Submit a Villa

Home » Services For Owners & Agents » Villa.com FAQs

Find Properties

Villa.com FAQs

Have you got questions? You should find the answers below.

If you do not find an answer to your question, please do not hesitate to Contact Us

Getting Started with Your Website

  • How do I get started?
    • To get started, all you need to do is create a FREE account and provide us with details about your villa, vacation rental property, or villa agency. Upon completion of the FREE account set up, you will be prompted to provide us with credit card details (which we take securely). We will process your order and within 24 hours we will have set you up with your very own website, including the information that you provided during sign up. This will also update your profile on Villa.com… a profile which you can modify at any time. Click here to start a website and secure your Marketing Name.
  • Is it really that ‘easy’ to build my website?
    • Yes… Absolutely! All you need to do to get started is pick your Marketing Name and provide us with the bare minimum information about your villa. We will take this information and configure your account. We will turn it over to you within 24 hours at which point you are free to modify the design, text, and images as you see fit. Changing your design is easy. And if for any reason you find yourself getting stuck, we have video help throughout. Our Support Team is also standing by to answer your questions.
  • I am not a computer programmer, do I need to be?
    • Nope. The software was designed for the non-programmer. If you can type an email or edit a Microsoft Word document, you can build a website.
  • What features are included with my website?
    • There are too many features to mention them all here. Head on over to our Features Page to learn more about what is included.
  • What if I am not happy with a product or service?
    • Well that means that we haven’t been doing our jobs. We want to make you satisfied at all costs. If you are within the first 14 days of your subscription, you can cancel and get 100% of your money back. If you stay longer, you can cancel at any time with ease… though we may send you an email or two afterwards asking how we can improve and do better.
  • What can I sell or promote on my website?
    • You can sell or promote almost anything with the website builder tool. Most of our villa owners use the tool to promote their specific properties to end users. However, villa agents may use their website and marketing name to promote a number of properties. Realtors and Real Estate Sales Agents may even list a number of their properties that they have for sale. In fact, because the website software includes full e-commerce functionality, you can you can sell almost anything on your website, including digital downloads of audio/music, video files, and eBooks. Please read our Terms & Conditions to learn more about what is acceptable use of the website.

