Links within the Listing Description

[Shannon1151]

I had to relist one of my properties due to a negative 3 star review even though all other reviews were 4.5 or higher. That said, when I did that I lost the ability for guests to see reviews from unlisted property and I think it's hurting my new listing because it looks like I only have 1 or 2 reviews when I actually have dozens. When guests reach out I usually direct them to my profile page where they can get access to all of my reviews for all of my properties. I was thinking of putting the link to my profile in the description of the listing to try and get ahead of the curve and capture guests that may be concerned about minimal reviews. But I was told Airbnb may frown upon this and it could end up hurting my search results in the long run. I would love any guidance on this and also how other hosts drive traffic to new listings. Tricks of the trade if you will. Thanks!

[Lorina14]

@Shannon1151 

I’m sorry to hear about your 3 star review. It is always disappointing when you get less than ideal reviews and sometimes for things that are out of your control or maybe they rated you down because they didn’t read the check in instructions or house manual as other hosts have commented on the boards.

From what I have read and know, it’s best to respond to the review neutrally, with empathy and facts as this will show up to your future guests as how you handle the situation. If you have great reviews from other guests then one bad review then most guests will understand and make their decision based on the other reviews and how you responded to the bad review.

Unfortunately if you create a new listing, guests will not see that you have all these other great reviews on your listing unless you have other listings and they can gauge what kind of host and accommodations you provide if they look at your other listings. You could put a reference in your new listing about the prior listing (so they can see the other reviews) but it may make the guests question why you made a new listing and potentially Airbnb may not like you doing that (I am not sure if it against the terms and conditions - you can check in the support section for details). Airbnb does not like hosts to have multiple listings for the same space that are active as this is not allowed.

[Lorina14]

@Shannon1151 

I also have seen some listings that have duplicate listings even though it is one and the same. Some hosts have tried different wording and tried to do a test of A vs B and what performs better. While this is allowed for website testing and some other platforms, this is against the terms and conditions of Airbnb and you risk being suspended and delisted. 

The only time I have seen listings where it made sense was when there was a listing that had the possibility of renting two or three units separately (and they were advertised separately and maybe had a yard or pool as a shared space but separate private entrances) and there was an additional listing for renting all of the spaces so the entire property as one for a large family or group of people. 

[Shannon1151]

Thank you

[Kia272]

@Shannon1151  You're actually not allowed to do that, and it's likely that AirBnB will catch it and suspend the property or you. Can you imagine if every host who got a bad review just relisted their property? It defeats the entire point of the review system. 

Now you're saying that you're missing out, because guests can't see the good reviews for the property before you relisted? Do you not see the problem here? This is one of those, "you can't have your cake and eat it too" scenarios. 

My advice would be to pull the new listing and stick with the old one. If you don't, AirBnB will likely catch up to it at some point, and the repercussions will  not be great. If you haven't already, post a response to the 3 star review, keeping it professional and factual. If the 3 star review is an anomaly, then guests should be able to read between the lines. What you've done is against the terms of service with AirBnB. 

[Shannon1151]

Understood. Thank you