Whether you have your own web site or blog or use a rental agency or listing site to help market your vacation property, you will find that knowing a bit about search engine optimization is helpful not only for understanding how traffic is driven to websites, but also to see how simple it can be to do it yourself. These resources are the best on the web and in print, and taking some time to read and learn the basics can deliver more traffic to your site, bog or listing.

The following are my choices based on what I use on a daily basis.

Best Book

The Art of SEO

This is a mighty tome sub-titled 'Mastering Search Engine Optimisation'. I have it on my desk and dip in and out of it regularly. If you want a text book that is an easy reference to all-things SEO this is the one I would suggest. The chapter on Keyword Research is particularly helpful and will bring you into the world of long-tail search where '70% of search queries occur'.

Best Web Sites

The Beginners Guide to SEO from SEOMOZ is a rattling good read. Well, not in the same way as Fifty Shades of Grey seems to be considered a good read, but for someone new to SEO and enthusiastic about learning more, it could rock your boat. Just as an aside, and why it might be helpful to have the SEO book handy, it does assume some prior knowledge. For example:

"Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content. Make sure that your 'title' elements and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate."

I think any of us can understand the first sentence but you might have to dip back into the Art of SEO to get to grips with the second. (page 38 in Chapter 2)

SEO Book.com is a site much like this one. There's a lot of valuable free stuff available, but the real meat is hidden and accessible only to members. Unlike Renting for Profit though which is very inexpensive to join, SEO Book membership is a snip at $300 per month so unlikely to attract many VR owners unless they have a professional interest in SEO. The free tools make the public registration worthwhile particularly the Keyword Research Tool which is very helpful in finding what keywords and phrases are being searched by people looking to rent a property in your area.

Both these sites have helpful communities that you can reach out to with questions.

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