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 You likely recognize the value of advertising your vacation rental in multiple places. So, if you've already jumped on this bandwagon, the best practice when listing on multiple sites is to differentiate the text to appeal to different kinds of travelers. In turn, this practice may also improve your listings' chances of showing up in the search engines.
Why Differentiate Your Listings?
Travelers may search for vacation rentals using a wide variety of words and phrases in the search engines. Having multiple listings of your property is a great opportunity to reach a broader set of people, especially if you use different language across all of your listings. Basically, you can help increase the number of searches for which your property may be a match.
Although it may be hard to imagine, search engines do have limited resources, and they can't include every page on the Internet in their databases (even though it might seem like they do). For the best results for their searchers, search engines want to include unique content. They may sometimes include pages that are similar to others, as long as they provide value to searchers in a different way, such as offering different information for travelers. This is yet another reason to make sure the content on each of your advertisements is unique.
While search engines aren't the only source of visitors to your listings, they are an important one. HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com make every effort to optimize their websites to obtain the greatest volume and variety of travelers viewing your listing. But we depend on you to optimize the majority of your listing text.
So now that you've purchased a few listings, how can you go about changing the text on your ads?
 Headlines
Your headline is the best starting point for creating unique text for your listings. Search engines often interpret headlines as more important information than other parts of your listing. Basically, search engines treat it like the heading of a chapter in a book. Here are some ideas for varying your headlines:
• Target different travelers. If your home caters to seniors, families, pets, etc., try reaching out to a different group in each of your listings.
Ex. 1: Beachfront Home w/ Hot Tub, Flat Screen TV, Perfect for Families
Ex. 2: Pet-Friendly Home with Ocean Views, Flat Screen TV & Hot Tub
• Feature different amenities. Try capturing the attention of different types of travelers by featuring a variety of amenities.
Ex. 1. Lakefront Cottage with Kayaks, Large Yard, WiFi, Fireplace
Ex. 2: Spacious Cottage with Boat Slip, Pool Table, Lake Views
• Specify open dates. If you have a last-minute cancellation or a specific opening you're looking to fill, try featuring those specific dates at the beginning or end of your headline.
Ex. 1: March 6-13 Open, Large Family-Friendly Cabin with Game Room
Ex. 2: Mountain Cabin, Perfect for Large Groups, Available Mar 6-13
• Offer a special. If you're running special rates, try promoting this offer in different formats.
Ex. 1: Winter Discounts at Breckenridge Lodge, Near Ski Runs & Restaurants
Ex. 2: 4th Night Free at Breckenridge Ski Cabin with Mtn Views, Near Slopes
 Property Descriptions
It might seem like a daunting task to describe your vacation home several different ways, but if you keep it simple, it won't take long.
• Elaborate on keywords. Search engines may not understand a sentence or paragraph as well as a human being. So, you need to remind them what your text is about by giving them cues and providing extra details about your most important keywords. Don't forget, it's more important that your listing remains readable for people – in the end, they're the ones who will be booking your property.
You can elaborate on keywords by simply adding the location name or other adjective to simple nouns. Here are some examples for a cabin in Lake Tahoe that has a hot tub, is pet friendly and is great for skiing:
o Lake Tahoe cabin
o Cabin in Lake Tahoe
o Cabin rental in Lake Tahoe
o Lake Tahoe rental cabin
o Lake Tahoe ski cabin
o Pet-friendly cabin in Lake Tahoe
o Lake Tahoe cabin with hot tub
o Affordable cabin in Lake Tahoe
o Lake Tahoe vacation cabin
• Use formatting options. Sites like VRBO and VacationRentals.com allow quite a bit of text for your property descriptions. This means you have the space to create bulleted lists (using the * symbol) instead of paragraphs. This can help you change your descriptions from a paragraph-only site, like HomeAway.com.
• Find and replace. Use the Replace command under the Edit menu in your toolbar to swap specific words. For example, if you have several references to your beach condo, change it to “condo on the beach” in your other listing. Even changing up the way you refer to your house can help (home vs. house, condo vs. condominium, vacation home vs. home, etc.)
• Change up abbreviations. If one of your listings refers to bedrooms as “BR”, spell it out completely in another listing. Or if you say you have three bedrooms, use the numeral 3 in one of your other ads.
 Location Information
If the listing site provides enough space or a designated area for location information, use as much of it as possible. This is a good opportunity to strongly associate your property with the local area, and many travelers search using phrases that include location names.
• Expand on city names. Instead of just saying Long Beach, try referring to it as Long Beach, CA.
• Format dates. If you list upcoming or annual events in your vacation rental market (which is strongly recommended), you might spell out the date in one listing, or use numbered dates in another. (Ex. Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Oct. 3, 2009 or 10/3/09.)
• Abbreviate distances. Some owners like to include the distances to nearby attractions or cities. If you include miles and minutes, try including mi. and min. in another listing.
• Include local landmarks. Display your knowledge of the local area by listing or describing buildings, shops, restaurants, geographic formations or other landmarks that might be interesting to someone searching for a place to stay in your location. If you list on multiple sites, you can even steer this content toward a particular audience. One listing might include the landmarks that may be most appropriate for a vacationing family, and another might list the restaurants that would interest a business traveler.
 Photo Captions
Search engines are increasingly including photos in their search results, and some travelers even search for vacation rentals specifically using image searches. Your best bet is to make sure you have as many photos on your listings as possible, and then add captions for each one.
• Change the focus. Instead of starting the photo caption with your location, move it to the end. For example, “Our Panama City Beach Condo has a 10' Balcony w/ Ocean Views” vs. “10' Balcony with Ocean Views in Panama City Beach.”
• Modify your area keywords. We encourage you to include area keywords in your photo captions, but it doesn't mean you have to keep using the same location. If you have a vacation rental in La Jolla, try using La Jolla, San Diego Area, Southern California, California, West Coast, or even names of specific attractions like Children's Pool or Windansea Beach.
Amenities
Don't forget that the amenities portions of your listings will also have some free text. Use this opportunity to describe the features of your home in different ways.
 • Utilize the advanced mode. While some sites might just have you check off certain amenities, others (like VRBO.com) allow you to elaborate on these features. By editing your amenities table in advanced mode, you can include extra details about your beds, available parking, washer/dryer, etc.
• Describe the benefits. If a listing site allows free text (like VacationRentals.com), make the most of it, rather than writing your amenities in one long list. Describe the benefit of having a pool on-site or a grill in the backyard. Not only does this add to the uniqueness of your listing content, but it may be more helpful to travelers by helping them envision themselves at your property.
• Organize your amenities differently. Once again, avoid a long, generic list of your amenities and try taking a room-by-room approach. Describe everything about the master bedroom and what's great about the amenities it has, then move on to the guest bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and so on.
• Use different names. If you talk about your barbecue grill on one site, refer to it as your BBQ grill on another. Or, if you are listing generic appliances, try including a brand name to make it more unique (which may also have added appeal to brand-conscious travelers).
The bottom line is that no one knows your home better than you. The challenge for you is to imagine all the different people who may be searching for your property and all the different things they might focus on. If you see a variety of ways your property will appeal to different types of travelers, then the hard part is done. Now you just need to put it in words. You'll be glad you took the time to differentiate your listings when you find yourself generating more income from the inquiries you get from your vacation rental listings.
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What do you do to change up your listings?
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© Copyright, HomeAway, Inc. 2009. U.090226.LC
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