Late offer advertising

[Catusse-Haut]

I am looking to advertise a late availability for a gite, on the net - does anyone have any suggestions re websites to use and associated costs?

[Paolo]

I know of a site that markets itself as a late availability site - latelet.com. But I have no experience of the site, I just remember the name. It seems to me that this is just a marketing angle, because they charge for a year’s subscription – you can’t just advertise a late availability for a short period.

 

The site should do well for search engine searches like ‘late availability rentals’ – but does anyone search like this? I don’t think so. I think people will just use a normal listing site to search. The best of these will be those that offer search by availability, so you don’t have to check the availability calendars of lots of properties.

 

Some listing sites also have a Late Availability or Special Offer section, but again, that is not a function everyone will see or use.

 

Holiday-rentals.com has both search by availability and a special offer section so that may be a good site to try, but they are not the cheapest at something like £170 per year. But as they are the 5^th most used listing site in the world, perhaps you get what you pay for.

 

Another option is pay-per-click with Google Adwords. This lets you appear on page one of Google for many different searches, albeit on the right where only a small percentage of people will look. You can write an ad saying you have late availability and it links to your own website or listing ad. Your campaign can last as long or as little as you want, and cost as little as you want per day. Google’s own instructions on AdWords are pretty good and can be seen here:

https://adwords.google.co.uk/select/Login?sourceid=AWO&subid=UK-ET-ADS&hl=en_GB

 

Paolo

[CatherineS2]

www.VisitFrance.co.uk have a Last Minute listing facility (it's on the left of the home page).

Basically you have to register with them - the cost is £99 + Vat p.a.

Then, once registered, you can create "Special Offer ads" - for Late Availability, Spring Breaks, Special Offers etc.

But when I first registered with them they were offering a 3 month trial period - I presume they still do, and if so you could do this for no initial outlay.

[Paolo]

On the subject of free trials, I have had good results from a 3-month trial on www.holidaylets.net - enquiries and even a few bookings. It's what I call a 'proper' site, and for ease of uploading your information and pictures it is hard to beat.

It has a late availability section (which you may not be allowed to use on a free trial), but what I would do is write the desciption line, which normally says something like 'Les Oliviers, beautiful villa for rent in Languedoc', to say something like 'June 14-28 now available - see Languedoc at its best'. So when people scan down the list of possibles, the key fact you want to get across is there. You can change this line and the rest of the text instantly.

Paolo