AdWords Webinar Recap and Downloads
On Wednesday, nearly 50 people took part in a webinar from LiveRez.com SEO/SEM Manager Sam Martin titled "Simple Tricks To Optimize Your Adwords Campaign and Increase ROI." In just 30 minutes, Martin gave viewers a complete primer on Adwords in an easy-to-follow format. The webinar was basic enough for newbies to follow, but also included some gems of advice for the advanced user.
We've had a great response from those that attended -- some have even called us to inquire about Martin's SEO/SEM service. If you missed the webinar, don't sweat. Both the webinar video and Martin's PowerPoint slides are now available on our website.
Watch the Video Now!
Watch the Adwords Webinar video at LiveRez.com's downloads page.
Learn More
If you would like to learn more about LiveRez.com's software and professional services (including SEO/SEM), contact us today!
Phone: 800-343-2891
E-mail: info@LiveRez.com
And, to receive timely updates from LiveRez.com, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@LiveRez), or check back here at the LiveRez.com blog.
LiveRez.com’s QuickBooks Integration Earns Trust Accounting Compliance in North Carolina
The company’s exclusive integration with the world’s most trusted accounting platform was recently certified as compliant by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission
BOISE, Id. –– LiveRez.com’s exclusive QuickBooks integration has been evaluated by The North Carolina Real Estate Commission (NCREC) and has been found to comply with the provisions of the Commission's Rules and Trust Account Guidelines.
QuickBooks is the world's most trusted accounting platform.
“This is exciting news for us and the many vacation rental managers in North Carolina,” said Tracy Lotz, founder and CEO of LiveRez.com. “With this certification, managers in North Carolina will now be able to use the world’s most trusted accounting platform.”
According to a 2010 VRMA survey, more than 40 percent of respondents said they used QuickBooks, making it more than eight times more popular than the next integrated accounting software platform. LiveRez.com’s QuickBooks integration is a one-of-a-kind feature in the industry as it allows vacation rental managers to seamlessly integrate all of their accounting data into the world’s most popular accounting platform.
LiveRez.com, which has devoted hundreds of hours to developing this QuickBooks integration, was informed of its certification via e-mail on June 27.
“I can give the compliance nod based on the 6.15 QB (QuickBooks) file, or in other words ‘LiveRez, version 6.15,’” said Emmet Wood, director of audits and investigations for the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.
Been Dreaming about Multiple Websites Linked to One Reservation System?
At LiveRez.com, we can link multiple websites to one reservation system.
As a vacation rental manager, we’ve probably dreamed about having the ability of bilocation (you know, the ability to be in two places at the same time). Just think how efficient you could be?
Unfortunately, we don’t know magic. And we’re not allowed to clone you – even if we could. But we can make you additional websites (and link them all to your reservation system), so your business can exist in multiple consumer spaces at the same time.
Here are some reasons why you might want multiple websites:
- You manage properties in different locations. You might offer mountain cabins and waterfront beach condos, or you might have properties in both Florida and Mexico.
- You manage properties in different resorts. Although they may all be in the same general vicinity, different resorts offer different things and attract different guests.
- You want more search engine visibility. Of course you can set up different landing pages on one website, but there are a number of advantages of having separate, focused sites with branded URLs.
Multiple websites are a great way to reach more consumers and also attract more property owners. In a nutshell, it makes it easier for consumers to find your properties, and – as you know – owners like that, too.
Interested? For more information click here or call our professional services department at 800-343-2891, Option 4.
Not a LiveRez.com partner yet? Learn more about us at our website or call our sales department (same number, option 1) to take a guided demo. And for timely news from LiveRez.com, check back here or find us on Facebook and Twitter.
Want to Learn More about Adwords? Sign up for our Free Webinar
Are you getting the maximum level of efficiency out of your Adwords campaign? On June 29, LiveRez.com SEO/SEM Manager Sam Martin will offer some hints and tricks for maximizing your Adwords campaigns. Martin will provide tips on keyword strategy, ad copy, campaign structure and more.
Interested? Register here.
