Handpicked Cottages - Changing with the Times

Toward the end of the full lock down we decided that is was time to take Handpicked Cottages to the next level in terms of the development of the site. Our mission when we launched the website some 2 years ago was to be one of the most visible websites on the web for those looking for luxury self-catering accommodation across the UK. With over 500 page 1 Google rankings this first step has now been achieved although we can still improve.

Never being a company to rest on our laurels we embarked on a multiple redevelopment strategy but with 2 major goals. These goals were to dramatically improve the user experience for our visitors in terms of how they search, enquire and book holiday cottages through our portal.

Secondly but equally importantly was to allow our advertisers to be able to actively adapt to the ever changing circumstances with regard to covid and the cancellations and re bookings that this has brought.

New Search Facility

Visitors to our site can now browse by the type of holiday or break they are looking for such as walking holidays, activity breaks, romantic breaks, coastal escapes etc. They can also search by the type of facilities they are looking for within their accommodation such as hot tub cottages, accessible cottages, places with pools etc. We have also made search via location super easy with our new search bar system which displays and searches for regions, counties, aonb’s and even towns and villages taking the strain out of searching for your ideal location.

Helping Advertisers React to Changing Times

Built in to our owners area is now the ability to instantly upload latest offers, new availability due to cancellations or other and to do this easily and at no cost. Those who have already used this system regularly report great early results and we hope other advertisers will pick up on this and take advantage of this service.

For those who really want to “make a splash” we have introduced our premium advertising service which allows advertisers to book some of the most prominent Premium Advertising on Handpicked including: Home Page Slider Slots, Featured Cottage, Country Banner, Collections banner just to name a few.

These prime spots are proving to be extremely successful and very good value for money.  Over the summer months traffic to Handpicked Cottage spiked incredibly as visitors were desperate to get away for a holiday or break. We were ready for this and made sure our hosting and back up services we able to cope with a huge wave of new visitors and we are pleased to say it coped admirably with no reports of any downtime throughout these months.

Be top dog by becoming the featured property in any collection or location

Social Media Frenzy

We are the first to admit as our main focus early one was to achieve high Google rankings and therefore traffic, click throughs, enquiries and bookings our social media efforts unfortunately had to take a back seat. This has now changed and since September our activity on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has increased 4 fold and thankfully so have our followers.

Although it is still early days and we have a long way to go we are determined to become one of the most active companies in our field in the promotion of our advertisers by this method. To help us to achieve this we would ask you to follow us to receive information on the very best accommodation, late deals and great offers.

So Much More to Do

While progress has been made we want to continue to reinvest back in to Handpicked Cottages and constantly push the envelope in terms of user experience, name recognition and the quality of service we offer to both our visitors and advertisers alike.

And Finally…

As part of this we are already working in association with some major corporations, niche complimenting companies and influencers who wish to be involved with the Handpicked Cottages brand. These include: Virgin Experience, Oracle Watches, Magners, Saltee, Dine indulge to name just a few.