Choosing Your Marketing Name

  • What is a “Marketing Name” or “Left of the Dot”‘ domain name?
    • This is also referred to on many other websites as a “Sub-domain Name“. However, for us at Villa.com, we call it a Marketing Name as this is exactly what it is when it is attached to the category brand of Villa.com. It is becoming harder and harder to be found in search engines and find a good website address for your business. We want to solve both of these problems by letting you claim a website address to the left of the dot at Villa.com. In other words, you can choose YourCity.Villa.com, YourRegion.Villa.com, or YourVillaName.Villa.com. In fact, your Marketing Name can be any 4-character string preceding Villa.com. (e.g., 1234.Villa.com)
  • How do I pick my name?
    • We recommend choosing a Marketing Name that describes your products or services or the city or region where you are located. When travelers are looking for a villa or vacation home, they are more likely to type in the destination or region rather than a specific property, and claiming your region states that you are the number one villa or agent for a particular region. After all, there can be only one “Tuscan.Villa.com” even though there are tens of thousands of villas in Tuscany. You can also try generic words or phrases that describe your competitive advantage or unique selling proposition(e.g., “CheapBarbados.Villa.com” or “FloridaGolf.Villa.com”).
  • Can I change my Marketing Name?
    • Each Marketing Name is attached to one subscription. If you want to have multiple subscriptions, you can. Should you wish to cancel one subscription, and start again with a new Marketing Name, it is easy to cancel your subscription from within your website dashboard. You can also contact us and we will help recommend a name that is suitable for your business or property. Should you wish to migrate your existing website to your new Marketing Name, you will need to involve our Support team. You will also be required to re-upload any images or media files yourself.
  • Can I use my own domain name and a Marketing Name?
    • Yes. If you already have a domain name — you know those traditional www.YourVillaNameHere.com things — and want to use the Villa.com Website Builder with this name, you can do so easily. In this instance, your Marketing Name is redirected (through what is called a 301 redirect) to your regular domain name. So if someone types in BestOfItaly.Villa.com, the user would appear to be on BestOfItaly.com if this is your registered domain name.
  • Can I simply use the Marketing Name and point it to my existing website that I host?
    • Yes. However, what you need to use in this instance is a special intermediary page type that we call a “Link Page”. This brings the website visitors first to your Marketing Name and then automatically redirects them to the website address that you specified.
  • Do I have to buy a Domain Name from Villa.com?
    • No. Your Marketing Name is included free with your subscription to the Villa.com website builder. If you want to buy a domain separately, we do offer these for sale for $11.99 per year. If you already have a domain name, you can point this to our web servers very easily. Our Support Team can help you do this if you are having troubles.
  • How do I know if the Marketing Name I want is available?
    • When you go through the sign up process, you will be prompted to select a “Marketing Name”. This will perform a search of available names and you will be informed if your desired name is available. When you complete your registration and pay for your subscription, your Marketing Name will be reserved for your account.
  • I already have a website… why do I need a Marketing Name and website here?
    • If you already have a website, congratulations! You have taken the first step required to get an internet presence for your villa or business. With Villa.com, we can help you take the next step in promoting your Villa to the world at large. Villa.com is a known brand and web searchers trust us to introduce them to the best villas in the market. Listing your villa or service with us guarantees your presence on this important website.
    • However, why you need a Marketing Name is simple. You have an opportunity to ‘own’ a virtual piece of real estate that is truly one of a kind. With a Marketing Name, your villa or service can be the market that you define. You may not be biggest or the most well known, but you can have an internet presence that your competitors cannot match.
    • We call them Marketing Names for a reason. Should you want, you can simply use your Marketing Name for a specific advertising or promotional campaign. They are easy to set up and administer and very easy for prospective customers to remember.
  • Can I use my own website builder with my Marketing Name?
    • No. We are not a website hosting company, and we do not allow third-party website builders to be uploaded to our website servers. If you want to use a different website builder than the one we offer (though we are confident that ours would stack up favorably if compared side-by-side), you could use our Link Page and have a 1-page redirect on your Marketing Name to your externally hosted website and website builder.
  • What happens to my Marketing Name if I cancel my subscription?
    • If you cancel your subscription or if your automatic payments are denied (e.g., a credit card assigned to the account has expired), we hold onto the name for a brief period of time in the event that the cancellation was a mistake or to give us some time to rectify the billing issue attached to the credit card. If we do not hear from you, we will release this Marketing Name to other subscribers for their use. We ask that you keep your credit card up-to-date within the system at all times to prevent your subscription from losing a Marketing Name that is important to you.

Website Design

  • Will my website look professional?
    • Of course! We start you off with a professionally-designed website with all the page types that you need to be successful. You can easily modify this template, choosing from 1700+ other website templates, each of which has been designed by a professional website designer. You can easily add images and text to your website and customize the colors to personalize the site to your villa. We will give you tips and tricks along the way which include best practices to make you proud of the website that you created.
  • Can I build my own design?
    • Yes. In fact, most websites that our customers use are their own designs. Most customers start off with the start website that we create for them, and then customize it to their particular villa or business. This includes changing the header image, adding logos, backgrounds, and so much more.
  • Can visitors see my toolbars and editing buttons?
    • No. The toolbars and editing buttons that you see when you are logged in to the application are only visible to you. In some instances, you may have been ‘cookied’ by the software. This means that we remember who you are and try to help by showing you the editing buttons. Rest assured, these toolbars and editing buttons are only visible to you and not your potential customers.
  • I know HTML and CSS, can I modify the designs myself?
    • Yes. In fact, if you know HTML, we allow you to toggle back and forth between our Easy Editor and an HTML editor. This allows you to manipulate the code on the web page. While we don’t support site-wide CSS, many of our customers familiar with this, add page-based CSS to each page of their website. Our Technical Support team can help you do this if you would like to learn more.
  • Will I need a designer or website programmer to make changes to my website?
    • Definitely not. In fact, this is exactly the reason why we have made our website builder easy – so easy that anyone can edit your website. By not needing a designer or website programmer, you can change your website content at any time and without any more added cost.

