Strategies please to temporarily Increase views - reduce nightly rate /reduce weekly discount

Linda1375
Level 2
Doubleview, Australia

Strategies please to temporarily Increase views - reduce nightly rate /reduce weekly discount

Hi I am new here so please be nice, and my intention is to seek Strategies for more visibility.

 

By way of introduction: I have always struggled to achieve local Western Australian views due to the fact that my two listings are mostly invisible in search.      I am a resident host in a large townhouse, but in a very popular area with lots of other AirBnb listings.

I regularly update the two calendars, have good pics and of the 7 guests who have stayed, all seem very pleased upon arrival at the size of the home when quality of the furnishings, amenities and excellent location for the price paid.

I offer single rooms to female guests on two listings, however often upgrade the guest to a third queen room, depending on availability. I do not show precise pictures of the actual bedrooms in the listings because I have instant  book and also other sources of guests.

Surprisingly all my AirBnb guests to date have come from overseas residents (Japan, Indonesia, Spain etc). I have  same day checkin, no cleaning fee, no security deposit and lockbox entry as it is important that the guest is independent. ( I'm not home much) 

 

So my question is this:  do instant book guests search for low nightly rate as priority?  or a higher percentage of weekly discount?

 

Strategy:  I am thinking that by reducing the weekly discount from 20% to 1% but decreasing my nightly rate to the lowest I can (break even) I will generate more interest. I am about 3 stays short of Superhost. 

 

9 Replies 9
Rubén16
Level 10
Vermont, United States

@Linda1375  Hi Linda and welcome to the commmunity, do not worry we are all nice here:)

That is a good question.

Reducing my nightly rate has always worked for me, when I needed to increase my bookings, I also reduce my rate when I need to book a single day of the week that is between 2 bookings.

 

Community Hint:

( using the @ and then selecting the person or persons on the list is usefull when communicating in the community)

 

Looking forward to your future posts and input:)

 

Rubén

@Rubén16 Thankyou for your response. I can absolutely see your logic for reducing your nightly rate in between 2 bookings.

I also quite like receiving short stay guests, as I notice there is a jump in views whenever I reduce my minimum stay from a 2night weekend back to 1 night weeknight.  The lockbox has been the absolute best for flexibility, guests really love the convenience. I wish I had organised a lock box  a ong time ago. 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Linda1375

 

If you want to drive traffic to your listing you need to

 

1. use IB

2. Have great photos

3. Have a good description of your place and local amenities - can I walk to cafes, restaurants and shops, what are nearby attractions, what is public transport like. 

 

Obviously by only accepting single females you are vastly reducing the number of people who want to stay at your place. Lots of people who travel unless your target market is business travellers will be friends or couples or relatives.

 

The other major barrier you have to gaining bookings is by not having photos of your bedrooms. I would never book a place that didn't show me a photo of the room I would be staying in. And many others would feel the same.

 

There is no reason for you not to show the bedrooms as you can link them to individual listings for each room.

 

I am a female who hosts in my own home, I take couples, friends, parents with old children, business people, people coming to live in the area. I would say about 95% of my bookings are from couples, parents with children, relatives and friends.

 

If you have a room with a queen bed you could offer a room to female friends travelling together, female couples or mother and daughters or sisters and then offer your other rooms for single female guests.

 

This would give you three listings you could offer.

 

I would also strongly advise including photos of the bedrooms and reviewing your descriptions to include more information about your local area, nearest public transport hubs, attractions etc.

 

I can't comment on your pricing strategy as I don't know your local area, but I would stick with a price that is comparable with your local competition, rather than pricing too low.

 

In summary there are things you can do to make your property more attractive to potential guests, but as long as you only take single females you are vastly reducing the potential pool of guests your place will be suitable for.

 

hope this helps.

Linda1375
Level 2
Doubleview, Australia

@Helen3 Thank you, all your tips are very logical and I appreciate your valued time in sharing your thoughts. Interestingly I was originally open to hosting anyone: couples etc and had images of each room as you suggested but frustratingly no bookings, likely because of the huge quantity of AirBnb properties in this area. 

 

It was when I decided to make the change to niche female only offering in order to differentiate my listing, that I suddenly got 7 advance bookings  about 8 weeks ago. Females guests are from traditional families  and beginner english so this represents a safe haven for them because they are really worried about having to share a bathroom or living room with an unknown male. I assume that the moral considerations of the international students are likely why all my bookings originate from International sources.