LiveRez.com Adds Rob Holderness as New Marketing/PR Manager
The industry leader in vacation rental software taps the former journalist and public relations specialist to lead the company’s communications initiatives
BOISE, Id. –– LiveRez.com, the leading provider of all-in-one web-based software solutions for vacation rental managers, has added Rob Holderness as its Marketing/PR Manager.
Rob Holderness, a former journalist and public relations specialist, joins LiveRez.com as the company's new Marketing/PR Manager. (Photo Credit: Daniel Stark Photography)
A former reporter and freelance journalist for the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon, Holderness comes to LiveRez.com after a successful stint at Vox Public Relations Public Affairs, where he provided professional writing services, social media consulting, and media and government relations for the firm and its many clients.
“Rob’s diverse communication skill set will be especially valuable as we spread the word about LiveRez.com and what it can do for professional vacation rental managers,” said Tracy Lotz, founder and CEO of LiveRez.com.
Holderness brings more than five years of professional writing and editing experience to the LiveRez.com staff, which also recently added BookIt.com veteran Jayme Gamble as Director of Partner Success and Balihoo pro Sam Martin as the company’s SEO/SEM Manager.
Holderness, who holds a master’s degree in Communication and Political Science from Oregon State University, will plan and executive strategic marketing and communications initiatives for the industry leader as it continues its rapid growth in the vacation rental industry.
To learn more about LiveRez.com, please call (800) 343-2891 or visit LiveRez.com
About LiveRez.com
LiveRez.com is a complete, online, vacation rental property management solution, focused on making vacation rental property managers fully operational online and thereby increasing bookings. LiveRez.com offers best-in-class rapid websites, an online booking engine, an end-to-end property management system, online marketing services, and a unique “Pay-As-You-Book” approach, which provides a mutually beneficial partnership between LiveRez.com and its vacation rental manager partners.
To receive timely updates from the company, follow LiveRez.com on Facebook or Twitter (@LiveRez), or visit the company’s vacation rental software blog.
The Property Posting Tool: Get the Most out of Your Online Property Advertisements
Create professional looking listings for classified sites with the LiveRez.com property posting tool.
With the advent of free classified listing websites like CraigsList.org, marketing your vacation rental properties for little or no money has become increasingly easy. And at LiveRez.com, we’ve made it even easier.
Posting to free classified sites is a snap with our property posting tool. It’s as easy as sorting through your properties, finding the property you want, and clicking on “copy html.” Now that you have the code, you can easily paste it into any form that accepts html. On property posting websites, the resulting listing looks professional and sets you apart. And, with one easy click visitors can move right to your website where they can begin the booking process.
And, if you’re doing this for multiple properties, we’ve got you covered. As soon as you copy the html code, the system highlights that property so you know that you’ve already posted it. The property will remain highlighted for four days, helping you keep track of how long ago you’ve advertised the property.
The property posting tool is just one of the many ways LiveRez.com can make your life easier. To learn more about how LiveRez.com can help your company, visit our website, LiveRez.com, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. And, check back here for more LiveRez.com news.
How Did Victoria Smith of Alpenglow Vacation Rentals Get Her Free Time Back with LiveRez.com?
LiveRez.com let Victoria Smith of Alpenglow Vacation Rentals worry less about her day-to-day business and gave her more time to spend enjoying the amazing outdoor activities in Bend, Oregon.
Alpenglow Vacation Rentals
Location: Bend, Oregon
Website: http://www.alpenglowvacationrentals.com/
Quick Quote: “It (LiveRez.com) gave me my life back.”
Time is an important commodity for Victoria Smith of Alpenglow Vacation Rentals in Bend, Oregon.
As a professional vacation property manager, a hair stylist and an outdoor enthusiast in beautiful Central Oregon, Smith doesn’t have a second to waste.
So, as her vacation rental business started to grow, she turned to LiveRez.com.
So far, Smith’s recipe for success is a combination of price, quality, location and customer service. She offers quality homes at competitive prices, and specializes in the west side of Bend, which, she says, is the most desirable location in the area, due to its great scenery and close proximately to both the mountain and the town.
Are You Taking Full Advantage of Web Analytics?