Custom Design Program

  • What is the Custom Design Program?
    • While our website builder software is easy to use, sometimes it is still easier to get someone else to design your website for you. We recognize this and give every customer a jumpstart website that allows you to fill in the blanks to have a great looking website. However, even then, you may want a different design. To make this process easier, we have an affordable Custom Design Program that will take away some of the frustrations that you may experience by not having the time to do it yourself.
  • What is included with the Custom Design Program
    • For those interested, we set up your website with a custom website design and template and give you the first 5 pages already built using the template we design exclusively for you. Your design may include a new website logo if you do not already have one. If you want more pages, you can add these yourself at a later date. We will even set up your first 5 products within your catalog if you are selling direct to consumers. We find that websites with the first 5 pages and 5 products address 80-90% of that required by most customers. And with these pages started for you, adding a few more is really, really easy.
    • Custom designs are delivered complete to you within about 10 business days.
  • How much does it cost?
    • The custom design program is a one-time fee of $399. There are no annual or recurring fees with this program other than your usual monthly subscription fee for the service. Click here to read more about pricing.
  • How do I sign up for the Custom Design Program
    • Within your Villa.com dashboard, you will see a box called the “QuickStart Custom Design Program”. Click on this link and you will be walked through a wizard that will guide you through a submission process. This process has 5 steps and can be completed in stages if you want. The process involves asking you some questions about what you are looking for in your website and gets you to provide some text. All of the information will be assigned to the designer selected to work on your website. Contact our Support Team if you have any questions about our Design Program.

SEO & Marketing Your Website

  • What impact does my Marketing Name have on SEO?
    • When building a website, it is important to consider Search Engine Optimization (or SEO as it is commonly referred). However, it is really hard to measure all that impacts search engines, as to date, the major search providers have not disclosed the details of their ever-changing formulae. However, we believe that your Marketing Name is good for search engines. As Aaron Wall the SEO guru and author of the popular SEOBOOk website recently wrote, “Start with a good descriptive domain name. You spend less to market & brand descriptive URLs. Plus, they are good for search engines and for humans.”
    • By partnering with Villa.com and building out your Marketing Name, you get to leverage the domain age and the strength of the Villa.com brand. Remember, Google has long maintained that if you build your website for people and make it logical for them to find what they are looking for, the search rankings will take care of themselves. We are sure that you will agree that if you have “Tuscan.Villa.com” as your domain name, those that find you through search engines will know what to expect at this domain… and if it is good for searchers, it will be good and relevant for the search engines.
  • What makes the website builder Search Engine friendly?
    • Aside from leveraging the power of the Marketing Name, the builder itself is SEO friendly. Our websites load quickly thanks to the state-of-the-art data center we maintain and this is one of the contributing factors for search engines. Additionally, you can easily add page-specific title tags and alternate attributes for images. The website builder also has easy integration with Google Webmaster tools allowing you to easily build a Google XML Sitemap. Creating this sitemap tells Google that you have content and ensures that the Google search spiders see your website content. But perhaps the biggest impact is the fact that you can easily add and change the website text and pictures on your website, creating fresh content that search engines love.
  • I am being called by marketing companies, are they affiliated with Villa.com?
    • No they are not! Many unscrupulous companies call new website owners within a few days of launching the website offering assorted marketing services. These phone calls often preclude with a near threat that unless you retain their services, you will not be able to rank in the search engines. These so-called service providers charge thousands of dollars for their systems. They are not affiliated nor endorsed by us. Only those services listed in the Resources section of your Villa.com website builder are those that we recommend.
  • How do you help me with marketing my website?
    • Your success is our success, so we want to help you market your website. On your Villa.com website dashboard, we provide links to helpful guides and books about promoting your business. We will also be sending you emails periodically that give advice on marketing your website. Furthermore, within your website editor, you have a section called “Marketing”. This includes some useful links and tools to help you on your journey.

