Optimise your property listing for search enginesTravellers find your listing in various ways such as directly through FeWo-direkt.de, VacationVillas.net and Holiday-Rentals.co.uk or via search engines like Google and Yahoo. Our surveys have shown that many advertisers who optimise their listing for search engines increase their rental success.
Follow our advice to improve your property listing to get a better position in the search engine results with a few simple steps and give travellers more information about your property at the same time.
How do search engines work?
Search engines work in a similar way to the old card system in libraries. A book is searched for by looking through various categories with keywords such as genre, author and title. Search engines work in a similar way, but in contrast, search engines offer an infinite number of search criteria. An important component of the main search results are keywords. Each search engine establishes the significance and importance of various keywords and this determines which order results are listed in a search.In other words - the keywords that people enter when using a search engine such as Google, determine the order in which the search results appear.
Five simple rules for optimising your listing:
- Use as many keywords and phrases that travellers are likely to use when they search for a holiday property
- Describe the key features of your property in the three title fields
- Include comprehensive information about your property
- Do not copy text from other listings
- Link your listing on your personal homepage
When editing your advert, think about the words travellers will be using to search for your type of property and which words you would use when looking for a holiday home yourself. It is a good idea to repeat these keywords in your listing so that search engines recognise their relevance.
The three title fields "Name of the property", "Short description of the property", "Short summary of the facilities" should contain the main features of your accommodation, as they have the highest relevance for the search engines.
The main word categories are measurable words: location, rental price, accommodation type and important features/furnishings of your holiday accommodation.
Keyword examples
Location: Paris, Mallorca or Black Forest (known regions or city names are beneficial)
Rates: Rental rates and other prices
Accommodation type: e.g. apartment, cottage, villa, cabin, castle
Property features: e.g. pool, fireplace, sauna, garden, terrace
Suitability: e.g. wheelchair accessible, children welcome, pets allowed especially dogs
Local tourist attractions: e.g. amusement parks and museums - mention names of specific attractions
Example: A phrase such as "Holiday home Lago Maggiore" achieved 221,000 results on Google. With such a vast number of results, travellers narrow their search with otherkeywords. "Holiday home Lago Maggiore, 3 bedrooms, whirlpool, pets allowed" only shows 134 results.
The main word categories are measurable words: location, rental price, accommodation type and important features/furnishings of your holiday accommodation.
Keyword examples
Location: Paris, Mallorca or Black Forest (known regions or city names are beneficial)
Rates: Rental rates and other prices
Accommodation type: e.g. apartment, cottage, villa, cabin, castle
Property features: e.g. pool, fireplace, sauna, garden, terrace
Suitability: e.g. wheelchair accessible, children welcome, pets allowed especially dogs
Local tourist attractions: e.g. amusement parks and museums - mention names of specific attractions
Example: A phrase such as "Holiday home Lago Maggiore" achieved 221,000 results on Google. With such a vast number of results, travellers narrow their search with otherkeywords. "Holiday home Lago Maggiore, 3 bedrooms, whirlpool, pets allowed" only shows 134 results.
Location: It is important to mention the distance between your accommodation and various local attractions, sights or motorways. The more information you provide, the more successful your listing will be in the search results. You should include information about nearby beaches, ski resorts, golf courses, shopping facilities etc.
Example: If you google "Holiday rental eiffel tower", you get 291,000 results. However, when you enter "Holiday rental eiffel tower 15 minutes", there are only 84,200 results.
Amenities/Facilities: It is important that you describe every aspect of your property to cover all possible search terms. What words do travellers use when they contact you to ask questions about your property? Integrate your answers to the most frequently asked questions in your description. The proximity to the sea is important in some regions. Use the word "sea" or "near the sea" in your description, if appropriate.
Use all the description fields: The different description fields in your listing will give you the possibility to vary the words and phrases you use. The more keywords you incorporate in your text, the more successful you will be in the search results.
Additional options: Many holiday regions are famous for various events and festivals. Would you like to rent on holidays like Christmas or New Year's Eve etc.? Mention the name of these holidays in your description or title fields. Is there more than one annual festivity in your region? Write a few words about them, when they take place and how far they are from your accommodation.
Tip: Under the tab "Further details" you can add other keywords and information which doesn't fit into the other text boxes.
Enter descriptive titles for your photos: Search engines look in your listing for photo titles so remember to include keywords in these titles. For example, for the title "View from the Balcony" on Google there are over 3.9 million results. Describe the picture with more individual keywords e.g. "watching surfers from the balcony" there are 150,000 results (many of them are adverts for holiday accommodation).
Google and Yahoo also work with targeted image searches. Use the title of your photos to be found in those search results.
Example: For photos with the title "Our house" there are approximately 21 million results, but for the title "our holiday house" there are about 3.9 million results.
Frequently update your text: You should update the information about your property frequently. Up-to-date, detailed text is one part of the success of your listing. The other side is that some search engines rate newer information higher therefore appearing further up in the search results. In the same way it also helps to update the calendar.
Example: If you google "Holiday rental eiffel tower", you get 291,000 results. However, when you enter "Holiday rental eiffel tower 15 minutes", there are only 84,200 results.
Amenities/Facilities: It is important that you describe every aspect of your property to cover all possible search terms. What words do travellers use when they contact you to ask questions about your property? Integrate your answers to the most frequently asked questions in your description. The proximity to the sea is important in some regions. Use the word "sea" or "near the sea" in your description, if appropriate.
Use all the description fields: The different description fields in your listing will give you the possibility to vary the words and phrases you use. The more keywords you incorporate in your text, the more successful you will be in the search results.
Additional options: Many holiday regions are famous for various events and festivals. Would you like to rent on holidays like Christmas or New Year's Eve etc.? Mention the name of these holidays in your description or title fields. Is there more than one annual festivity in your region? Write a few words about them, when they take place and how far they are from your accommodation.
Tip: Under the tab "Further details" you can add other keywords and information which doesn't fit into the other text boxes.
Enter descriptive titles for your photos: Search engines look in your listing for photo titles so remember to include keywords in these titles. For example, for the title "View from the Balcony" on Google there are over 3.9 million results. Describe the picture with more individual keywords e.g. "watching surfers from the balcony" there are 150,000 results (many of them are adverts for holiday accommodation).
Google and Yahoo also work with targeted image searches. Use the title of your photos to be found in those search results.
Example: For photos with the title "Our house" there are approximately 21 million results, but for the title "our holiday house" there are about 3.9 million results.
Frequently update your text: You should update the information about your property frequently. Up-to-date, detailed text is one part of the success of your listing. The other side is that some search engines rate newer information higher therefore appearing further up in the search results. In the same way it also helps to update the calendar.
Search engines can identify the original versions of text and always list these higher. If you copy text it may be the case that your listing may not appear in the search results at all.
This improves the ease of finding your listing in the search engines. Google rates your German property listing at FeWo-direkt.de higher the more links you have on this page. More information about our link exchange can be asked for via e-mail to linkpartner@fewo-direkt.de
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