Short-term rental business is not easy. To be successful, you need to achieve perfection in many disciplines. Let’s focus on the areas that yield 80% of results.
Making more money on holiday rentals is a mix of three things:
1. Increasing the occupancy rate.
2. Increasing revenue per night.
3. Reducing operating costs.
It’s not one without the other; instead, it’s a balance of all three. So, your goal is to improve your metrics on all three fronts, and below, we’re going to show you how:
1. Guest check-in: managing each individual check-in personally
Are you still checking your guests in manually? Still, engaging in messaging ping-pong trying to coordinate check-in times? If so, STOP! There’s a much better way to do it that is more efficient, costs virtually nothing to set up, will save you countless hours (and stress for that matter), and will be a better experience for your guests. What you need is a self-check-in solution for your guests. For that, you need a Smart Lock. Ok, well, you don’t really even need a Smart Lock, even a secure lock-box for your keys is enough (they cost about $20 – $40). By simply installing a self-check-in service like this, you essentially free yourself from all check-in responsibilities as a host. No more messaging ping-pong, no more waiting around for guests to arrive. Just a seamless, hassle-free check-in flow for your guests that’s win-win all around. Search and Stay rental platform offers all automated guest communication and check-in information. They can still contact owners if needed either before or after booking your property.
2. Listing update
When was the last time you gave your listing on Airbnb, Expedia, VRBO or Search and Stay rental platforms little spruce? There’s a chance you haven’t changed your listing since the very first day you listed your property on Airbnb, Expedia, VRBO or Search and Stay rental platforms. If so, it’s time for a little update.
Here’s what you need to do.
Listing Title
There are whole books written about how to write effective headline copy for your listing on Airbnb, Expedia, VRBO or Search and Stay rental platforms— and how important a headline is. However, that’s beyond the scope of this article, but here's what you have to do. Have a look at your title and ask yourself these two questions:
● Does it grab your attention?
● Is it short and snappy? If your answer to the above questions is a little “kinda yeah, but nuh” then there’s work to do. Now, you only have 50 characters to work with, so you’ll need to get creative.
Here are some tips to help your listing title stand out:
● Use Capital Letters At The Start Of Each Word.
● Use special characters wherever possible: & | : ; + !
● Use numbers instead of words to save on character count, e.g., 200m instead of two hundred meters.
● Use power words for maximum impact, e.g., Luxurious, Affordable, Remarkable, Stunning, etc.
Listing Descriptions
Again, if the description you have on your listing on Airbnb, Expedia, VRBO or Search and Stay rental platforms hasn’t changed since day one, chances are that it’s poorly written and boring!
If your listing description reads like a formal scientific paper, with a wall of sleep-inducing text then it’s time to up your game. Here’s what you need to do:
● First and foremost, change the tone of voice of your description from formal, to conversational. Remember, you’re trying to build a relationship with your guests, so keep things light and upbeat.
● That “wall of text” I was talking about earlier has got to go.
Instead, try breaking up your text with smaller paragraphs — no more than two sentences in each. Also, try using bullets and lists to display information in a more visually enticing way.
● Break up your description with sub-headings. That’ll help make your text more skimmable.
Add image captions
I see a lot of people forget to add captions to their images your listing on Airbnb, Expedia, VRBO or Search and Stay rental platforms. It’s quick and easy to do, adds depth and clarity to your images, and it might even give you a little boost in search engine results pages too. It’s super easy to do and only takes a minute to do, so there’re really no excuses.
3. Amenities overhaul
Every now and again (more often than you might think), your listing on Airbnb, Expedia, VRBO or Search and Stay rental platforms will add new amenities and service checkboxes to add further detail to your listing. So, if you only entered your amenities on day one of creating your your listing on Airbnb, Expedia, VRBO or Search and Stay rental platforms, chances are, there are a ton of new options for you to add. It’s super simple — and only takes a minute to do — so go and do that now. Adding more amenities will only increase your chances of appealing to more people and getting booked more often.
4. Image upgrade
Images are kind of a big deal on Airbnb, VRBO, Expedia, Booking.com and Search and Stay. In fact, they’re not just a big deal. They’re HUGE! And, it’s probably about time to reinvest back into your business and get some professional photos taken. It’s a costly up-front expense, but I think you’ll find it’s really worth it in the long run. Now is the time to take action and invest in great, charismatic photos that show your property in the best light your listing on Airbnb, Expedia, VRBO or Search and Stay rental platforms
5. Pricing evaluation and overhaul.
If you’ve been in the hosting game a while, by now, you’ve probably got a bit of historical data to work with. I’m talking about things like occupancy rate, the average price per night, yearly revenue, etc. Digging into these metrics can give you clues about areas that can be improved upon to increase overall profits. The metric with the biggest impact on your overall operating profits (by far) is the prices you charge per night. Optimizing these prices can be the quickest, most effective way of increasing your bottom line instantly. There are Airbnb pricing tools that can help you with this, or it can be done manually. Either way, it’s a worthy investment of your time updating your listing on Airbnb, Expedia, VRBO or Search and Stay rental platforms
6. Free up random nights
Do you ever get those random nights in between bookings that can never get booked because of your minimum nightly stay preferences? If so, then here’s what you need to do about it. Login to your Search and Stay dashboard. Click on the “Calendar” link in the top menu. Select the random free night in between two bookings, and change the rate for individual dates.