bookings

[Keith941]

I  am new to this and I have not had a single booking in 2.5 months. I must have snoozed or blocked my listing. I am very well below average in price !?!?

[Shelley159]

Hi @Keith941 

You seem to have 2 active listings in Bulgaria, is that correct?

[Keith941]

Hi Shelley. Yes. On the 2 bedroom unit i have had 5 Airbnb bookings and not one on the Studio. Pricing is not the issue as my average price is way below at 135 and the competitors  are 237.

[Joan2709]

@Keith941 

There is a huge learning curve on how to use the Airbnb platform for new Hosts. I always suggest new Hosts use an experienced Co Host for at least the first 3 months or so to ensure the listing gets off to a good start. Your aim is to get at least 3-5 bookings (with 5-star reviews) during your "new" boost that Airbnb gives you. I'll mention a few suggestions and other Hosts can also add their ideas for improvement. You can also post another thread and Title it "Critique My Listing" and you will get more responses from other Hosts.

You'll need to work hard to improve the listings so they appear higher in search results. If the guests can't see your listings, they can't book them. You need to spend a bit of time to improve the listings and getting to know the platform. There are lots of Airbnb Help articles on all kinds of topics and how to improve your listing. I would spend some time reading them. Click your profile photo and choose Help Center to access the information.

Airbnb Resources for New Hosts

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2739

Studio vs Bedrooms?

This is a big issue. One of your listings appear to be a studio (bed in a common area not a separate room). The other you also show as a "Studio",  but it appears to have 2 bedrooms? No one wants to stay in a place with 6 guests in a "studio" apartment (no separate bedrooms) and only one bathroom. I would address that right away:

Photo Tour

Airbnb takes the bedroom & bathroom count for your sub title shown above from your photos. You need to add the photo tour and then in the bedrooms add the number/type of beds in the "sleeping arrangements" on the photo. Your other listing that does appear to be an actual studio, add the sleeping arrangements to the Living Room (Room). Read the Help article below to learn how to do this.

Airbnb Photo Tour

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/477#photo-tours

Photo Captions/Descriptions

Add captions to EVERY photo. Many guests make a booking decision on the photos alone. They need to understand what they are seeing in the photo, what amenities are shown and how they can enjoy the space. You are trying to convey "comfy" and "cozy" in your photos and captions.

Title

Your title should show what is unique and special about your listing, not just the name of the apartment. It looks like you are close to a ski area as you have added ski-in, ski-out to amenities. I would put that in your titles:

"Walk to slopes!" or "XXmins to (name of Ski Area)". You can also add "Walk to shops/Restaurants!" if that is true. I would also add Hot Tub, Sauna, Pool to title.

"Walk to Slopes! Pool/Sauna/Hot Tub"

Be sure to update all amenties in the amenities section to show they are shared, and the hours they are open. You need to expand your description section and describe all the amenities and details. 

Calendar Availability

Your calendars are blocked for quite a few days? Have you blocked them or are they reservations? Remember, guests will not see your listing in a search and can't book if dates are blocked on your calendar. This reduces your visibility (and bookings) in guest searches.

Review Your Entire Listing

Many sections are incomplete or missing altogether on your listing. Suggest you go to the listing editor and click each square (Airbnb calls them "cards") on the left. A right panel will appear for you to add information. Put something in every section. Airbnb gives "points for listing completeness).

Pets

One of your listings says you accept Pets, but I don't see you have added a Pet Fee? You should also add rules for Pets to your addl House Rules.

[Keith941]

Thank you for your feedback. I will try and tidy the two sites up as recommended. The blocked out dates are all Booking.com bookings. I have been on Airbnb for more than 2 months with no great success. I have had a horde of bookings from B.com after going live with them less than 2 weeks ago.

[Joan2709]

@Keith941 

I understand now...

Of course, if you have alot of bookings from another site, your calendar availability on Airbnb will be greatly reduced. This in turn makes you difficult to find when a guest enters dates on an Airbnb search, as your listing will not appear in search results if you have a booking from another site. Availability is also one of the top data points the algorithm looks for to determine search results rank...low availability usuallly means lower search results rank. Generally, one platform will perform better than the others...you can have alot of bookings on one platform, but generally not on both.

I usually suggest to my Host clients they start with Airbnb for the first 2months or so and get 3-5 bookings on Airbnb (with good reviews) before listing on other platforms.

[Keith941]

I have been on Airbnb for 2.5 months with not a single booking for the small unit. Out of frustration ( last year the smaller unit did exceptionally well with an agent , yet i made nothing) i tried B.com where at least I have had interest.

I cannot for the life of me get the Listing to say 2 bedroom apartment

[Keith941]

Hi Joan. Thank you for your advice. I have spent nearly 3 yours fighting with the AI to try and get the bigger unit away from STUDIO. I have at least now managed to get it registered as a ONE BEDROOM  🙂

I will continue with the other elements you mentioned. 

Could anyone have designed a system which is more USER UNFRIENDLY ????