ONCE people have set up their holiday home website many just leave it to merrily hang around on the internet hoping to catch passing customers.
But those who promote their site effectively will get plenty of people visiting it and booking a week or two in the sunshine.
One of the simplest ways is to ensure that your website address is placed at the end of every email you send.
If you tag it alongside a catchy line to describe the location of your holiday home or what visitors may experience, few people will be able to resist clicking on it.
Another easy way of getting your site in front of people is to visit message boards where you can answer people’s questions and leave your website address in your signature.
Some message boards will ban you from including your site address and if this is the case just move on to another one.
Although there are many sites with ‘living in France’ style boards, other past-times and interests you have are sure to have message boards as well.
Another useful trick website builders use is to place the actual address of the property on all the pages of the site, usually in a footer at the bottom of the page.
This will allow search engines to hook in to any people who specifically ask for ‘gîtes near Gourdon’ for example.
But don’t forget offline promotions especially as the cost of some of the simplest yet most effective methods has been cut thanks to the internet.
The cost of printing 200 postcards for example with a picture of your holiday home and website address on won’t break the bank.
And every changeover you just leave half a dozen behind for people to send to their friends.
You can easily imagine people writing: “Hi mum, we are staying at the lovely place on the front of this postcard…”
Plus many office suppliers now allow personalisation of everything from pens to t-shirts; fridge magnets to beer mats.
Thinking of ways to promote your website won’t take much of your time and most importantly take up even less of your cash.