Can anyone give me some advice on how to improve the exposure of my listing

[Fan5436]

Hello everyone, I'm a relative new host on Airbnb and after 3 months promotion period, I think my house click is always on the 3rd or 4th page. 

I will be the super host in July and I re-organized my listing photos, I just wanted to get some feedback on overall any improvement I could do to my listing , so Airbnb can promote my home except the huge discount on the nightly rate. (I noticed airbnb promoted a huge discounted listing on the front page during the search)

Your advice and feedback is much appreciated. will superhost help me to get more viewing? 

Thank you in advance. 

Fan 

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/29794324?locale=en&_set_bev_on_new_domain=1687450439_Y2NkNjdhZjMyNzIy&so...

[Suzanne972]

Hello @Fan5436 ,

Reviews will move your listing up in the search. Also editing your listings with more frequency will help to move you up in the search .  Also a lead picture with a real pop in color  will help attract more seekers that will hopefully become guests.

All the best .

[Patricia2526 · Accepted solution]

Hello @Fan5436  

Here’s what I did when I was new to hosting.
1. Price competitively, especially when you’re just starting out, rate your property a lil lower than your competitors so you can easily get the bookings you need.
2. Write a detailed and accurate description of your listing. Highlight everything your guests need to know about your property.
3. Pay attention to your photos especially the cover photo it’s the primary thing guests notice in search results.
4. Don’t cancel reservations. Airbnb takes cancellations seriously. Learn to manage your calendar, block off dates if you can’t host.
5. Interaction between guests and hosts is important. Make sure you don’t miss any incoming messages. Keep the Airbnb app on your phone and be sure notifications are turned on.
6. Think of delightful touches that you would appreciate if you travelled. Be thoughtful and creative to make your guests happy.

Happy hosting!

[Joan2709]

@Fan5436 Love your place! Great photos! Great suggestions from @Patricia2526  and @Suzanne972! One thing you might consider...you mention a mountain view? Any way to get a sunrise/sunset photo of that view? If so, I would add it as a possible cover photo. As other hosts have mentioned, you want to highlight what makes your listing stand out from the competition in the area. One way to do that is highlight in a photo a great view, or unique amenity (like a hot tub). 

You could try taking a photo at twilight looking back at the house from the back yard (all your lights on). Include the BBQ and outdoor seating/table. I would stage the table with placemats, dishes, etc. and add some string lights to that area. 

Wishing you much success! 

[Eric5317]

@Fan5436 Your place is super cute! PIcs are nice! The only one comment I have is that your main pic needs to be your "hero" shot. It needs to be something that attract attention and makes me want to click on your listing. I dont think your top pic is it right now. You have several much nicer ones. 

[Fan5436]

@Eric5317 which one do you think it's better? the inside is new, but I feel it doesn't show it's a house with a yard. 

So I chose the pic showing it's a single house. 

Thank you 

Fan 

[Eric5317]

@Fan5436 Dont think about which one is better from housing perspective. Think which one will trigger the click. Some people are reporting better traffic with pics that dont even show the house in or out. 

How does the data on your conversion page look like? I focus on "Average search-to-listing conversion"? 10% is the minimum I like to see. Most of my properties are at 25% which means 1 in 4 people who saw my listing on the search page clicked on it.

[Eric5317]

I used that as my pic for a while almost no house. I got over 8K visitors in a month. 

[Paula]

Hey @Fan5436 Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the wonderful suggestions and advice from our members 😊

[Joan2709]

Hi @Fan5436 

I'm a bit late to the discussion but I did take a look at your listing and I have several additional suggestions. Lots of good ideas from other hosts. First let me say what an outstanding job you have done on your listing! Your listing is one of the best I have seen in awhile. Try some of these suggestions for a few weeks and see if you get an uptick in bookings. If not, change it. Never let your Title, Description and photos remain stagnant. 

