How to get more bookings on Airbnb?

[Jennifer4]

Hi,

My name is Jennifer and I am an Airbnb Host for almost two years at this time. I have rented to hundreds of clients and have been a Superhost for over one year. In the beginning I didn't get that many bookings, however currently I am 90% fully booked every single month.

This is what I did, to get more bookings per month:

1. Great pictures

In the beginning when I didn’t receive reservations I had pictures made with my mobile phone, they weren’t that great so I changed them. I learned that people are attracted by great pictures. I mean, ask yourself this question. Would I stay in my own place just looking at the pictures I currently have on Airbnb­?

I paid a professional photographer to make great pictures of everything my apartment, the building and the neighborhood have to offer. I have uploaded over 20 pictures per apartment and assured that all important details are being shown, this way my guests now exactly what they’re going to find without even reading the description.

1. Great Descriptions

When writing your property description be as clear and specific as possible, assure that all small details are inserted so potential guests won’t have to send you emails asking for details. It is also very important that your description is attractive to read, and makes the guest feel like they want to stay in your apartment. Once writing a great description about your property, the building, neighborhood etc. Assure that you adjust it into different languages if possible. Most of my current guests are from the United States, therefore I have my descriptions both in English and Spanish.

Another detail is spelling, try to avoid spelling mistakes as this will look unprofessional.

1. Guest Communication

Once your profile has been setup correct, you will see that the first requests and reservations will come in soon. A great way to stay up to date with what is happening and to respond in a timely manner is to download the Airbnb mobile app. I use this on a daily base to stay up to date, as I will receive a text message each time I have a reservation or request I am able to respond quicker. Assume that guests may write several properties, your timely respond is key to be able to get the reservation.

When responding to guests try to respond in a friendly and professional way, in their own language if possible and respond as quickly as possible.

1. Guest stay

After having a complete profile and receiving your reservations, key is to give them a great experience. I always try to overachieve their expectations as this will result in happy guests, great reviews, returning guests and even more guests because of the great reviews.

This is what I am doing: try to make people feel welcome in your accommodation. When a person comes to your place assure a great check-in. Confirm arrival time, who is going to check them in, address details or maybe transportation. Try to surprise them by adding something personal from the Dominican Republic, a personal welcome letter, sweets or a bottle of wine could make a big difference in their first impression.

During the stay keep in contact with your guest to verify that everything is going perfect, be there for them. When checking-out make them feel welcome back and always try to receive as much feedback as possible to improve. Assure your write a constructive review, so they will write you a review back.

1. Prices

Having competitive prices is key. Just take a look around on Airbnb to similar properties in your area who are highly ranked in the search, try to match their rates. Once you have a great profile and good reviews you could eventually higher the price when you are getting enough reservations to fill up the whole month.

Also keep in my mind that you offer specific prices per day, week and month. The longer a guest stays often the better the rate should be to be competitive in the market. Also keep in mind that prices may vary regarding the season. In the Dominican Republic, winter is in most places high season and summer low season. It is advisable to adjust your prices accordingly.

1. Availability

Try to keep your calendar up to date so you won’t have to tell potential guests that your property is already booked. To get more reservations you can turn on direct reservations, in this case people could book directly without having to request if the apartment is available first.

I hope that the above advice helps you to get more reservations. If you have any questions, then feel free to ask me. 

Saludos,

Jennifer

Please find my properties here: [link removed]

[Kirstie · Accepted solution]

Hi @Jennifer4,

This is a great guide! Thanks so much for sharing :). 

We have now added it to our list of Community Help Guides!

Kirstie

[Dev4 · Accepted solution]

@Jennifer4

Good post and great advice! I feel that you have build a stellar reputation on Airbnb with over 100 reviews. If I was a guest, I wouldn't even think once before booking with you. 

I host in Toronto, where Airbnb is a fierce market and highly seasonal due to the four seasons that we see each year. Its tough to keep higher occupancy in the winter months. Also, if you a new host who is learning and building a reputation on the platform than things are more difficult. In addition to the points you mentioned, I would suggest that:

1. Know your guests - Airbnb is a business and in any business you have to know who your customer is. The more specific you are, the better you will get at pricing, guest satisfaction and anticipating problems that guests will eventually bring to your attention.

2. Listing description - once you know your guests, decorate your space keeping the preferred guests in mind. Write the desciption so that it appeals to that segment.

3. Contantly upgrade your property - set asisde a budget to put money on your listing. If you want to remain competitive and earn good reviews, then you have to regularly improve your offering so that the next guest is happier than the previous one.

Regards,

Casadell 

[Tran10 · Accepted solution]

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for your great word. I am very happy to learn about your sharing.

Hope to hear more your experience.

Best Regards,

Hung

[Kathie10]

Thanks Emily.  I suppose that they are testing this option.  It might be useful if we could set our own terms, but otherwise not so much.

