JunieBJones (JBJ)
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Did anyone else get the latest email from Paul at Pillows and Pancakes? Re Driving directions on your listing.
I admire the site because it is one of the few "low cost" directories that constantly strives to improve and inovate. I've also seen it make changes based on suggestions made by members of this forum. I don't think Paul has signed up here yet, but he probably will.Pillows and Pancakes email said:We are guaranteeing an increase in the Enhanced member's website in Search Engine Result Pages of Google, Yahoo! or MSN for one relevant search keyword phrase.
If after 3 months the Enhanced member's website does not see an improvement in its ranking on the Search Engine Result Pages of Google, Yahoo! or MSN for its keyword phrase, the Enhanced member may request a 100% refund within the fourth month.
Hi Paul, and welcome to Innspiring. Good to chat with you again.Hi All,
Shellie mentioed P&P was being discussed and suggested I stop by.
Thanks for taking the time to discuss us.
We have a long way to go until we'd compare ourselves to the likes of bedandbreakfast.com. We don't even consider them our competiton... they are just so big. Luckily we have been increasing the visitors to the site and the amount of reservation inquires we send through our site.
We are also finding that we have 'hot spots.' For some reason we send a lot of business to Manhattan B&Bs. Actually, I just checked rankings and I see us near the top for 'b&b manhattan' in Google. Some places we get no traffic at all.
As we build up our traffic we had to have something to sell. And this is what we are selling:
http://www.google.com/search?q=ontario+bed+and+breakfast
Look for irishmountain.net - they are my parents. Things to note, they are the only B&B on the first page in Google. There are 100's of B&B's in Ontario - P&P has 413 listed
http://www.pillowsandpancakes.com/country/Canada/Ontario
Google is there #1 referrer, 10x's more then the best performing directory.
Thanks for taking the time to talk about us and read this over.
Paul.
Non-enhanced listing here and I get 1-3 referrals in an average month. No one ever mentions the site when they book, tho.I just read the same email. And I have to say the whole moneyback guarantee on the first three months is interesting.
They will give you your money back if within three months of becoming an "enhnaced member" ($99 per year) on the site, it does not increase your ranking on one of the three major search engines for the the targetted phrase (not sure who gets to pick the targetted phrase)
I admire the site because it is one of the few "low cost" directories that constantly strives to improve and inovate. I've also seen it make changes based on suggestions made by members of this forum. I don't think Paul has signed up here yet, but he probably will.Pillows and Pancakes email said:We are guaranteeing an increase in the Enhanced member's website in Search Engine Result Pages of Google, Yahoo! or MSN for one relevant search keyword phrase.
If after 3 months the Enhanced member's website does not see an improvement in its ranking on the Search Engine Result Pages of Google, Yahoo! or MSN for its keyword phrase, the Enhanced member may request a 100% refund within the fourth month.
Now for the facts. I have had a listing on the site for a long time including a link to my website (but not an enhanced listing). In the past year, I have had only 1 referral from the site. Looking to a couple of my clients' trackers I have these numbers for the past year: 11 (non-enhanced), 55 (enhanced)
Overall from these numbers they are not that impressive. I'm seen bbonline.com and bedandbreakfast.com deliver the same kind of numbers in a day or two rather than a year..
Hi Swirt,
Thanks for the feedback. As for the 3 month v. the 1 year, we actually do not believe the link alone can do it alone. We offer a DIY guide on what a B&B owner might also do to improve their rankings, the guide does suggest ways to get other links, talks about on site content and some do's and don'ts. We believe if all things come together a B&B can see a significant jump in rankings within the 3 months. For example, if a B&B site had everything right except for the title tag (so lots of inbound relevant links, good on site content, clean.. etc) this site might not do so well for related KWs because of the title tag (I'm envisioning <title>Home</title>) If that tag was changed to "City Bed and Breakfast" there is a good chance they would see a jump very soon.
Per your numbers.
1) I tried this search:
site:www.pillowsandpancakes.com/bnb/105802/Wine Country Cabins Bed & Breakfast
and it shows your listing indexed.
To address where the link is we have added it to the City page, State page and Country page. Hence, it is brought higher up.
2) Yep, they are. I don't plan on discussing this with them.
3) Yep, I agree here too. As we tell people, the longer the link stays in place the more powerful it can become.
4) Unfortunately all B&B's signing up has not happened.
My parents, I handle their site and have done everything on it for the last 6 years. The spirit behind me showcasing that is "It is possible for your site to be on the first page for something competitive too." Although they have several other inbound links, only two other uses 'Ontario Bed and Breakfast' (which I happen to control as well). Most of the B&B's I've had the chance to chat don't ever really think about their site being at the top of Google. Ironically they use Google rankings to evaluate the importance of a guide. Of course there are some B&Bs that are very aware that they can be at the top of Google and do achieve this.
Frankly, I wouldn't mind dropping this whole strategy and just sell listings. But while we are building up traffic (and we are) I needed something to sell. I didn't want to be another directory that sold listings and essentially delivered nothing of value.
TIA
Paul.
That is true enough, but you are banking your moneyback guarantee on something that is up to THEM to do and is out of your control.paulavery said:As for the 3 month v. the 1 year, we actually do not believe the link alone can do it alone. We offer a DIY guide on what a B&B owner might also do to improve their rankings, the guide does suggest ways to get other links, talks about on site content and some do's and don'ts. We believe if all things come together a B&B can see a significant jump in rankings within the 3 months.
Ahh..Good point. I forgot that the %20 (space) breaks Google's site: command when the results are in the supplemental index. I knew it seemed odd that it was not indexed. The search you did is simply1) I tried this search:
site:www.pillowsandpancakes.com/bnb/105802/Wine Country Cabins Bed & Breakfast
and it shows your listing indexed.
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