7 Secrets to Make a Listing On Airbnb That Attracts Travelers

Have you ever tried searching on Airbnb to see how many vacation rental listings are available in your city? In Rio de Janeiro alone there are more than 25 thousand properties. The high competitiveness among advertisers is not restricted to capital cities. Proof of this is that when searching for options in Criciúma, a city in the south of Santa Catarina that has no tourist appeal, more than 90 lodgings are available. But then, in this immense universe of advertisers, how do you make your Airbnb listing attract the attention of travelers?

The fact that the listing is on the first search pages can be considered as a large part of the success path. However, to have this privileged space available, it is necessary to be well positioned in the Airbnb classification criteria, which involve several items, among them the quality of the advertisement.

In short: your position in the search results is also measured according to how you advertise the lodging.

So if you want to bring a listing to life on Airbnb that stands out from the crowd, put into practice some secrets surrounding this vacation rental platform. Shall we meet them?

Always remember your first goal: attract the click. This advice has everything to do with the cover photo, as it is what appears prominently to the guests in the moment when they are filtering a place to stay.

It can even become your identity on Airbnb. It is quite common for people to indicate a specific lodging and, to make it easier for the other person to find the right place, mention features of the prominent photo, for example, “I am talking about that Airbnb listing that has a beautiful painting of Romero Britto in the room ”.

Precious tip: do attractiveness tests! How? Ask your friends and family to do an Airbnb search and see if the featured photo caught their attention.

Although, compared to the cover photo, the headlines draw less attention in Airbnb searches, this is a very significant item in the body of the listing. There are 50 characters available to write, use at least 35 to guarantee a complete description.

Tip: use your characters intelligently!

– The internet user has already specified the city in the search filter, so there is no need to put this information in the title.

– Shorten words whenever possible.

Three types of headline approaches are most suitable:

Informative: highlight some characteristics of space, location and discount.

Example: Jurerê 3 rooms – 1 block from the beach/market – 15% OFF

Salesperson: use descriptive and salesperson words that characterize the lodging.

Example: Spacious! Prime location in Jurerê

Specific: cite some point that is very sought after and close to your property, such as a university (aiming to attract the public of entrance exams/congresses).

Example: Trindade 1 room – 100 meters UFSC/bus stop

One of the biggest differentials of a listing on Airbnb is that it is not a simple listing for a rental website. Airbnb is all about hospitality! The description needs to be very different from that of a real estate company, as the aim is to generate empathy, make the guest want to live the experience of being in the place.

-> Write a summary with a maximum of 500 characters, and take the opportunity to sell what the space has to offer.

-> Describe the environments in a captivating way. Instead of simply adding “apartment with a balcony”, try inserting something like “cozy balcony to admire the sunset”.

-> Talk about the location, pointing out what is best around the area, highlight facilities (bus stop, subway, commerce, sights).

-> Avoid long paragraphs, as they make reading difficult. Furthermore, the user may be seeing more than one listing at the same time, so it is a good thing to be dynamic in writing.

-> To make the text attractive and easy to read, write in topics and make use of special characters, such as the arrow that we put at the beginning of each of these tips.

-> Write in other languages. This is great for generating empathy with foreigners, as the automatic translation of the listing on Airbnb is not always good. If you cannot translate, look for a friend or family member who knows the language you aim to use

When creating a listing on Airbnb there are a number of items to mark, showing what is and what is not there in the lodging. Never point out that there is an item in the place, but in fact there is not, or if it is something that the person cannot use. Those who rent will expect to find everything described.

It has a washing machine, but the guest cannot use it? So do not tick.

There is a swimming pool in the condominium, but visitors cannot enter? Also do not tick.

Sincerity is essential, as the negative experience usually leads the guest to give a bad rating, and this directly impacts the position that the listing occupies in the Airbnb search engine, in addition to generating distrust in potential guests.

It is not enough to create the listing on Airbnb and leave it forever at the same price. Be aware of lodging prices similar to yours. From there, create a competition strategy and set a price 5% lower.

Adjust the price according to external factors – high demand, low/high season. Use the discount options that Airbnb offers – it is even possible to leave a predefined discount for long stays, for example.

Generally, anxiety is part of those looking for a place to rent, so the easier the booking process, the higher the chances of closing a deal. So, answer quickly to inquiries and booking requests, showing that you are a caring and welcoming host.

Your Airbnb listings can feature Instant Booking functionality. This means that the booking does not require your prior approval, it is only necessary for the guest to set the date of the trip, make the booking and, later, talk to you.

On Airbnb users are able to filter spaces that offer Instant Booking. These listings are even better ranked, as Airbnb values ​​this ease of booking. Consequently, bookings tend to increase as a result. For you, the host, this feature is synonymous with convenience and agility in making reservations, due to the fact that you do not have to answer each booking request.

Attention: when activating Instant Booking, all available dates in your calendar will have this feature applied.

Did you like the tips? You can find recommendations like these by following the SuperAnfitriões blog. In addition, there are several other channels with a similar proposal to Airbnb, such as HomeAway, TripAdvisor and AlugueTemporada. Many of the guidelines in this article also apply to them.