I've created a unique and interesting directory: now what?

[highmarkmedia]

For the first time in my "web master" side career, I've actually createad a really cool, genuinely useful, UNIQUE type of website. I honestly believe if you could "fast forward" to a point at which there are a reasonable number of listings it would be hard not to find it an incredibly cool site.

Anyway... I've built it. www.xplorica.com

Now what? I've got some marketing ideas but I'd love to hear from the Pros & Gurus here: How do I build momentum and start getting listings? It's going to be a very uphill battle at first until I can can take a "well most of the people in your town have their vacation rental/adventure tour listed with me already, why don't you?" approach.

In short: I have a directory that definitely offers something different - how do I get the ball rolling and start getting new listings (hopefully paid ones)?

I really appreciate everyone's comments!

[ticketauction]

seems like a cool idea. I have a few ideas for getting started but my first hesitancy was that ALL USERS would need to download software just to use your site.

I would make it much less dependent on that and have that as like a cool bonus. Use the flickr photos, collect your own, do anything but make people wait for a five minute download and install before they can buy.

[Christiaan]

You might try:

http://validator.w3.org/check?verbos...plorica.com%2F

to see how well your site is scripted.

[highmarkmedia]

I have built in all of the "typical" features of a traditional listing service: searches, multiple photos, contact the agent...
PLUS, I've also included a Google Map that while far less interesting, does serve a similar function to that of the Google Earth network link. Therefore it is not necessary for the person purchasing a listing to have Google Earth installed (or know how to use it) in order to use the service and realize value.

As for the validation, it looks like I totally bomb out on that... does failing validation have big implications?

Back to the core of my question, does anyone have ideas on how to attract new customers or build momentum with the listings?

[mantawebsolutions]

1. fix validation errors
2. add XML sitemap via Google Account
3. Make sure your site is crawled by SE's
4. Get links back to your site from relevant resources

[lacantina]

Great idea!

Why not give a small adwords campaign a shot? You could also run content network ads on a few select sites and see how they perform?

Do you have a budget or are you mainly looking for "free" ideas?

[highmarkmedia]

Thanks for the above suggestions!

I'm trying a small adwords campaign: I'm restricting it to the actual vacation destinations in hopes of getting clicks from the people that own the properties... we'll see how well that works.

I see above a mention of validation: I'll do a search and read up on it, but how big of a deal is validation for SE results?

Thanks for everyone's input.

[mantawebsolutions]

Validation is important, not only for the functionality of your site but also for SEO - see www.rankquest.com/seotips/2005/10/html-validation-being-friendly-to.html , www.ewebmarketing.com.au/seo/22_search_engine_optimisation_article.htm and evolt.org/w3c-compliance-and-seo. It is better having a site with correct HTML and CSS, than a site with errors on it.

You can check your HTML Validation here validator.w3.org

CSS Validation is here jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

[sarika_mosaic]

Syndicate your website content in form of Blogs, RSS, Articles, Ebook, Press Relaeses etc. in order to enhance your online visibility and rankings.

[highmarkmedia]

Thank you for the suggestion: I've now added RSS for new listings.

Oh - and because of some legal hassles, I've had to change my Google Earth Destination Directory from xplorica to www.Mappica.com.

Thanks again everyone for the great advice.

[webmasterlabor.com]

There's many FREE sources of traffic on the Net as long as you don't SPAM (read the sites' TOS/AUP so you know how NOT to cross the line from content to SPAM)

Article dumps, directories, ezine lists, social networking sites, forums, etc etc.

Some general tips:
1) FIND where your target market is on the Internet
2) Create on-topic CONTENT that they can use as a resource. Add a link to your site.
3) RESPOND in an on point manner that ADDS to the conversation and adds INFO that is ACTUALLY USEFUL.

Rinse, repeat, and VIRALIZE your pages so heavily FILTERED users that are really interested in your content will BOOKMARK you and invite their friends.

Just like a journey of a thousand miles that starts with one simple step... a site with a MILLION clicks a day starts with 1 heavily filtered and qualified free click :)