No bookings at all! Please help :)

[Krista76]

Hi all!

I'm a fairly new host. Created my listing in the winter and ran it for a couple of months. I just relisted it last week and have been trying a few techniques to get bookings but wondering if I'm missing something on my listing because I haven't gotten a single one. Here is my listing:

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/12127106?s=51

Could anyone offer me some advice? Would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank so much!

[Lawrene0]

@Krista76: I think it is just that it is Newfoundland in winter. A few years ago I visited my brother in St. John's in November. Everyone told me I was crazy. They were wrong - it was brisk, sure, but very pretty - but the perception is of gloom and icy blasts. Once the laundry commercials start up again, we'll be there in droves. 🙂

Seriously, though, I had very few winter bookings even here in balmy Ontario until I added some cozy woodstove fire photos. Bam! Booked nearly solid now in winter. Maybe add the word "warm" somewhere in your listing summary? Photo of a steaming cup of coffee?

Cleaning fee that is higher than the nightly rate might be putting them off. I understand completely, but it looks like trickery to some guests. 

Hope the bookings start rolling in. Amazing place you have!

[Krista76]

Thanks so much for the feedback @Lawrene0! I'm glad you've had a chance to visit your brother in St. John's and offer an outside perspective. Really loving this supportive community thread filled with expert advice! I'm sure you're right about the perceptions of Newfoundland in the winter. I guess I was hoping to capitalize on people from around the province community into the "big city" (haha) to do their Christmas shopping but I suppose most people (myself included) do most of their shopping online these days. 

I really liked your ideas about creating a warm and cozy vibe through the description and photos. Something for me to work on over the weekend 🙂

Your place looks like a wonderful retreat! Best wishes for your continued hosting success!

Krista

[Sylvia7]

I am in a similar situation, I my listing going for a year but then had to shut it down for work for awhile. Now that I reactivated my listing it is the very last one on the last page that comes up! I figured I'd have to work a bit to get it going again but I didn't expect to have my listing so far down the list...no one is going to see it 😕 I am considering closing it and starting fresh, I have a number of reviews now but maybe that doesn't mean much now anyway.

My listing: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/5578321  If anyone has tips. I like what people have written here, I am trying to implement some of them now to move up the list.

[Sarah977]

@Sylvia7  Get some friends to send you Inquiries- they can input any dates. I've noticed that seems to help as far as moving up the search rankings. Also do something on your hosting pages a few times a week- block or unblock dates (you can always reverse it later), put prices up or down, even just a few dollars. Add or delete photos or reorder them. Apparently when the algothritms detect "activity" on your account, it boosts the ranking. You could even find a friend or family member who would book a few days. You can then just reimburse them when you get the payout, altho you'd have to cover the airbnb booking fee.

I wouldn't start a new listing- those reviews you already have are really good and important for guests to see that you're an good and experienced host. It would be a shame to lose those reviews.

[Sylvia7]

Ok thank you, I updated everything before relisting, I guess I should have waited with that. Ill do as you suggest but I am wondering about friends putting in inquiries...don't I have to then decline it witin 24hours, and that decline would have a negative effect on my position?

[Sarah977]

@Sylvia7   You do have to respond to Inquiries within 24 hours (if you don't that will affect your Response stats), but you don't have to pre-approve or decline, a simple response message will stop the punishment clock from ticking. And you can also pre-approve and then the inquirer just lets the inquiry expire, which it will in 24 hours. Booking Requests you do have to either accept or decline, you'll get dinged otherwise. As far as updating, like I said, you can just change the price from $50 to $51, for instance, and then you can change it back again later the same day.

[Maina2]

Hi Paul, 

Thanks for your suggestions and the good wishes. I would like to follow them. Regarding updating calendar, I do not know how to update calendar. I read it in hosting help as well, but did not understand where to copy paste the URL or what exactly updating a calendar does. In fact I do not have bookings often, so the rooms are always available. And I have my house listed in booking.com only among other sites and not a single booking from there yet. 

And I did not understand what you wrote " If you open and close a date on each of your listings this will show Airbnb that you're an active host of an active listing". HOW DO I OPEN AND CLOSE A DATE  ?

Thanks and look forward reading from you again,

Best Regards,

Maina

[Sarah977]

@Maina2  To open or close a date, you go to your calendar, click on the date. In the box to the right, it says "Available" or "Blocked". Click on the appropriate one, then click on "Save" at the bottom of that box. Then you can just change it back whenever you want.

I was also confused when hosts talked about updating the calendar, as I make sure my calendar always reflects what is actually happening (sometimes I block off dates if friends or family are coming to visit, for instance) but then it was explained to just do the above, as the algorithm picks up activity on your account.