Title

I would change your title. You get 50 characters to tell potential guests why they should choose your listing. Don't waste them repeating what they can already see from the Airbnb Subtitle. They can already see it's an entire home from the subtitle. I would keep "Pet Friendly".  You say guests can walk to town and the Lake  "a 10-minute walk from the heart of town and Okanagan Lake" To me, that is key!  I would try something like:

"Near Okanagan Lake - Walk to Town! | Pet Friendly"

Photos

Your photos are excellent! You have captions on every photo (this scores points with the Airbnb search results algorithm). Some of your area photos are a bit blurry. The algorithm also looks at the quality of your photos. I would delete the blurry ones and take some new ones to replace them.

Cover Photo

The exterior photo you currently have does not show off your best, most unique amenity. Remember, this is the photo that should get your guests to stop scrolling and click your listing. Since you are close to the lake, I would try to get a lake photo when it's not crowded (sunrise or sunset) and use that as your photo. For now, I see you have accessibility photos showing lit path to entrance that show the house exterior in a much more flattering light. Good job adding accessibility features! This also gives you points in the algorithm and some accessibility features are "searchable" for guests using filters. Market research shows that twilight, exterior photos work best. Try this photo for now as a cover. It's much better than the current one you have:

You could also consider the river kayak photo, the kitchen/dining photo (shows off your beautiful kitchen), or the patio photo showing the fenced yard, BBQ, and fire pit. I would add some string lights to the patio area, move your red aidorondack chairs, ottomans and table to around the fire pit. Start a fire in the fire pit. Now take a twilight shot of the patio. Take one shot looking towards the fire pit and another from the fire pit looking towards the house. Use that as your cover photo.

You can move the chairs back to the front after you take the photo with them in the back yard.

Next 4 Photos after Cover

These are almost as important as your cover photo. I would definitely include the kitchen photo above, the back patio, and maybe the living room and one bedroom as your next 4 photos after cover.

Pets

You don't have any Pet Rules listed under House Rules? I would add some rules about pets under additional house rules. This will save you alot of heartache later, believe me! Here is a thread that talks about pet policies:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Ask-about-your-listing/Does-anyone-have-a-Pet-Policy-I-can-use/m...

Fire Pit

I see a fire pit in one of your photos. Is that available for guests to use? If so, add it to your amenities and take a twilight or night shot with a fire going and chairs around the fire pit. 

Wishing you much success!  Let us know how it goes!

[Fan5436]

@Joan2709 I could not thank you enough for your input, all suggestions are so valuable, I will make sure to add into my listing line by line. 

[Fan5436]

Hi @Joan2709 , I took your advice and edited my listing with an updated title and cover photo. 

Could you pls take a look and let me know what your thoughts are. 

Or if you search "Penticton" Aug 16-18 do you think my listing will stand out from others?

Also for the fire pit, my house is in a very hot city 30 degrees in hot season, I'm not too sure how to use this fire pit. definitely something want to add but no idea how to do it. 

also for safety, not sure if it's safe for the guest to use those on their own. 

Thank you 

Fan 

[Joan2709]

Hi @Fan5436 

Nice job!  I just did a search Penticton and you are showing as #1 in results in Penticton!  Can't get any better than that! Try this out for a 3wks and see how it goes. You can always change it if you don't see an increase in bookings. Try different things and see what works.

Title

I noticed one of your competitors mentions how many blocks they are from the Lake in their title? You could change "Near Lake Okanagan" to "5 blocks from Lake Okanagan" (or however many blocks you are from the lake). 

Cover Photo

The cover photo looks so much better! If you can get that sunset or sunrise photo of the Lake when there aren't many people, I would try that as a cover photo as well. I would move the daylight exterior of home photo somewhere further down (see suggestion below for the next 4 photos after cover).