Accepting Payments

  • Can I sell products and take money for reservations from my website?
    • Yes. Our website builder has been designed for ecommerce from the ground up. You can sell all sorts of products: from hard goods to digital downloads. You can even have a secure section that is exclusive to members or wholesalers.
  • Can I add third-party booking reservations software to my website?
    • Yes. Most booking services provide you with the ability to cut and paste a piece of code and add it to your website. You can easily switch to your HTML editor and add the code to your website.
  • Can I accept credit cards on my website?
    • Definitely. There are two ways to accept credit cards. If you are just getting started and only expect to sell a limited number of products, the easiest way to get started is to use the PayPal plug-in that comes already built into your new website. With PayPal, you can start accepting credit cards instantly. Of course, if you prefer, you can use another one of the payment gateways that we’ve integrated into our platform, such as Authorize.net, to charge credit cards directly (alternate options are available for non-US currencies). A gateway bridges your merchant account to the Internet. Note that Authorize.net charges separate fees for their service.
  • Are my customers’ credit card orders secure?
    • Yes. We take security around here seriously . The Villa.com website builder is protected with 128-bit VeriSign secure certificates. This is the highest level of protection available for encryption, so high that the US military prohibits the private sector use of anything beyond this level of encryption because of security concerns.
  • What features are included with the Shopping Cart?
    • More of our features are described over here on our Features page. But in brief, with the integrated Villa.com shopping cart you get: a complete Shipping Calculator, a Tax Calculator, a secure certificate from VeriSign, easy shipping/return policy creation, new sales notification, and online order viewing.
  • What happens when I make a sale?
    • This depends on how you configure the application. Should you choose, you can receive an email notification containing the date and time of the sale, as well as the items purchased and total sale amount. Should you want to view more order details, you can do so via the Villa.com dashboard.
  • What is a payment processor?
    • A “payment processor” lets you accept online payments without a merchant account of your own. Instead, they let you use their merchant account, usually with very little setup required. PayPal is an example of a Payment Processor.
  • Can I receive manual payments on my website?
    • Of course. When you turn on your online payments module, you’ll have the option of collecting your customers’ payment and order information, allowing you to process these orders manually through your own credit card terminal (or by the web interface of a virtual payment terminal like PayPal).
  • What methods of payment can I accept?
    • This is entirely dependent on the payment processor that you select. Most payment processors accept Visa and MasterCard as standard. With PayPal, you can accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and payments from other PayPal accounts. You can also offer your customers the option to phone or fax in orders, or mail money orders and checks. Of course, this is less secure than the shopping cart security that we provide.
  • What currencies can I use?
    • Once again, this is entirely dependent on your selected payment processor. PayPal accepts payments in US dollars, Canadian dollars, and Euros.