With more and more travel seekers doing their shopping online, it’s imperative that your website be optimized to – as we at LiveRez.com say – “Turn Lookers into Bookers.” While LiveRez-powered websites already come preloaded with multiple features to accelerate online bookings, one feature that requires some action by the partner is using web analytics.
Google Analytics is one of the many web analytics providers supported by LiveRez.com.
But, before we explain just how to set up Web analytics on your LiveRez-powered website, let’s first take a look at what these analytics do and why they are important.
The most commonly used form of analytics is Google Analytics. It’s free, and for the most part it’s simple to use. Here’s just a small list of the details Google Analytics can tell you about your website:
- The number of times your site was visited in a certain time period
- Approximately how many different people visited your page (these are called unique visitors)
- The average length a visitor spends on your website
- How many of those visitors are coming to your site for the first time
- How often do your visitors return
- The areas where your visitors live
- The percentage of your visitors who leave your website without clicking to another page (this is called the bounce rate).
- How visitors are coming to your site. Do they find it through search engines, through links from other sites, from links in e-mails, from social media platforms, or do they type in your URL directly? The places online where visitors come from are called referrers.
- The keywords potential guests are using to find your site through search engines. Are they searching for “Florida Vacation Rentals” or “Homes for rent close to Disney World?”
LiveRez.com’s SEO/SEM Service Helps Drive 115 Percent More Online Bookings for Partner
Want to increase the number of lookers coming to your website? Regina Berg of Cabin Rentals of Helen (RentHelen.com) had just that in mind when she signed up for LiveRez.com’s professional SEO/SEM service.
Administered by SEO/SEM Manager Sam Martin, LiveRez.com’s efforts for RentHelen.com yielded positive results for Berg in every category – and in just her first month with the service.
“My bookings in May have more than doubled from a year ago,” Berg said. “I know a big part of that is the great work LiveRez.com’s Sam Martin has done for our SEO and SEM campaigns. The quality and quantity of our website visitors has definitely increased since Sam began directing our efforts.”
Below is brief case study detailing those exceptional results:
With help from LiveRez.com's SEO/SEM Manager Sam Martin, Regina Berg and the team at RentHelen.com increased the traffic coming to their website and experienced a 115 percent increase in online bookings from one year ago.
GOALS
- Increase bookings
- Increase traffic to RentHelen.com
- Increase placement in key organic search results
- Increase efficiency of SEM Campaigns through elevated click-through rates
WHAT WE DID
- Completely analyzed SEO Strategy
- Redesigned SEM Campaign
- Implemented key off-site tactics
RESULTS
SEO
- Increased website traffic by 22.69%
- Increased organic placement in a number of key search terms across all major search engines.
SEM (pay per click)
- Clicks rose 56%,
- Cut Impressions by 24%
- Click-through rate (CTR) increased 65%
- Average Cost-Per-Click (CPC) decreased by 7%
- Average placement position of ads rose from 4.2 to 3.6
Online Reservations (May 2010 to May 2011)
- Bookings increased 115%
- Nights Stayed rose 93%
Are You Protected from Vacation Rental Scams?
According to police, at least 15 people in Coachella Valley in Southern California were the victims of a vacation rental scam. According to police, two Palm Springs men – Michael Maloney, 49, and Matthew Wehling, 45 – were arrested and will likely be arraigned today.
Avoid vacation rental scams by dealing with established vacation rental managers.
Police say they used websites, including HomeAway and Vacation Rentals by Owners, to list homes they did not own or manage. Allegedly, they took down payments on these homes and kept the money for themselves. When their unsuspecting victims finally showed up to the homes they thought they rented, they discovered they were scammed – definitely not the way they wanted to start their vacations.
This situation brings to light a major security issue with renting homes directly from the owner. One way to avoid these issues is to rent from a professional vacation rental manager (VRM). Vacation rental managers are active members of their communities. They’re often members of their local chamber of commerce. And, they’re rated by the Better Business Bureau. But, even more importantly, they have a brand to protect.
Most all VRMs are established and trusted. When you rent from them, you can trust that the property exists, is as advertised, and is available for the time you booked it. And, if for some reason you have a problem, they’re ready and available to help you – not hours away as is the case with many owners who rent their vacation homes.
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