Promoting Each Other

[Generic]

I would try and make these pages look a bit less "spammy".
Maybe add a quick description to each property and explain why you recommend them? Like "the best house-made marmelade" or "our friends from childhood". Then the looks will be personal, and not just a collection of links meant to inflate the rankings
Generally the big G is not too excited about cross linking .

Maybe add a quick description to each property and explain why you recommend them? Like "the best house-made marmelade" or "our friends from childhood". Then the looks will be personal, and not just a collection of links meant to inflate the rankings. Generally the big G is not too excited about cross linking.

dumitru I defer to you as the expert so not arguing your points, wouldn't want to upset big G either, but I have no particular goal to inflate rankings either. Truth is I've met one innkeeper on this forum face to face, once, and others I'll probably never travel the distance, our bond is that we are all small innkeepers, I really don't know them on a personal level.
I'm not sure I know how to best explain my thoughts so forgive me if this isn't the best explanation. All of us probably are or have been members of some directory that we paid to join, yet those directories are many, the costs were low and they are just lost out there on the internet. The other side of the coin are the OTA's, if we are a member we pay dearly for the privilege, but they have the budget to be seen and it is convenient for the public to go to that one stop and book rooms.
Guess what I'd like to see/suggest is a balance between the two sides of the coin. It could be each of us putting a prominent link in our main menu to a common directory, strength in numbers, that may be more efficient than each of us creating our own page of links. I'm not saying it should be me doing this, but it should be folks (innkeepers) working together rather than a large organization that just sees $$$, but a good start is the idea that we all make an effort to make the public aware of similar smaller properties around the world.
.

I wouldn't call myself an "expert", maybe with just a tad more web experience than some other people around here.
So what you want is yet another directory of inns from all around the world, but a directory that is supported by those that are listed? In theory it can work, but there are some common pitfalls.
One of them is competition: you don't care that you link to an external website, as long as that website doesn't have another competitor in a radius of 50 km. But once there's someone from the nearby town, then you might have second thoughts.
Why should you send 20 visitors to the directory each month, if all you get is 5 in return? And so on...
And unless you have a strong content and marketing strategy, this new directory won't bring a lot of travelers that were planning to use Book!ng instead.
Sure, it could have some long-term SEO benefits for all participants, but knowing what I know, I think this would be a difficult battle against doubting innkeepers.
If you're open to experimentation it doesn't mean that a lot of other people think the same way
.

I don't know about others, but the other B&Bs in my area aren't my competition. I send them customers and they send me customers so we can all fill.

 

[gillumhouse]

I would try and make these pages look a bit less "spammy".
Maybe add a quick description to each property and explain why you recommend them? Like "the best house-made marmelade" or "our friends from childhood". Then the looks will be personal, and not just a collection of links meant to inflate the rankings
Generally the big G is not too excited about cross linking .

Maybe add a quick description to each property and explain why you recommend them? Like "the best house-made marmelade" or "our friends from childhood". Then the looks will be personal, and not just a collection of links meant to inflate the rankings. Generally the big G is not too excited about cross linking.

dumitru I defer to you as the expert so not arguing your points, wouldn't want to upset big G either, but I have no particular goal to inflate rankings either. Truth is I've met one innkeeper on this forum face to face, once, and others I'll probably never travel the distance, our bond is that we are all small innkeepers, I really don't know them on a personal level.
I'm not sure I know how to best explain my thoughts so forgive me if this isn't the best explanation. All of us probably are or have been members of some directory that we paid to join, yet those directories are many, the costs were low and they are just lost out there on the internet. The other side of the coin are the OTA's, if we are a member we pay dearly for the privilege, but they have the budget to be seen and it is convenient for the public to go to that one stop and book rooms.
Guess what I'd like to see/suggest is a balance between the two sides of the coin. It could be each of us putting a prominent link in our main menu to a common directory, strength in numbers, that may be more efficient than each of us creating our own page of links. I'm not saying it should be me doing this, but it should be folks (innkeepers) working together rather than a large organization that just sees $$$, but a good start is the idea that we all make an effort to make the public aware of similar smaller properties around the world.
.

