Name of your website?Roman Homes
Your name?
Dr. Mauro Abate
Your Location (city, etc)
Rome
Please give us a short summary of your website?
We provide quality Rome apartment and villas. The vacation rentals are hand-picked, our properties are in pristine conditions. We pride ourselves of a dedicated service, and we also supply additional services (car service, daily excursions etc.).
What inspired you to launch your own website?
Even before the internet became popular, we already run this business out of passion. Preparing our website incresed our passion and interest in the vacation rental business, as on one hand it increased our business, and on the other hand it made us focus on a fine editorial product which is the foundation of our work.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
In 1997, and it the URL was just the same.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Well, it took many months. I personally thought about the name, writing pages over pages of many names. Finally after hearing all my friends and relatives, I chose the current ones. A funny thing is that most of the names I thought of are now the names and URLS of websites of competitors.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
I believe that the quality of the website, of the properties proposed reveals the quality of the company and our dedication. It is considered to be the most detailed website on Rome on many topics: the Rome Guide, the Rome map, the presentation of sights and quarters with detailed description and photos. Also the properties are shown with many pages and many photos, including panoramic photos and wide angles.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Our only goal is to keep improving it, we work out of passion, we like to interact and to cooperate with other website, if they have our same passion.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Well, if one considers all the astronomical work and time we dedicated to it (both to implement it and to reply to all the queries), I suppose it balances badly. Most people in Italy work by the day or by the hour, they don't even conceive working all the time to improve something which might or might not generate a profi. However, without a website we would have never improved nor increased our business, we would be nowhere.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
Partly developing the visual aspect, partly the editorial content, and above all I would develop the *programming* which implements the interaction with clients, and makes automatic a lot of manual, human work.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
No, because in Europe it is hard to find a gardener or a mason, so imagine all the skilled and dedicated professional running an international production embedded in a primary vacation rental site. Most people in Europe don't like to work, or they want to work from nine to four (not even five), and if they really want to work, they start their own business - and fine themselves desperatly short of collaborators for the same reason.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Well the Italian corporate taxation is higher than we expected, and this is a general feature. Besides this, a lot of web design is needed to update the site, which is increasingly costly. Moroever, clients corresponding online are very demanding and impatient, they do not understand the astronomical loads of work: they believe that you are working for them only. This increses the "headache" of working under pressure.
What has been your biggest challenge?
As mentioned, keeping up the working pace. All other factors (competitors, search engines changing their algorithms etc.) are normal in any business (more or less).
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Web positioning, which I believe is the key factor for any website.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It generated interaction with prospect clients in higher number than ordinary businesses. This means a total commitment, and adapting our lives to work, in a society which is posed for exactly the opposite (most people in Europe adapt work to their lives).
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?
I've been running the site since 1997. Despite a bit worn-out by the constant online pressure, we plan to go ahead and we don't have (as yet) a retirement or "white flag" in mind.
It is useful to select also the *quality* of websites?
I believe that one day also the quality of the sites should be considered, and not only factors as optimization, links etc. Best, also considering the quality of the interaction and service of the people running the website.
What is your website address?
Roman Homes