Technical Questions

  • Do I need to install anything on my computer?
    • Nothing at all. As long as you use an Internet browser and can access the Internet, you can make changes to your Villa.com website from anywhere. Simply sign-in and select your website that you are going to be working on. It really is that simple.
  • What is my expected up-time? What sort of redundancy is in place?
    • Within our technology environment, we have full redundancy in place to eliminate outages and problems. In fact, we have special computer programs that automatically check the status of the servers 60 times per hour on each service. If a failed server is detected, an automatic repair routine runs to bring the server back online. If the program cannot restore the failed server, a technician is automatically notified. So even if we have hardware problems, most of these should be invisible to you. Your website visitors should never see problems with your website if a server fails.
  • Where is my website hosted?
    • Your website is located in a state-of-the-art facility in Vancouver BC that was designed to host internet websites. In fact, it is not a stretch to state that more than 2% of the world’s websites are hosted in this exact facility.
  • What about website backups?
    • Our web servers are backed up on-site every four hours to protect important information and allow recovery of information in the rare event it is necessary. However, we also go the added mile and back up your information to an off-site location to protect it and prevent loss of information in the event of a catastrophic event.
  • Can I upload my own website builder to your web servers?
    • No. We are not a web hosting facility. It is only our website builder that can run on our web servers.
  • What kind of Technical Support is included?
    • We provide you with full technical support, and 98% of questions asked here are responded to within one-business-day. For the other 2%, you will receive no longer than a three-business-day response on all other questions. To submit a question, you will use our online support ticketing system. These questions are queued to our support staff according to the type of question asked. Questions requiring sales, network or developer input are flagged by support for review by the appropriate specialist. This allows questions to be answered quickly, efficiently and by the right person.

Website Security

  • How secure is my website?
    • Very secure. In fact, your information is protected 128-bit encryption which is the highest level of non-military security available.
  • What about the building in which my website is hosted?
    • The facility has 24-hour front desk and security patrols, card locks, physical key locks, and the website equipment is stored in separately secured server rooms keep your information safe and online.
  • What protects my customers’ credit card transactions?
    • These are protected too. The entire website builder and all transactions are protected with 128-bit VeriSign secure certificates.

Website and Premium Listing Pricing

  • How much does the service cost?
    • We have 3 offerings for you: a FREE Listing on Villa.com, a Premium Listing which gets you premium promotion via the Villa.com website (this also gets you lead distribution and links to any website you choose), and the website service itself. The Premium Listing costs $14.95/month while your subscription to the website builder and Marketing Name at Villa.com costs only $29.95/month. This is the all included price and includes your shopping cart and security certificates. If you were to hire a designer, the same functionality would cost you several thousand dollars. If your declared location is in British Columbia (Canada), you will be subject to HST. Other parts of Canada will be required to pay GST or HST, depending on your region. This is in addition to the monthly subscription charge.
    • All charges are processed in US currency.
  • Do I pay extra for my Marketing Name, or is it included?
    • Nope. It is included and is one of the key benefits of signing up for the service. We are the only service that can offer you access to the Marketing Name of Villa.com.
  • What is included for the price?
    • Everything except the kitchen sink.
  • What is your 14-day Money Back Guarantee?
    • We will do everything possible to make you happy. But, if for some reason you are not, and you cancel within 14 days of activating your website, we will refund all of your money. This is our guarantee to you. Refunds are batched every few days. Due to normal bank processing times, it takes about 7 business days for the credit to appear in your account, from the time it was refunded.
  • How easy is it to cancel my Website or Premium Listing if I am not happy?
    • Very easy. If you are not happy (and we can’t make you happy), then cancelling the website can be done online via your User Account. You can also Contact Us should you have any questions.
  • What sort of price protection do you offer?
      • We understand that signing up for an online service can sometimes be a scary process with a lot of unknowns … particularly as it relates to pricing within a month-to-month subscription service. With Villa.com, the price you are quoted is the price you are going to be charged. Whille we don’t anticipate changing rates, we offer you a 1-year price certainty from any pricing change. This means that should we change our rates in 5 years, you are protected with the price you are presently paying for 1 year after we announce this rate change. Communication of any such change will be communicated via email that you provide during registration.
    • Can I buy my own domain names through you?
      • Yes. If you want a traditional domain name in addition to your Marketing Name, you can buy these through your Villa.com dashboard. The price for these is $11.99 yearly. As long as you are a customer, we will automatically manage and renew these domains on your behalf. If you leave, you can request to have your domain ‘pushed’ to your personal domain account.
    • How much does it cost for the Custom Design Program?
      • The custom design program costs a one-time fee of $399. This is much, much less than hiring your own website designer to build you a website (and probably a lot less than you have ever paid previously for a custom website design).
    • How do I pay? When do I pay?
      • You will pay after you have provided information that is used to populate your FREE website listing. At a minimum, we want to ensure that your property is featured and promoted to our website visitors. After signing up for your listing, you will be prompted for your credit card via a secure order form.
      • All transactions on your credit card will auto renew and show up as a charge from ‘LeftOfTheDot Media’. Left of the Dot Media Inc is our parent company.