I wouldn't call myself an "expert", maybe with just a tad more web experience than some other people around here.
So what you want is yet another directory of inns from all around the world, but a directory that is supported by those that are listed? In theory it can work, but there are some common pitfalls.
One of them is competition: you don't care that you link to an external website, as long as that website doesn't have another competitor in a radius of 50 km. But once there's someone from the nearby town, then you might have second thoughts.
Why should you send 20 visitors to the directory each month, if all you get is 5 in return? And so on...
And unless you have a strong content and marketing strategy, this new directory won't bring a lot of travelers that were planning to use Book!ng instead.
Sure, it could have some long-term SEO benefits for all participants, but knowing what I know, I think this would be a difficult battle against doubting innkeepers.
If you're open to experimentation it doesn't mean that a lot of other people think the same way
.

the Directory idea was what Hillbilly tried to do. It was FREE to list. What was the problem? NOT ENOUGH signed on, even from here.

 

[JimBoone]

I would try and make these pages look a bit less "spammy".
Maybe add a quick description to each property and explain why you recommend them? Like "the best house-made marmelade" or "our friends from childhood". Then the looks will be personal, and not just a collection of links meant to inflate the rankings
Generally the big G is not too excited about cross linking .

Maybe add a quick description to each property and explain why you recommend them? Like "the best house-made marmelade" or "our friends from childhood". Then the looks will be personal, and not just a collection of links meant to inflate the rankings. Generally the big G is not too excited about cross linking.

dumitru I defer to you as the expert so not arguing your points, wouldn't want to upset big G either, but I have no particular goal to inflate rankings either. Truth is I've met one innkeeper on this forum face to face, once, and others I'll probably never travel the distance, our bond is that we are all small innkeepers, I really don't know them on a personal level.
I'm not sure I know how to best explain my thoughts so forgive me if this isn't the best explanation. All of us probably are or have been members of some directory that we paid to join, yet those directories are many, the costs were low and they are just lost out there on the internet. The other side of the coin are the OTA's, if we are a member we pay dearly for the privilege, but they have the budget to be seen and it is convenient for the public to go to that one stop and book rooms.
Guess what I'd like to see/suggest is a balance between the two sides of the coin. It could be each of us putting a prominent link in our main menu to a common directory, strength in numbers, that may be more efficient than each of us creating our own page of links. I'm not saying it should be me doing this, but it should be folks (innkeepers) working together rather than a large organization that just sees $$$, but a good start is the idea that we all make an effort to make the public aware of similar smaller properties around the world.
.

I wouldn't call myself an "expert", maybe with just a tad more web experience than some other people around here.
So what you want is yet another directory of inns from all around the world, but a directory that is supported by those that are listed? In theory it can work, but there are some common pitfalls.
One of them is competition: you don't care that you link to an external website, as long as that website doesn't have another competitor in a radius of 50 km. But once there's someone from the nearby town, then you might have second thoughts.
Why should you send 20 visitors to the directory each month, if all you get is 5 in return? And so on...
And unless you have a strong content and marketing strategy, this new directory won't bring a lot of travelers that were planning to use Book!ng instead.
Sure, it could have some long-term SEO benefits for all participants, but knowing what I know, I think this would be a difficult battle against doubting innkeepers.
If you're open to experimentation it doesn't mean that a lot of other people think the same way
.

But once there's someone from the nearby town, then you might have second thoughts. I think this would be a difficult battle against doubting innkeepers.

I see where you are coming from, but logical, if we list with an OTA it is not exclusive to us, the guy next door can be listed if desired as well, so where would this be different?
I'm odd perhaps, but I've always suggested other places to potential guests if I didn't have what they needed or no rooms at all. My feeling is that if people are in the area, I'll get my share, did others refer back to me, not so much, yet I did this for the visitor.
Doubting innkeepers, yes you are correct, human nature, if it is expensive it must be good.

 

[dumitru]

I would try and make these pages look a bit less "spammy".
Maybe add a quick description to each property and explain why you recommend them? Like "the best house-made marmelade" or "our friends from childhood". Then the looks will be personal, and not just a collection of links meant to inflate the rankings
Generally the big G is not too excited about cross linking .

