I searched google for "Vacation Rentals" just now. Top are paid VRBO and Homeaway then this is the first organic listing. Somebody might verify it on their end but Vacation.Rentals didn't even rank at all and I went down 8 pages. Sad really, so much for cost recovery. And I live where there are lots of vacation rentals. AARP ranks likes 2nd page.
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I just hate when people make up crap to support their agenda.
Vacation Rentals has
never been page 8 - never. Even our biggest drop only took us down to page 3 - number 28.
Today - this very moment - we are number 14 both on Google and Bing and here is the screen shot to prove it from SEO Powersuite..
https://www.screencast.com/t/272BpSaQq
And here is another capture from SEMRush
https://www.screencast.com/t/C1chbydvjNb
There is so much angst in this industry about the gTLDs and it is perplexing to me as to why. I hold nothing against .coms and even said as much in the interview. If it's available and you can afford it - great! Buy it! If not, there are other options available.
The point of the toll free was this. 1-800-Domains is not available. Okay, here is an alternative 1-888-Domains or 1-877-Domains. All things being equal, I would personally take the 800 over the nTFNs :D Consumers are no longer jammed into a corner of dot com. And yes, there are literally 100s of sites that are ranking #1 organically with their gTLDs, so that argument holds no water.
Yes, our initial launch of the site was rough. Yes, we had some coding issues. Yes, we have never
ever marketed the website - ever, but we are happy. In fact, ecstatic is more like the word.
We are making a difference, we are turning corners and we will be just fine. We are going to do our absolute best to put homeowners back in charge of their homes and listings and give both parties a great experience. And we have already locked in the domain for 10 years along with hosting for 5 years. IOW - our costs are very known and nothing is hidden. Donuts has been wonderful to work with.
Championing VRBO, AirBNB, Booking.com is only helping consumers to be gouged without a second thought. You simply cannot fathom the amount of money that is taken from homeowners and travelers alike. But - keep pushing them. It is really immaterial to me. Our homeowners are getting bookings - the site is growing - and we will continue to celebrate the opportunity we have received.
Have a great day everyone