[Steve381]

Hello,

I would like to know if we're doing something wrong? We have an ocean front condo with plenty of pictures and a great description, but only one booking and one inquiry. Can someone help?

[Nicolas386]

Hi, Very useful, first time fro me hosting... a bit weary why my propertry will not list.  Thanks 🙂 Nick

[BedandStay0]

I guess I need to improve my pictures. I am in Tokyo and I joined Airbnb on November 2017 and so far I only got 3 bookings. I do not know what else to do. It is kinda frustrating. 

[Kathie10]

I suggest that you take a close look at your competition, gauging the comparables carefully (price, amenities, size, location, etc). Develop a feel for how your listing stands up to the competition and how you might improve yours.  Look to see how frequently they are booked so that you can develop reasonable expectations for your place. 

Of course the listing itself is critical. Pictures are key.  I believe Airbnb offers the use of a complimentary photographer, but that might not be the case any more. If you must do it yourself, a wide angle lens is most important. Look at your competitors to see how they’ve staged their photos. 

Other listings are a great source of ideas for improving your listing’s text.   I have included considerable detail in mine so the guests know exactly what is provided.  Don’t forget to pay special attention to the  house rules.  Disasters can be avoided by clear expectations. I ask my guests to treat my house as they would their own home. 

Your initial guest reviews are very important. I suggest that you meet your guests at check in to show them around and answer their questions. It gives you the opportunity to develop a rapport and a real relationship. I have found this most enjoyable, and I believe my guests appreciate do too. I also tell them that I am available anytime through the app should they encounter a problem or have a question. 

Hospitality is an art. With my house, I have tried to adopt the welcoming tone I enjoyed from places where I’ve stayed and felt most at home.  The rewards have been great.  99% of our guests have been wonderful.  It has been an affirming experience. 

I hope these suggestions are helpful as you make your way. Do not be discouraged. Take it one guest at a time, and do your best to see that they depart satisfied. 

Good luck!

[Huma0]

There are lots of helpful tips on this thread, but many of them are about keeping guests happy once they have already booked. Of course, this results in better reviews and, in theory, more bookings, but what if number/quality of reviews is not the problem?

I started hosting in 2016 (put my different guest rooms on Airbnb between August and November) and have been very busy with bookings ever since. Until now.

Although I got a healthy number of bookings for December, it was nowhere near as busy as the previous year. This January has been super quiet and I will make a loss for the first time. It could be the season, but last January I was fully booked! February and March are completely dead right now. I've never had so few bookings.

What's gone wrong? I have tried to follow most of the tips on here, e.g. professional photos, plenty of information in the listings, updating them regularly, prompt communication and I have lots of good reviews and Superhost status. I've also checked out the competition and my room rates are very competitive, plus I don't charge a cleaning fee. I get good scores on value.

I can think of three explanations.

1. Someone suggested on these forums that new listings don't just get a boost in the search rankings the first month, but for several months, so that could be one reason my bookings have dropped so much compared to the previous year.

2. Although I have never cancelled a reservation, I did have to decline a few requests a couple of months ago for reasons too complicated to explain. Could this also have had an impact on my ranking?

3. Over time, I have tightened up my house rules. Perhaps these put off some guests? On the other hand, I find that most guests who request/enquire haven't read these anyway and when I ask them to, it doesn't seem to put them off booking.

If the number of views showing on my stats is correct, I'm also not getting such a high percentage of bookings from these, so perhaps there's another problem, although I have no idea what percentage would be normal in a market as competitive as London, where I know there are well over 5,000 listings.

I'd be grateful for any other tips on A. pushing my ranking up the search results and B. getting more guests to follow through with bookings.

[Kathie10]

As to factor 1, my listing is also in the second year, and I have not experienced a notable decrease in bookings.

As to factor 2, I have declined a number of inquiries, but have probably declined only a few requests.  I guess it's possible they're punishing you, but I kind of doubt it.  I am always careful to offer Airbnb an explanation for declinations of both inquiries and requests.

As to factor 3, I have pretty strict and explicit house rules (and a strict cancellation policy), but still get a healthy number of bookings.  I doubt that the rules are a factor, and if they are, I don't want those guests anyway.  

Sounds like you're doing everything you can to keep your listing in Airbnb's good graces in terms of search rankings.  Superhost and Business Ready are helpful, I hope.   My listing is now getting a "Top Quality" flag, but no one seems to know for sure what that's about.

I have also gone to Instant Booking, but only for guests who have positive ratings from other hosts.  Airbnb promised that I would get more thousands more bookings.  While I have seen a number of instant bookings, I'm not sure that I have more bookings overall as a result of this change.   Although I was reticent to turn on Instant Booking for guests with ratings, I have not had problems with those guests.  

I did experience one month in 2017 that should have been busy, but was not for me.   For the life of me, I could not figure out why.  You can always lower your prices and see if that helps.  I do lower my prices a few weeks out, but not below what I consider to be a key threshold.  

