Being an Airbnb host can be time-consuming, tiring, and overwhelming if you’re not dealing with your business properly. Aside from being lucrative, the hosting procedure should also be pleasurable and rewarding.
If you’re looking to improve your Airbnb listing and get further reservations, then these ten Airbnb host tips and tricks will help you out in no time.
1. Put Money and Time into Appealing Titles and Professional Photos
Your Airbnb title should be as inspiring and creative as possible, as it will be the first thing guests will read. Focus on the unique aspects of your property rather than using generic words like “beautiful location” or “great views”.
You should have an attractive picture of your property as your cover photo. Having this will wow potential guests and will entice them to click on your listing. Add a few more high-quality photographs of your whole property to please prospective occupants.
2. Write A Powerful Description
Having a great description gives you the chance to amaze your guests with words. To do this, you must emphasise what makes your Airbnb rental unique and appropriate. For example, your Airbnb could be close to the city centre or have great transport links.
This is also your chance to showcase all the great amenities you have to offer and demonstrate to your guests how you can make their stay more enjoyable. Having the little things such as good Wi-Fi and toiletries matter the most to many potential customers. So, make sure you use the right words when describing your property!
3. Display Your Fantastic Reviews from Previous Visitors
Displaying positive reviews from guests can help build a good perception of your property and gain you a certain level of trust. You can also influence a guest’s decision if they find a review that details an aspect in your home that is important to them.
Good reviews can be collected by meeting (or exceeding) the Airbnb guest’s expectations of your property. Airbnb guests look at reviews before booking, as reviews give them peace of mind before deciding to stay at a stranger’s house.
4. Price Your Rental Right
When setting the price of your rental, you should look around and compare similarly sized and closely located Airbnb properties to get a feel for the general price in your area.
You should keep in mind that price tends to change depending on the season. So, adjust your price to reflect the season you’re in. Also, ensure that you don’t charge either an excessive or suspiciously low amount as that will put off customers.
5. Respond to Guest Queries Promptly
It’s crucial to keep in mind that your response time and rate are two things that are taken into consideration by Airbnb when ranking your listing. It all comes down to offering a smooth visitor experience.
Airbnb wants hosts who can respond promptly and provide impeccable customer service so that guests can continue to book accommodations on the platform. Therefore, if you want to improve your Airbnb search ranking, you must respond to all guest inquiries within 24 hours.
6. Have A Flexible Cancellation Policy
Flexibility has become a top priority for many potential customers, and it has increased ever since the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Travel plans are always subject to change at any time and guests want to be able to change or cancel their trip for free if needed. According to a survey conducted by Airbnb, 75% of consumers want the ability to cancel or change bookings last minute.
If you have a lenient cancellation policy, that may be able to get you more bookings. This is because Airbnb gives hosts six different cancellation policies to choose from and it’s recommended that you either go with the flexible or moderate option.
The flexible option allows customers to cancel their booking 24 hours before their check-in time and they receive a full refund. While in the moderate option, they would have to cancel 5 days before their check-in for them to receive a full refund.
7. Update Your Availability Calendar Frequently
Continuously updating your availability calendar is vital to obtaining reservations on Airbnb.
If you don’t update your calendar, your property may not appear in search results for dates when your rental is available, and this could make those bookings slip out of your hands.
Furthermore, the Airbnb system favours hosts who often update their schedules, as this indicates that they’re active on the platform and puts them higher up on the search rankings. So, you should preferably be logging in each day to boost your rankings!
8. Create A Social Media Presence
It’s essential to think about boosting your Airbnb listing outside of Airbnb. After all, depending solely on Airbnb’s search system for reservations may not produce the greatest outcome.
A great tactic to obtain additional customers to follow ads that are not related to Airbnb’s algorithm is to promote them on social media.
The best way to do this is to create accounts on the most popular platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to showcase your property and its features through posts and videos.
9. Offer an Individualised Experience
To stand out on Airbnb, you need to think about the kind of experience you will create for potential guests.
There are lots of listings on the site, and hosts who highlight the characteristics of their location such as nearby activities and the type of experience that guests may have there. You will attract more guests than those hosts who only list location details.
To help you in offering this experience, Airbnb launched a service called “Airbnb Experiences”. This unique activity service offers hosts the chance to lead local adventures, teach cooking classes or give sightseeing tours among other activities to the visitors of their Airbnb rental.
Doing this will help you create a special experience for your guests and will elevate their Airbnb experience to a whole new level!
10. Keep Up to Date with What’s Happening
As a host, you need to keep up with the latest developments in the hosting industry and be one of the first to know if Airbnb has any important announcements or news.
Keep up with your peers! Set the pace of the market and improve your products based on the most popular trends of the season. It takes a lot of effort and energy to be a great host, but it’s not without its compensation.
Finally, a professional management company like ours is a stress-free way to make sure everything is done to increase the profitability and success of your Airbnb properties.
We here at Keey have a range of management options that will help your rental properties flourish and grow your company. Get in touch with one of our experts today!