Lots of views but low booking rate

[Shannon-and-Christian0]

Hi everyone, 

My wife and I started hosting about 3 months ago. Recently we noticed that the views of our listing dramatically increased but our booking rate has not increased with the new surge in exposure. Any advice on our profile? Anyone experiencing the same thing?

Here's our listing: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20304551?location=Minneapolis%2C%20MN&s=qLWQBQqV 

Thanks in advance!

Christian & Shannon

[Linda108]

You have a nice private room and bath at a good rate, @Shannon-and-Christian0.  You have 12 positive reviews.  What I don't know and wonder if you have explored is the seasonality of visitors to your area.  For me as I am in the desert near Palm Springs, I don't expect guests during the summer months with triple digit temps!

Why did your former guests visit your area?  Is your target market on a holiday or working?  Looking at other listings in your areas, what is the value add you see?  This is all marketing stuff, but fun to consider.

[Fred13]

Have a sister with similar rentals, but on the Michigan side; she was just saying the same thing. Said this is the time they look more than commit.

[Linda-And-Richard0]

Hi @Shannon-and-Christian0  I'm having the same experience here in San Antonio.  A good number of views but no bookings.  I suspect things will pick up as we get closer to the holiday season.  Your listing looks very nice, great place for 1 or 2 persons visiting your area. Our busiest time  is generally Spring Break and summer.  We hosted a couple of "Winter Texans" from the Minneapolis area last winter.  They checked in after Christmas and left the end of March. 

Linda

[Cyrus4]

Whenever I'm booking a private room in the house, I always try to get a feel for the privacy and where the room is in relation to common areas/other bedrooms. With your pictures, I don't get a feel for that, and I'd probably skip over it unless I was really set on your place. I know your listing details some things about the layout, but doesn't give me a full picture--and as you probably noticed, most people don't read.

A very easy way to convey this is to have one of your pictures be a floorplan as shown here: https://all-about-airbnb.com/post/151209814886/airbnb-floor-plan-to-get-more-bookings-better-reviews

I'd probably put it as the third picture.

[Taylor59]

This is brilliant! Im going to make my floor plan now. Thanks!

[Leigh-Anne-and-Jonathan0]

@Cyrus4 - yes, this is a great idea! 

[Shannon-and-Christian0]

Cyrus, amazing advice. That’s exactly what I did. Thanks for your help!!

[Cyrus4]

Your plan looks great. Seeing that, I immediately feel more confident in knowing what I'm getting. I would book 🙂

What software did you use?

[Christine615]

Two things to consider - sometimes I "look" at Airbnb's in other cities to get a feel for where I would like to stay if visiting. I often "favorite" them. I'm also looking for a "girls" retreat for family members so I picked a city and bookmarked spaces that would fit us all on a resort island.

I also frequently research other Airbnb's in my area to see if I'm competitive which probably explains why I have so many views as well.

You can look at other hosts in your area then switch to "traveling" mode and look at their calendars to see if they are booked for dates. I learned that it's a slow period in my area and a lot of the Airbnb's aren't booked much for the next coming months. Summer and Fall seem to be the heavy season.

The other issue is compare your pricing. I have a huge space but kept the price lower than I wanted because of all the new Airbnb's coming on the market with what I believe are unrealistically low rates (a whole house for $68 for instance).  Some people use a teaser rate on a specific day to force themselves to the top of a search and then I note that that rate is for a Tuesday (one day) but the real rate for other days and weekends is much higher.

So the key, I think (as a relatively new host) is to check other Airbnb's to see if those spaces are getting more bookings. If everyone is having a dead period, network with other area hosts. We're lucky that our neighbors also have an Airbnb and they confirmed that bookings are way down. Our assumption from number of views is that people are planning out their travel for next year and reading reviews.

Hope that helps!

[Dawn-and-Andy0]

Brand new as hosts.  We've had nearly 900 views and only one booking.  Would y'all be kind enough to review our ad and make suggestions of what could change the rate.  We are entering the busy season for the area.

[Kanwar-Danijela0]

Hi we are having the same issue right now lots of views but the booking rate is too low and also no enquire coming through . Please can some one advice or I need to contact air bnb to check our listing . 

[Linda108]

@Kanwar-Danijela0  Your listing is not available until September.  Is that accurate?  If not, then you need to contact Air BNB.  

[Kanwar-Danijela0]

@Linda0yes we are fully booked till 2 September but this all booking were done 3 months back but nothing since then . Views have gone higher but no reservation or enquiry .

[Dawn-and-Andy0]

thank you for all of the feedback.  The listing shortly after this post took off like a rocket and exceeded my wildest expectations.  The 1st year we had 3 vacant days until hurricane Florence and then we were booked again for weeks until November.  This year we have been booked since April.  Thank you to all who responded