    About Villa.com

    • Who is behind Villa.com?
      • Villa.com is a joint venture between the Villa.com domain service and Left of the Dot Media Inc. who got together to build out a website that connects Villa owners with those looking to rent or buy a villa. While the technology used to power your website has been enhanced and refined for for more than ten years, these two companies started working together in 2010.
      • Left of the Dot Media Inc. is a Vancouver, BC corporation and was formed in 2010. The company is located at Suite 320, 321 Water Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 1B8.
    • Why Villa.com?
      • To read more about why Villa.com, read this description here.

    Customer Support

    • What kind of support is included?
      • At Villa.com, we provide online technical support 7 days per week. From within the Villa.com dashboard, you can launch our Help section that contains an in-depth knowledge base that should answer 90% of your questions. Should your questions not be addressed via this Help section, you can submit an online ticket for one of our live support agents to respond to. We also provide Help documentation and videos throughout the application that explains things in plain English.
    • When can I expect a response from my Support Ticket?
      • We have found that 98% of questions asked here are responded to within one-business-day. And our promise to you is that you will receive no longer than a three-business-day response on all other questions.
    • How do I contact Support?
      • To submit a question if you are a website or marketing name subscriber, you will use our online support ticketing system. These questions are queued to our support staff according to the type of question asked. Questions requiring sales, network or developer input are flagged by support for review by the appropriate specialist. This allows questions to be answered quickly, efficiently and by the right person. Access to the Ticketing System is available from numerous places throughout your Villa.com website builder. If you can’t access your Villa.com Dashboard (i.e., can’t login or are not yet a trial customer), you can contact our Support team here.
      • You can also reach us vial email at support@villa.com or by toll free phone: (888) 633-4596
    • How do I log-in to my Villa.com account?
      • Go to http://www.Villa.com and in the footer of every page, you will see a text link called “LOGIN”. Click on this link, then enter your usrename and password that you used to set up your account. Once logged in, you can administer your account and add multiple marketing names. You will also be prompted to login separately to each individual website. We do so to maintain security of your accounts and limit access to only those who have appropriate credentials.
    • I’ve forgotten my password/I am having trouble logging in. What do I do?
      • If you have typed everything correctly, you can request a refresh of your password by clicking here. If your new password doesn’t work, do not hesitate to contact our Support Team. We are here to help.
    • Where can I read more about the Terms and Conditions?
      • The Villa.com site terms and policies are available by clicking on the “Site Terms & Privacy” link found in the footer of the website. You can also click here.
    • Who can I talk to if I have questions about my website or the service?
      • Our Support Team can answer most questions regarding your website. If they can’t help you, they will route your inquiry to another member of our team who can.

Featured Sites

Property Types

Top Agents

About Us

Villa.com provides you with everything you need to find a villa or vacation home. From vacation homes to executive rentals, Villa.com has a villa for you. Whether you are looking for Villas for Sale or Villas for Rent, you can find it on Villa.com

Featured Sites

Introducing Marketing Names

If you are a Villa owner or agent and are looking to rent or sell a villa or vacation home, check out our Marketing Names. There can be no better way to attract attention and get more customers then this new, innovative service.

- John


© 2011 Villa.com All right reserved.

Send to Friend

Email Agent

We are sorry

We do not presently have more information on the listing you selected.

Press Esc to return to the business/service listing