Help Needed

[Elsanne0]

Morning everyone! I would love feedback on our listing. We are a 'Farmstay'. It is a big house and can sleep 8 guests. In the last year I have had ONE booking, but with a glowing 5 star review. Why am I not being noticed?

[Snehal1]

@Elsanne0 One booking in a year with a 5-star review suggests your guests enjoy the experience once they find you. The challenge may be visibility rather than quality.

I host a farm stay as well. Even with a well-rated listing, I notice there are slack periods during the year. On average, I receive 4–6 bookings a month, but demand is definitely seasonal.

A few things that have helped me are:

• Refreshing photos and the first few lines of the listing regularly.

• Keeping the calendar updated and using competitive pricing during quieter periods.

• Offering discounts for weekdays or longer stays.

• Responding quickly to every inquiry.

• Sharing the listing on social media and local travel groups to drive additional traffic.

Don't get discouraged after just one booking. Farm stays appeal to a niche market, and it can take time for Airbnb's algorithm to gain confidence in a newer listing. Continue collecting excellent reviews, keep your listing active, and make small improvements regularly. I hope you see many more bookings in the coming months. Good luck!

[Patricia2526]

Hi @Elsanne0 

One way to help your listing get noticed again is by offering strategic discounts. Try enabling an Early Bird Discount for guests who book well in advance, a Last-Minute Discount to fill upcoming vacancies, or create Custom Promotions for specific dates when demand is slower.

These promotions can improve your listing’s visibility in search results, attract more potential guests, and encourage bookings during quieter periods. Just be sure to set discounts that still make sense for your business and protect your payout.

[Karen114]

@Elsanne0  Lovely charming home!  

The issues I see:

Your hero pic with the words over the pic Arygyll house.  Get an evelvation pic of home with mountains in the background. No bold graphics with words.  It's not a written rule anywhere but listing sites do not like words on pics unless it's to point out what room it is. 

Using your home name in your title tells the prospect nothing.  Unless you are marketing your home on other mediums and you want to be recognized on Airbnb for it, no need to put house name, area, bed count etc.  Those are all filtered for when guest is searching.  

I took what your first and great review said and used that to make a listing title. 

"Farm Stay Mountain Vistas Fields of Fluffy Sheep" 

Using this title and using pic number 44 of the sheep in the field as your first hero pic is going to stop the scroll immediately.  Everyone loves a sheep. 😀

You have a lot of photos-  You have too many photos of zoomed in on furniture etc which is lovely but not necessary.  Guests want to get a feel for the rooms they will be using and picturing themselves and family using them.  Get whole room shots of living area, kitchen and bedrooms from the corners of the rooms.  Since its a country farm stay I would sprinke some of those lovely pics in between your room photos.  That is the draw to the home at the end of the day.

The home is very charming and cozy and some professional pics would really make it shine. 

You check in window is 4 hours 2P-6P.  This is severly limiting and likely holding you back from bookings.  I imagine you are probably meeting your guests upon arrival which is great but also limiting for you and the guest.  If you can find a way to have the guests do a self check in that is comortable for you and the guest, I would do that.  

I do not meet my guests and have smart locks.  What I do the night before guest arrival is message them to get an ETA on their arrival time.  99% of guests respond to this simple ask.  If they are arriving at odd hours, such as after my bedtime or the middle of the night, I will make sure I am awake and available until they check in to trouble shoot any issues that could occur.  

Hope this helps Elsanne and best of luck in your hosting journey!