When it comes to planning a vacation, many people think of staying in a traditional hotel or luxury resort. However, within the past few years it seems that a majority of people are renting vacation homes instead. If you own a vacation rental company you are probably familiar with your larger online competitors such as VRBO, HomeAway, and Airbnb. It is hard for local vacation rental companies to outrank these websites due to their smaller size, but definitely not impossible. Below are a few simple tips on how to improve your vacation rental company’s rankings in local search results.
Keywords
Choosing the right keywords for your vacation rental company is probably the most important tactic to help increase your rankings and visibility in search engines. It is important that you don’t focus solely on broad keywords such as “vacation rentals,” “vacation house rentals,” and “condo rentals” because these won’t help your website locally or ranking wise. The best keyword practice for vacation rental companies is to incorporate your city and state within the keywords, which will help your site rank out better locally. For example:
- “Gulf Shores vacation rentals”
- “Gulf Shores vacation house rentals”
- “Gulf Shores AL condo rentals”
Long-tail keywords can also benefit your rankings. Do you offer pet-friendly rentals, beachfront condos, a private pool, or luxury amenities? Also, be specific to the type of rentals that you offer such as cabin, cottages, condos, homes, apartments, villas, etc. for more keyword ideas. Adding specific services and accommodations that you offer in your keywords can help increase your search visibility. For example:
- “Gulf Shores beach house rentals pet-friendly”
- “Gulf Shores oceanfront vacation rentals with private pool”
- “Luxury Gulf Shores beachfront condo rentals”
- “Gulf Shores pet-friendly apartment rentals with ocean views”
Once you have picked your keywords, make sure they are in your page title, meta description, and body copy. For more information on how to pick your target keywords click here.
Business NAP Information & Schema
Having a consistent name, address, and phone number (NAP) for your business is extremely important with local search. This means that all three items should be consistent in your rental company’s online citations, as well as in the footer or header of your website. Your main phone number should also be a local number. If you own a vacation rental company in Gulf Shores but have a phone number with a Texas area code it won’t benefit you in local search. Another tip is to implement schema into your site, which can help in moving your vacation rental company’s rankings in local search and map listings.
Update Social Media Accounts
Social media continues to play a big role in local search results. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn are all indexed by search engines, so your NAP information should also be consistent across each social platform you use. Creating a verified Google+ Business page can also benefit your business in local search results. Make sure to include your business hours and high-quality photos, as well as utilize all the categories that relate to your vacation rental company.
Local Directories & Link Building
High-quality inbound links are another important factor when it comes to ranking well in search engines. When seeking link opportunities online for your rental company check out local businesses, visitors bureaus, or a local event’s website that might list recommended accommodations. Not only can this help your rankings, but it can also attract new visitors to your rentals. Submitting your vacation rental company to online directories such as Yelp or MapQuest is another great method to add inbound links to your site. There are also many niche directories that might specifically relate to the types of amenities your vacation rental company offers such as pet-friendly or luxury vacation rentals directories.
There is a great deal of work that goes into getting your website ranked above your competitors in search results and it doesn’t happen overnight. Consistent off-site work such as link building and directories can take time, but by following the advice listed above your vacation rental company will be heading in the right direction.
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