Name of your website?Noelani Apt 307
Your name?
Anita Kaul
Your Location (city, etc)
Lahaina
Please give us a short summary of your website?
My site is geared towards people looking for a vacation rental condo. It includes all of the information that they would want to know about the condo in order to decide to rent it.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I wanted to increase the occupancy. The rental association of the condo complex focuses their marketing efforts on the honeymoon market which doesn't apply to my condo which is a three bedroom.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
I first launced a site 1999 and it was this site, though in a very rudimentary form. The current version is my 3rd iteration and has been up for 5 years. I'm in the process of redesigning the site to modernize it and add sections that will be of interest to my clientele.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I looked for catchy vacation related names that people would remember and made a list. I kept going down the list until I found one that was available.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
I target a very specialized market. With a 3 bedroom condo, I'm targeting family vacations, multi-generational vacations and multiple couples vacationing together. I optimize for the search terms "3 bedroom Maui condo" or "family vacation maui condo". I find it a waste of time to target people who are searching under terms like "maui condo" or "maui vacation" because they are just too general.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
The goal of my site is to maintain a 75% occupancy rate in the condo and to raise the daily rental rate. It is impractical to raise occupancy higher than 80% because the condo needs to be cleaned/repaired and people do not always rent exactly one week at a time. However, by keeping occupancy up near the practical limit and by giving my extra clients to the other condos in the complex, we will drive the rental rates up, creating a greater profit.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
In good economic years it is difficult to measure the success of the website against bookings coming from the rental association because you will get high occupancy regardless of the source of clients. Where the site really pays off is in years where people are cutting back on vacations. I will maintain my occupancy rate while the other condos in the complex will see their occupancy rate fall. This gives me a more dependable income stream.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
1. I would give virtual tours of each room and the grounds. 2. I would have an online reservation system with credit card payments. 3. I would create subdomains for each separate market that I am targeting.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
This would never be a problem for me. Unfortunately, I'm limited by my product. There is only so much occupancy that I can sell.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
I had to become a travel writer and write about sightseeting, interesting events, and how to deal with situations when travelling to Maui. Some of these articles appear on my site. Other articles appear on other sites but link back to my site. The issue is that I've never been a good writer. Although I can research subjects and write clearly, I have a problem with making my writing interesting to other readers. I'm currently experimenting with hiring writers to turn my boring articles into something fabulous. I've also had to become a photographer and learn how to get the best picture that conveys the message that I want.
What has been your biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge was learning how to market my site so that it is seen. Many people believe that you only need to build a site and the money will role in. They don't understand that it takes a continual effort in marketing and search engine optimization.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Keyword optimization for specialized markets has been the most successful in terms of effectiveness. I get a high percentage of site visitors actually renting the condo. The next most effective has been writing articles.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It takes much more time than I expected. I originally thought that I would create the site and then forget about it. I really have to do some monitoring of site performance and marketing on a weekly basis.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
The site has been running since 1999. I will keep it going as long as we keep renting out the condo.
What is your website address?
Noelani Apt 307
