Hi,

I have an apartment for rent in spain and have a website to advertise
it.. the website is called costablanca-apartments.net.  However not
only can i NOT find the website on any search engine but even if i
type in the EXACT website address the search engines still do not
recognise it. Can you please tell me why this may be the case please?

According to the Whois record for "costablanca-apartments.net", the
domain was registered only on 17 November 2004. Sometimes, it takes
months before a website appears in search engines.

By the way, I find it very strange that the website owner's address
obviously appears nowhere on the site. There is only a contact form,
but no street address, no telephone number, no fax number. Under
certain circumstances, the lack of contact information often is a
typical sign of scam businesses.

Scriptor

I get (more below):

WHOIS results for costablanca-apartments.net
Generated by www.DNSstuff.com
I was referred to whois.opensrs.net; I'm looking it up there.



Registrant:
 Musgrove
 2 Aldermans Lane
 Brockhill
 Redditch, Worcs B97 6TJ
 UK

 Domain name: COSTABLANCA-APARTMENTS.NET

 Administrative Contact:
    Musgrove, John  ************@btinternet.com
    2 Aldermans Lane
    Brockhill
    Redditch, Worcs B97 6TJ
    UK
    0152764953
 Technical Contact:
    Technical, PIPEX  ********@123-reg.co.uk
    Portland Street
    Beeston
    Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG9 2LP
    UK
    +44.1159170000    Fax: +44.1158770213



 Registration Service Provider:
    PIPEX Communications Hosting Ltd, ********@123-reg.co.uk
    +44.115-917-0000
    http://www.123-reg.co.uk/
    This company may be contacted for domain login/passwords,
    DNS/Nameserver changes, and general domain support questions.


 Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
 Record last updated on 17-Nov-2004.
 Record expires on 17-Nov-2006.
 Record created on 17-Nov-2004.

 Domain servers in listed order:
    NS.123-REG.CO.UK   
    NS2.123-REG.CO.UK   


 Domain status: REGISTRAR-LOCK


+++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.costablanca-apartments.net/ 
comes up fine for me, albeit a bit slow which suggests that John
Musgrove is running the site off an ADSL line.

Personally having some experience of the package tourism industry (a
long time before the Internet) and some experience of renting out
holiday appartments, I don't think that much of the site.

However it might be because I am a grungy old git that disallows
JavaScript, Java and especially ActiveX - I also use 800x600
resolution and despise sites that do not adjust.

My real criticism is that it does not 'cut to the chase' 
- it should open with a picture of your target couple sitting on a
balcony, overlooking a view, with the essential half demolished bottle
of vino.

If the view is horrible, then open with a shot of the local beach
- but be honest later on.

Web page design is pretty easy, it is just the rubbish that has
'slipstreamed' in with it that makes it complicated.

With your dial up connection you probably have enough 'free' webspace
to host 100 brochures.

It has been mentioned that there is no contact information on this website but 
there is an e.mail contact facility on each and every page that i can see.

E.mail is now being recognised as the most cost effective and easy
manner in which to communicate. Ebay in particular use this method and
there are millions of items bought and sold there every week using the
e.mail facility to contact the vendor. This website is not a scam as
suggested. The reason that tel contact numbers are not posted is
simply because the apartment is being let by a spanish company and
telephoning spain is not cheap.

I get it

You are British and own an appartment on the Costa Blanca
- you got someone in the UK to run you up a Web site
- and you are using a Spanish management company to do the lettings for you

I am afraid that you'll not get much joy the way you are doing it.

Spanish property management companies are ... ahem ... not ideal for
getting bookings - even if run by Ex-Pats (they go native - it is
something in the water).

If you want to get more than one or two weeks sold, then you had best
handle it yourself. By that I mean you do the booking, or pay someone
in the UK to handle it - preferrably commission only.