rentals give travelers the option of inhabiting real neighborhoods in their destination and living like the locals.

Vacation rentals can range from budget studio apartments to lavish, expensive private villas in the world's most desirable locations, some with pricetags of many thousands per night and all the amenities you would find in any luxury accommodation (fully staffed, private beaches, boats, chefs, cooking lessons, etc) to cater to the guests.

Vacation rentals are available in most states of the US and very prevalent in major tourist areas such as Hawaii, California, and Florida. The vacation rental market is much larger in Europe than it is in the United States as it has long been a common travel option for European travellers.

From an Owner's standpoint, renting your vacation home provides income to offset or even cover the costs of owning a vacation home. Interest/carrying costs, home owners dues, utilities, maintenance and property taxes can add up over a 12 month period. Renting for a few weeks when the property is unoccupied can generate some much welcome income.

Pros and cons of vacation rentals

John — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:27:03 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Vacation Rental Encyclopedia by John on 11/2/2008 7:27:03 AM

Vacation Rental Listing Services and Aggregators

John — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:37:01 GMT

Current revision posted to Vacation Rental Encyclopedia by John on 11/2/2008 7:37:01 AM

There are numerous agencies that specialize in villa/vacation rentals and most can be booked via the internet. Reputable vacation rental agencies will have familiarity with the regions and properties they represent as well as official booking/rental agreements and generally standardized booking procedures, cancellation policies, key collection, etc.

Additionally, vacation rentals may be offered through aggregation portals. Aggregators typically display property information and photos provided by the homeowner, however the listing services bear no legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Also, because the listing services do not verify the information guests are encouraged to request references from past renters and to procure a lease agreement prior to sending money directly to a homeowner.

A vacation rental may not be booked directly with a listing service. Because each property owner has his or her own deposit and payment requirements, cancellation policies, key-pick-up procedures, etc., a guest must contact the property owner or owner’s agent directly in order to book. A guest who books through a listing service or direct from owner may experience the benefit of lower rental rates.

Vacation Rental Managers

John — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:31:16 GMT

Current revision posted to Vacation Rental Encyclopedia by John on 11/2/2008 7:31:16 AM

Many property owners hire a vacation rental management company to manage the business of their vacation rentals. These management companies market the vacation rental property, providing information and photos to guests and handling reservations and billing in the homeowner’s stead. These companies also handle details such as guest check-in, housekeeping and property maintenance.

Guests who book through vacation rental management companies may experience benefits including quality control, housekeeping services, professional reservations agents and on-site or on-call staff.

Many such companies are members of the Vacation Rental Managers Association and there are additionally many rental property management companies that deal only with vacation rental brokers/agencies that specialize in the villa/vacation rental industry.