 

It's most definitely a work in progress as a host, isn't it?  So many things to think about. 

I also changed my "type" of home from a "townhouse" to a two storey"Home" and it instantly showed more views, so that was a move in the right direction. Perhaps townhouses are considered smaller than a two storey home (GRIN).

 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

In my view (my day job is marketing and communications) there is no point developing a niche that automatically excludes about 90% of potential guests @Linda0 

 

I'm glad you got some bookings, but don't know that it is a terribly sustainable strategy.

 

It would be interesting to see how many here would book a listing without have images/descriptions of bedrooms.

 

It takes time to build up interest in a listing, so just because because you didn't get interest in your listing at first by opening them up to couples of those of both sexes and including photos of your bedroom, doesn't mean it wasn't the right strategy.

 

Also consider other listing companies and advertising on your local tourism sites.

Inna22
Level 10
Chicago, IL

@Linda1375  airbnb offers syncing with other calendars as well as a linked listing feature. The last option allows you to automatically have one bedroom blocked if for example two were booked at the same time.  This way you can have a separate listing for both of your bedrooms that will allow two friends to book together yet keep to your one person per bedroom requirement. If your other source of guests is one of the platforms, you can sync as well. Otherwise you would have to manually update. That’s more work  but who said money will be falling on our laps. 

 

 This strategy will allow you to first of open to more potential types of bookers but also post specific bedroom photos. I’m sure guest, particularly females are reluctant to list without seeing the bedroom photos both because they would like to know what they’re getting and also because they might have a feeling that you have something to hide by not posting them. If ever you get a duplicate booking and you need to upgrade them, it is perfectly fine to reach out and say: thank you so much for booking, I will be upgrading you, do you mind? I have run into that situation twice and guests  we’re perfectly happy to get an upgrade. 

 

Another thing I have noticed is that when someone books my property from a particular region, I keep getting bookings from that part of the world. One of my listings gets  bookings from Spain every other week. Since none of the others do and they are all next to each other, I assume Airbnb algorithm thinks Spaniards will love this place. 

 

 Another thing to think about: is there a reason for single females to regularly travel to your area? 

 

 Overall in terms of pricing, yes, the cheaper you go the more likely you will be booked. I would suggest lowering the price for just a few upcoming weeks.

 

Also, do charge the security deposit! It does not deter anyone from staying because the security deposit is not actually charged to Airbnb guest.  It will give you a little bit of protection and also make your guests feel at least somewhat responsible for how they act in your home. 

 

Good luck and do let us know if any of our suggestions worked

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Linda, I just quickly scanned your listing -- which will increase your views 🙂 and right away noticed these 3 things:

- For me personally, the most important aspect of the place is the bed. I want to see it front and center without having to go through 30 pictures first. I will know right away if I like the place by the look of the bed. I think that it’s so important that you show photos of the bedroom so people will know what they are booking.

- I also think your photos need a bit of an upgrade. Photos #4 and #8 are nice but the others are bland and blurry. Try putting some nice towels in the bathroom or flowers on the kitchen counter. Make the space look more inviting. Ask a friend who is good with their iPhone and likes taking pictures to take some photos for you.

- You also have a TON of days that are unavailable. I'm not sure if these nights are booked or you’ve blocked them out but the fewer days you have available the fewer search results you are going to appear in. 

Hope this offers some help.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Linda1375  While limiting guests to females only will of course reduce the booking pool, I don't think it's a major factor in not getting bookings, since, as you say, it's a niche and many female guests would feel more comfortable with a female only listing.

As others have said, I think it's the lack of bedroom photos that's the issue and I don't see any logic in not showing photos of the bedrooms guests are meant to be renting. I would never book a place where the host failed to show the room I am booking.

Ben551
Level 10
Wellington, New Zealand

@Linda1375  I agree with others in regards to photos; Airbnb search engine placement is quite sensitive to photography being high quality, plus it's not logical to not show bedrooms as @Sarah977 says.  I'd be suspicious if it were me - I want to see where I'd be sleeping, personally.

 

I also suggest checking out the standard list of things that drive Airbnb search results.  It's called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and there is a great guide on it here:

 

https://remotescale.com/airbnb-ranking-factors/

 

Higher search result placement = more bookings, so it's definitely where I would devote some time if you're not getting as many bookings as you'd like.