Good luck!

[Huma0]

@Kathie10

Thanks very much for your response. I have no idea what the 'Top Quality' flag is. I have not heard of it before. As for Superhost status, I find that my guests have no idea what it is, so I think very few use the function where you can search only for properties with Superhosts and that it doesn't affect bookings at all. However, it is supposed to help push a listing up the search results.

I am really reluctant to use Instant Booking. It's interesting to hear that you have not had any problems with it, but are also not experiencing a significant boost in bookings.

I have lowered my prices slightly as it is low season. Let's see if that helps. I can't really put them down much more though as then it just wouldn't be worth hosting considering the bills and cleaning costs and they're already lower than the comparable listings I've seen.

[Huma0]

@Kathie10I think it might just be down to increased competition. While it's always been fierce here with the thousands of listings, last time I did a search, listings of a similar standard to mine in a convenient location were mostly a fair bit more expensive. Those at a similar price were not nearly as nice, or much further from the centre.

When I search now, there are loads of very nice looking/convenient listings around the same price as mine. I don't know if people have simply dropped their prices but I don't think so as those more expesive places don't show up when I search in my price range.

I think most likely the newer listings that have appeared are pricing lower and I can't afford to undercut them.

Apart from Instant Booking, I wonder what else can be done to improve my visibility in the searches?

[Clara116]

@Huma0 hi.. I think your listing has 3 factors that are deal breakers for many people. Smoking.  Cat's...and stairs. Sorry. I couldn't stay there because of 2 of them myself. Not sure how you fix that. I guess smoking outside... And no cats...but stairs are there. That's my take on it

 Happy hosting and all the best, Clara

[Huma0]

Thanks @Clara116 but the cats are also there. It's my home and I have no plans of getting rid of my cats for guests! Actually, most of the guests that book see the cats as a bonus, but I can see why a lot of people would not want to stay somewhere with pets, stairs or smoking.

However, all of these factors were already there for the nearly 1.5 years that I have been hosting and almost fully booked pretty much every month, so what I'm trying to figure out is what has changed...

[Huma0]

Also, I got a booking request tonight for next week and could have just accepted. BUT, the booking was for one guest for two nights and the message clearly stated it would be two guests for three nights. I asked the guest to adjust this and she cancelled because she said, "I didn't think the price would have to change."

Okay, so I needed this booking right now, but I think it's important to stick to your guns in these circumstances. The charge for an extra person is clearly stated in my listing and very reasonably priced and I don't see why a guest should expect to book for two nights and stay for three!

[April3]

@Huma0  I am not sure why you would get such a decrease in bookings, especially since your place is so well decorated and stylish! Of course some of it must be to the high level of competition in your market, with the additon of many new listings showing up in the last few years.

Regarding the 3 possible downsides: stairs, cats & smoking, you really can't do anything about them except for the smoking part. Do you smoke indoors or only out? It is not clear to me from your listings. I'd be hesitant to book if it was inside as well. If you do smoke inside, would you consider smoking only outside for your guests?

One other thing I would add to your listings may be a layout page or two, and additional photos showing how one room flows to the next. For my friends & I, its really important to us to know the layout of the home, and also which spaces are shared or not, and from your some of your listing's pictures it is hard for me to tell. Others (E.g. "Large & Lovely Room...") there are more pictures and its a bit more clear.

You may also market to groups (if you wish) by outlining in your seperate listings that guests traveling together may book 1 or more of your rooms.  Although I imagine your calendar juggling may already be challenging, you could create another lisiting that allows guests to book all 3 rooms at once. I have a friend who has just done this in my area, creating 2 lisitngs out of the same space: 1 for a floor while she is in towm, and another for the entire house when she is away. I believe these calendars should be able to interact with each other to prevent double bookings. 

[Huma0]

@April3

Thank you for taking the time to look at my listings. I really appreciate it.

I do try to make things crystal clear, so it's interesting that you find not everything is. I will definitely look at those points and see how I can improve them, get some floor plans to add etc.

The idea about combining rooms into a listing for groups is good too, although you are right, I would need to be really on it to avoid double bookings. At the moment I only have two of the three rooms available and I might cut that down to one for a few months while the bookings are slow, as I can easily find lodgers. If I know I'm going to have two or three rooms on Airbnb for a few months, I would certainly consider your suggestion.

[April3]

@Huma0 and I should say I don't think I am like most guests, I scour the listings for months before my trip trying to find the perfect place: a blend of location, style, price and the layout counts when I travel in groups (I had over 50 listings saved at one point in my wish lists for a recent trip to Malaga 😂 ) and I never use instant book!

Anyways I've never been to London, except for a quite miserable delayed layover in the airport, so when I do I will look you up! I love your decor, and I would love to spend time with your kitties and get to meet you!