Sure, we’ve all been there, making our websites slicker than a greased otter in hopes of boosting your conversions. (And we build some really slick vacation rental websites here at ICND.) But here’s the kicker: it’s not just about how snazzy your site website looks or runs. Nope. It’s a whole world of external factors playing puppet master with your conversion rates. Factors you may haven’t even thought about!

“When comparing YOY conversion rates, it’s never apples to apples. So many factors dictate how well you convert, even with the best website on the planet. “

Paul Hanak (that’s me, 20 year SEO veteran and 15 year vacation rental marketing expert)

Let’s warm up with an easy one.

1. Who’s Booking Your Rentals? The Surprising Demographics

Picture Hilton Head Island, where the over-45 crowd isn’t just a majority—they’re practically the whole audience, making up over 80% of guests. And here’s the kicker: a whopping 30% of these folks prefer old-school phone bookings.

It’s extremely rare a client has a fully functional call tracking system that can track conversions from different sources. They are either expensive or time-consuming to monitor. That leaves with a gap that isn’t bridged by an online conversion. Sure, they may be looking online, but then finally call to talk to that “real person”, thus making it seem like your PPC or social media efforts didn’t yield that result.

To top that off, demographics are constantly changing. Gone are the days where grandma and grandpa rent the same house in the OBX for the entire family, each and every year. Everything is shifting.

Action Item: When we do have clients with advanced tracking, we are able to attribute

Read More...