Maybe add a quick description to each property and explain why you recommend them? Like "the best house-made marmelade" or "our friends from childhood". Then the looks will be personal, and not just a collection of links meant to inflate the rankings. Generally the big G is not too excited about cross linking.

dumitru I defer to you as the expert so not arguing your points, wouldn't want to upset big G either, but I have no particular goal to inflate rankings either. Truth is I've met one innkeeper on this forum face to face, once, and others I'll probably never travel the distance, our bond is that we are all small innkeepers, I really don't know them on a personal level.
I'm not sure I know how to best explain my thoughts so forgive me if this isn't the best explanation. All of us probably are or have been members of some directory that we paid to join, yet those directories are many, the costs were low and they are just lost out there on the internet. The other side of the coin are the OTA's, if we are a member we pay dearly for the privilege, but they have the budget to be seen and it is convenient for the public to go to that one stop and book rooms.
Guess what I'd like to see/suggest is a balance between the two sides of the coin. It could be each of us putting a prominent link in our main menu to a common directory, strength in numbers, that may be more efficient than each of us creating our own page of links. I'm not saying it should be me doing this, but it should be folks (innkeepers) working together rather than a large organization that just sees $$$, but a good start is the idea that we all make an effort to make the public aware of similar smaller properties around the world.
.

I wouldn't call myself an "expert", maybe with just a tad more web experience than some other people around here.
So what you want is yet another directory of inns from all around the world, but a directory that is supported by those that are listed? In theory it can work, but there are some common pitfalls.
One of them is competition: you don't care that you link to an external website, as long as that website doesn't have another competitor in a radius of 50 km. But once there's someone from the nearby town, then you might have second thoughts.
Why should you send 20 visitors to the directory each month, if all you get is 5 in return? And so on...
And unless you have a strong content and marketing strategy, this new directory won't bring a lot of travelers that were planning to use Book!ng instead.
Sure, it could have some long-term SEO benefits for all participants, but knowing what I know, I think this would be a difficult battle against doubting innkeepers.
If you're open to experimentation it doesn't mean that a lot of other people think the same way
.

But once there's someone from the nearby town, then you might have second thoughts. I think this would be a difficult battle against doubting innkeepers.

I see where you are coming from, but logical, if we list with an OTA it is not exclusive to us, the guy next door can be listed if desired as well, so where would this be different?
I'm odd perhaps, but I've always suggested other places to potential guests if I didn't have what they needed or no rooms at all. My feeling is that if people are in the area, I'll get my share, did others refer back to me, not so much, yet I did this for the visitor.
Doubting innkeepers, yes you are correct, human nature, if it is expensive it must be good.
.

The OTA already has millions of daily visitors, they have the customer and you hope to get a share of the pie.
If you list on a new directory that doesn't have its own traction, and you start linking to it from your website (sending your hard-earned traffic to it), then most likely it will be a one-way street for the first year or so.
So it is likely that you won't see any returns in the first couple of months, but you might see that you sent them 50 visitors and think: "why the hell am I doing this? I'm leaving money on the table".

 

[ministryofcleaning]

Hi, Is discussion related to airbnb allowed here? Sorry, I am new here. Just wanted to check how do you guys manage your listings. Do you clean yourselves, or do you hire professional cleaners to do it.

 

[gillumhouse]

Hi, Is discussion related to airbnb allowed here? Sorry, I am new here. Just wanted to check how do you guys manage your listings. Do you clean yourselves, or do you hire professional cleaners to do it..

This is why we need the intro.

 

[JimBoone]

Hi, Is discussion related to airbnb allowed here? Sorry, I am new here. Just wanted to check how do you guys manage your listings. Do you clean yourselves, or do you hire professional cleaners to do it..

Prema Jain, I think you will find this forum a welcoming group, however at this point you've sat down at the table of friends as a stranger asking questions without an introduction. As Gillum asks, a good start is an introduction, who are you, what do you do and what do you bring to the group? I expect that you bring you more answers.
I followed your link and it appears you operate a professional cleaning service for landlords or holiday lets, on the surface that doesn't seem to have much connection to this forum. I think you will find most here are not airbnb operators with listings, but rather owner operated businesses that either do their own cleaning personally or are larger operators that hire staff to do the cleaning under their direction, that doesn't mean you don't have ideas to share with us, but it all starts with that introduction.