Next 4 Photos

Here are the photos I suggest for your next 4 photos after cover in the order shown:

#2#3

#3#4

Fire Pit

Perhaps consider putting a propane fire pit where the fire pit ring is instead of wood-burning. Would be safer and less of an issue with dealing with wood. We have found people really like it in the winter, but perhaps that is a future project. If it's there though, people will want to use it. So if you think it's too much of a safety issue, you might mention it's not available for use in the listing and/or consider the propane fire pit instead. Another option would be to remove it and just have a brick seating area. 

Patio

I definitely would put up some strings lights on the patio and take a twilight shot from the yard looking towards the house with the string lights on and all the lights on inside and outside the house. String lights are inexpensive, but really make a great twilight photo of the outdoor space. I would put the new photo with the string lights as your #5 photo in place of the daylight patio photo you have now.

Pet Policies

Don't forget to add your pet rules in House Rules. You will be glad you did.

Again, try this out for a few weeks and see what happens. Let us know how it goes. Nice job!

[Joan2709]

Hi Again @Fan5436 

I copied some of my suggestions below from a previous post about Pet Policies. Lots of other ideas about Pet Policies here. Just search under "Pets". I highly suggest you add some of these policies to your House Rules under "additional rules" ASAP. Otherwise, you will create a situation for yourself that could be expensive and/or result in a negative review in regards to Pets. I would definitely add a Pet Fee to your listing if you don't already have one.

Each property is very different and a Pet Policy that works for one will not work for another. Typically I see things such as:

•All pets must be listed on reservation when booking

•Indicate the number/type of pets you will permit (some areas don't accept certain breeds. Some hosts only accept dogs - no cats). Decide if you want to limit size of dog. However, many guests will ignore this restriction and bring a Great Dane when your weight limitation was 50lbs!

•Must be housebroken (no puppies!)

•No pets on furniture/beds (this is tough to enforce though)

•Please bring your pet's towels (for wiping paws) and their pet bed (and crate if using)

•Not left alone in home or tied up outside (damages inside; barking outside)

•Please pick up all pet poo (some hosts add a fine for not picking up poo)

•Set your Pet fee (right now can only add per stay when booking)

•If you allow visitors - we note they are not permitted to bring pets

•Fine for for undisclosed/unapproved pets

Inevitably, someone will try to sneak in extra pets. Security cameras are your best friend if need be 

Some hosts provide food/water bowls, treats, poo bags and pooper scooper to help avoid issues. CAUTION: Never refer to a service animal as a pet in ANY communication with a guest. This Airbnb Help Article discusses more tips:

What You Need to Know About Hosting Pets

https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/what-you-need-to-know-about-hosting-pets-463

[Joan2709]

Hi Again @Fan5436 

I would update your wording on your security camera disclosures. Airbnb now requires Hosts to disclose if an active recording of audio/video is taking place. Airbnb takes security cameras and proper disclosure very seriously. It's important to get the correct wording on your disclosure:

https://www.airbnb.co/help/article/2914

Here is what you currently have:

Here is what I suggest:

"For guest security, we have one exterior, outward-facing camera that overlooks the front entrance. It actively records audio and video when motion is detected."

(if the camera is motion sensing - which most are)

Add 2nd Camera - Fire Pit

Since you are concerned about safety with the fire pit...I suggest you add a second camera that overlooks the back patio area and fire pit area. This is just in case a guest decides to "get creative" and buy their own wood and start a fire in the fire pit 🙄  Be sure to update your camera disclosure to include the second camera if you add one.

If you don't want guests using the fire pit, you should add that you don't permit its use in your House Rules and in several other places in the Listing (Other Things to Note, House Manual). If it is a big concern, I would even add a brief note to their Check-in Message that the fire pit is NOT available for use. This way, if they use it despite House Rules stating they can't, you will have some recourse. I would even put a laminated sign on the fire pit that states it can't be used. We have regular burn-bans in our area due to wildfire danger. We cover our wood-burning fire pit and have a laminated sign that states it can't be used due to the burn ban (we plan on switching to a propane fire pit as those are allowed under burn bans.) It is also disclosed on the listing that if burn bans are in effect, the wood-burning fire pit is not available.