- Introduction
- Step 1
Preparation - Step 2
Content - Step 3
Offline Advertising - Step 4
Online Classified and Directories - Step 5
Online Listing Sites - Step 6
Search Engines - Step 7
Optimization
Step 7 – Optimization
Search Engine Optimization or SEO, as it is commonly known, is what you have to do to have your website appear prominently on Internet Search Engines such as Google, MSN and Yahoo.
There are unfortunately no guarantees with Optimization… even leading companies with large budgets have no control of their ranking with Optimization plans often taking months and months to come to fruition. Please be aware that this is a very competitive arena, especially for the more popular tourist locations, however some IndependentOwners™.com members have already received enquiries as a result of web searches and we believe with the right approach and some patience the majority of our members will see their sites climbing the rankings in time.
Getting started with Optimization
There are four basic but key requirements to getting your website recognised by the major Search Engines:
- Having your own unique domain
- Registering your unique domain with the Search Engines
- Detailed and targeted content on your site
- Links to your site
Read through the following and then when you are ready to make the step forward to a more dedicated Optimization programme check out the ‘My Optimization’ option in your Central Management Area.
Having your own unique domain
As already mentioned, your ‘iowners.net’ web address is your own unique domain name so the first requirement has already been taken care of. For Optimization purposes a reference to the property (eg villa, cottage, apartment etc.) and its location is advisable. For example using devoncottage, villacostablanca, floridacondo or apartmentingeneva is favourable with Search Engines… though don’t panic if you have chosen your domain name for other marketing reasons e.g. short and/or memorable.
Registering with Search Engines
We automatically registered your domain name with the major Search Engines when your property is uploaded and been accepted on to the IndependentOwners.com search facility …so Step 2 is also covered. Submitting your domain name to the Search Engines is a necessary to speed up the process of having their bots and spiders screen your site (see Step 6 about Search Engines). It’s like someone introducing you at a business meeting or convention and finding that you have something in common as opposed to you meeting and greeting a room of 1000’s before you find the right person and can exchange information.
Detailed and targeted content
The text content of your IndependentOwners.com website is very important and will be regularly looked at by the Search Engines to help them work out your relevance to a browser. Be sure to include major keywords (words and phrases that potential renters might use in Search Engines to locate their desired property) in headers, page titles and general text.
Links to your site
Links are also a very important part to any Optimization strategy. Search Engines react very favourably to sites that have numerous links coming to and from their pages. Do provide relevant and informative links to other websites for example on your ‘Travel’ and ‘Local Info’ pages.
More importantly, endeavour to have as many links coming to your website as possible. This will not only help drive traffic to your site but will also help with your search engine ranking… the major Search Engines love links…the more you have, the higher your ranking! Use the information provided on Step 4 – Online Classifieds and Directories and Step 5 – Online Listing Sites.
My Optimization
We hope the above helps in giving you a taste of the minefield that is Optimization. If you feel a little daunted at where to go next, don’t worry… IndependentOwners.com has put together a bespoke Optimization package for Members. This dedicated step-by-step programme takes you through seven easy steps to Optimize further your website. Go to ‘My Optimization’ in your Central Management Area to find out more.