Marketing in US

Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum

Help Support Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Atreo

Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2011
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Hello to everybody and a Happy New year from Italy.
Last year 20% of my guests came form US and this year I would like to promote my B&B there. But where ? Which site or direcory would you visit to make a reservation in an Italian B&B? An American one or an European like Booking.com ?
Thanks for any suggestion.
 
The usual suggestion is to Google 'B&B's in Lucca, Italy' and see what directories show up. That's where to advertise.
 
Since what comes up in your web search depends on your own location and past browsing history, it may be helpful for people in different places to tell you what comes up when they search. I'll give you below what comes up first when I search "b&b lucca":
Paid ads (at the top):
  • venere.com
  • booking.com
  • tripadvisor.com
Top search results below the paid ads:
  • bedandbreakfast.com
  • luccabedandbreakfast.com
  • luccaaccommodation.com
 
Since what comes up in your web search depends on your own location and past browsing history, it may be helpful for people in different places to tell you what comes up when they search. I'll give you below what comes up first when I search "b&b lucca":
Paid ads (at the top):
  • venere.com
  • booking.com
  • tripadvisor.com
Top search results below the paid ads:
  • bedandbreakfast.com
  • luccabedandbreakfast.com
  • luccaaccommodation.com
.
Googling "B&B Italy" I get the following:

www.bebitalia.it -- a furniture maker

Italy Bed and Breakfast Inns
www.bed-and-breakfast-in-italy.com/

Bed & Breakfast Italia - Bed & Breakfast in Rome, b&b Milan - B&B Italy
www.bbitalia.it/en/

Italy Bed and Breakfast Inns, Italy B&B's and Inns
www.bedandbreakfast.com/italy.html

Bed and Breakfast Italy - Bed and Breakfast Europe
www.bedandbreakfast.eu/en/italy

Then a couple of TripAdvisor.com location links

Accommodations Italy, Hotels, B&B, Farm Holiday, Apartments Italy ...
www.bbplanet.com/

Italia Lodging - charming accommodation in Italy bed and breakfast ...
www.italialodging.com/

Italy - Karen Brown's Guides
www.karenbrown.com/Destination_Travel_Guide.../Italy/8.php
 
Another thing I didn't mention is to try to get your own website in the top 7 on Google maps. That will probably require some SEO work on your own site especially as there are so many B&B's in your area. Showing up #3 of 96 B&B's on TA is excellent! That will help a lot as people traveling so far will want some sort of thumbs up from other guests.
What comes up for me when I search for 'B&B lucca italy' is the following:
I have ads turned off so I don't see those. This is what I see in order:
  • bedandbreakfast.com
  • trip advisor
  • the top 7 on google maps
  • luccabed.com
  • bedandbreakfastworld.com
  • bed-and-breakfast-in-italy.com
 
Since what comes up in your web search depends on your own location and past browsing history, it may be helpful for people in different places to tell you what comes up when they search. I'll give you below what comes up first when I search "b&b lucca":
Paid ads (at the top):
  • venere.com
  • booking.com
  • tripadvisor.com
Top search results below the paid ads:
  • bedandbreakfast.com
  • luccabedandbreakfast.com
  • luccaaccommodation.com
.
Googling "B&B Italy" I get the following:

www.bebitalia.it -- a furniture maker

Italy Bed and Breakfast Inns
www.bed-and-breakfast-in-italy.com/

Bed & Breakfast Italia - Bed & Breakfast in Rome, b&b Milan - B&B Italy
www.bbitalia.it/en/

Italy Bed and Breakfast Inns, Italy B&B's and Inns
www.bedandbreakfast.com/italy.html

Bed and Breakfast Italy - Bed and Breakfast Europe
www.bedandbreakfast.eu/en/italy

Then a couple of TripAdvisor.com location links

Accommodations Italy, Hotels, B&B, Farm Holiday, Apartments Italy ...
www.bbplanet.com/

Italia Lodging - charming accommodation in Italy bed and breakfast ...
www.italialodging.com/

Italy - Karen Brown's Guides
www.karenbrown.com/Destination_Travel_Guide.../Italy/8.php
.
Italy is too broad a term. Lucca or the region name would be the most appropriate to search on.
 
Hi. This is how I personally look for a place no matter where I am going: google search and check the listings on the map for a place close to where I want to be in that city; if none, I then broaden the search. You currently a listed on the 2nd page in the map listings, as pointed out by others you should focus some marketing money to SEO and try to work up to the first page in this list.
Until that comes into play, you may want to consider booking.com as it has really taken off in the US in the last 6-8 months and more and more Americans are using it on a daily basis even for US travel. Since they have an ad right on top of the search, it may attract the attention of those searching. Given that they are one of the least expensive booking directories at 15% commission and you only pay for actual stays you will get added exposure as well at zero cost.
Another idea is a Trip Advisior business listing which provides a link to your website as you do rank very well on this site and Americans are increasingly using TA in their planning. They played a large part in our planning when traveling to Eur. and how we decided on our accommodations.
The US based bedandbreakfast.com also makes the top of the search listings as they have been working hard to get into the Eur. market. That said, I do not think they would be a large source of lookups for places in Europe at least as of now. (IMHO anyway)
 
Many thanks to everybody for the interesting suggestions.
Francesco
 
Back
Top