How can I improve my listing?

Modified on Thu, 10 Oct at 12:38 PM

The Travelnest team is expert in listing optimisation - our recommendations can help improve the performance of your listings.

Based on the information you add to your Travelnest account, our team can assess your Property Profile and make tailored recommendations to improve the performance of your listings on booking sites.

Our recommendations are based on industry best practices and our channel-specific knowledge - we work directly with some of the world's biggest booking sites including Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, Vrbo and TripAdvisor.

Our recommendations cover a number of areas including (but not limited to):

Availability and calendar flexibility

When it comes to availability and calendar flexibility, making your property more flexible will bring in more bookings. Our top 20% most flexible properties get twice as many nights booked as the 20% least flexible.

Minimum nights stay. If you only allow week-long stays, then your property simply won't show up in searches where guests are looking for a shorter break. Reducing your minimum nights stay, and allowing shorter stays of 1/2/3 nights can result in more bookings.
Arrival days. Having set arrival days where guests can only arrive on specific days omits your property from multiple searches where guests are looking to arrive on a different day. We recommend allowing guests to check in and out on as many days as possible.
Booking notice period. This is the number of days' notice you require before a guest can arrive. We recommend keeping your booking notice period as low as possible - one day's notice will help you attract last-minute bookings.

*Please note the minimum nights stay and arrival days can be easily managed within the Nightly pricing section of your Property Profile.

Pricing

Channels recommend having 12-19 months of pricing in place to take full advantage of the demand for booking ahead. Our data shows that owners who don’t update their pricing for the year ahead can miss out on around 15% of potential bookings.

It is also advisable to use seasonal pricing to maximise profits during peak season and attract more guests during low and off seasons. You can set this up in the Nightly pricing section of your Property Profile, using specific Pricing periods to vary your pricing throughout the year.

Photos

Great photos are vital for a successful listing. All channels recommend landscape photos - portrait photos can be cropped by the channels and displayed incorrectly, or even removed. We strongly recommend having a minimum of 24 photos. Properties with 20+ images receive 6 times the number of enquiries than those with less than 10 photos.

It is important to ensure that your photos include all angles and features of your property. Be sure to include interior, exterior, lounge, kitchen, bedroom(s), bathroom(s), views, key amenities and the surrounding area.

For UK property owners, we recommend using the photo agency Snappr, which offers on-demand photo shoots in locations all over England, Scotland and Wales. For more photo tips, see our photo guide.

Headline and description

As one of the first things your potential guest will read, it’s important to really sell your property in the description. Check out our guidance on how to optimise your property description and headline.

House rules

Here is where you specify whether you accept children, infants, and pets, allow parties/events, and whether the property is smoking/non-smoking if it is wheelchair accessible. Leaving this section incomplete can mean missing out on bookings where guests are looking for a property that accommodates these factors.

In particular, not allowing children and infants will immediately put families off from booking, so we recommend allowing children and infants wherever possible. Of course, this might not always be practical, but remember that many potential guests are searching specifically for properties that allow children. Not allowing children to omit your property from multiple searches has a detrimental impact on bookings.

You can add this information and ensure it is up to date in the House rules section of your Listing details section.

Key features and amenities

The booking sites we work with share key information that helps improve a property's search ranking. Often, this includes key amenities that guests are specifically searching for. If you don't have a minimum number of amenities, and specific amenities (WiFi, parking, a coffee maker and hairdryer and some of the essentials guests want) you won't show up in searches.

You can specify all your amenities and add any new amenities in the Amenities and features section of your Listing details section. Make sure you have every amenity ticked, and if you don't currently have things like a kettle, coffee maker and Wi-Fi, consider investing in these to attract guests.

Damage deposits and any other fees

Having a large damage or security deposit (e.g. more than 20% of the nightly stay) can put guests off from booking your property. Remember guests have to pay this in addition to your nightly rate, so a large damage deposit can result in fewer bookings.

You can add a security deposit for your property in the Pricing and availability so that guests will see this on your listings. You are responsible for collecting security deposits from guests - Travelnest does not manage this on your behalf.

We also recommend having comprehensive insurance in place for your property, as this can mitigate the need for a large damage deposit.

Summary

The aim of this information is to encourage you to make these adjustments to your account. This will ensure that your listings are more competitive and perform better than the competition on your selected booking sites. Our recommendations are based on booking sites feedback and our own experience of listing hundreds of properties globally.