A question I have been asked many times is “How can I improve my Airbnb listing?”
We manage properties on behalf of owners, MYP Services lists them on many platforms like Airbnb, Booking .com, Expedia, VRBO, Agoda and our own direct booking site. We have found many that host their own property prefer to use only Airbnb or VRBO.
Each platform has it’s own criteria, Airbnb and VRBO give you the most control over what the potential guest sees out of the main platforms. Guests booking mostly don’t go past photos, price and first few lines of content, so once they click how can you improve your booking ratio?
Your cover photo is vital to lead someone to clicking on your listing. Once someone clicks on it they can see 5 photos on Airbnb and 4 photos on VRBO on a desktop. I have seen some great photo selections with a mix of colour, rooms and at least one external shot/location. Straight away anyone can get a clear idea of the property without clicking into more photos – 15-25 photos works well.
Through testing and asking guests, we have found that summarised points make it easier to understand your property. Airbnb limits their initial description and allows further text in “your space”. Whereas VRBO gives you the ability to combine all. Our experience has been a 1 line summary then 8-10 key points of what makes your property different works best. Test and measure different methods for yourself.
When we first started we kept this rather brief, we were receiving enquiries in that first message rather than booking instantly. Simply we learnt to add the information up front and minimise enquiries. Therefore to maximise instant bookings and lower questions we include any thing they should know about the property. Our information includes aspects that are both positive and negative – no surprises for a guest. . Covering all this upfront in the listing increased the ratio of instant books compared to enquiries. We also encourage to be upfront on all fees.
Take the time to work on your listing, the above are only 3 considerations.
If you have an existing listing on any platform we would be happy to look at it for you and give a few tips, feel free to contact us with your listing.
Photo below is from one of our listings. I love this photo as it’s simple yet captures the perfect feel for the type of guest this property attracts (It is a small apartment).
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