You’ve done all the right things — furnished a vacation rental, written a listing description, and listed your property online. However, your vacation rental still isn’t getting any bookings or reservations. But why?

It can be frustrating when your vacation rentals aren’t getting booked as often as you would like. However, if you feel like you’ve done everything right, and you still aren’t getting more bookings, it may be because of the following mistakes.

Common Mistakes (& Solutions!) to Impact Your Airbnb Search Ranking

If you want to secure more Airbnb bookings and appear more frequently in search results, avoid the following mistakes with your Airbnb listing:

Minimum Night Stays

Potential guests are attracted to short-term rentals with flexible policies, so it’s best to avoid short minimum night stays when starting out with Airbnb. You’ll be able to bypass more search filters, allowing your property to appear in search results more often.

Once your property is booked regularly, you can establish a minimum stay policy if you’d like — but when starting out, a one-night reservation is better than nothing!

Excessive Fees

Potential guests hate being nickeled and dimed, especially when trying to plan a fun vacation. One of the quickest ways to deter guests is to add a bunch of extra fees on top of the nightly rate, such as fees for extra guests or expensive cleaning fees.

Rather than charging excessive fees, it’s better to modify your pricing strategy to include the fees in the per-night price. This way, when guests click on your property, the amount they see is the amount they’ll pay — which is a pleasant surprise compared to what guests tend to expect from other listings on Airbnb.

Calendar Availability

The Airbnb search algorithm values a responsive host with a quick response rate. However, keeping your calendar and profile active can be tough to do when you’re not receiving any bookings — so here’s a tip!

If your calendar is already up to date and you’re still not receiving bookings, pick some dates to block out and then immediately free them again. Daily updates like this can more than double your booking probability since you’ll be showing Airbnb you’re active on the platform, so in turn, the Airbnb algorithm will reward you by showing your property to more people.

It may sound too far-fetched to be a good strategy, but give it a try — you’ll be surprised how well this trick works to boost your Airbnb booking rate.

Boring Description

It’s essential to write a stellar listing description for your Airbnb. Not only will this showcase your property’s unique selling points, but it will improve search engine optimization — how guests find your property — to increase your occupancy rate.

Avoid boring headlines, long paragraphs, incomplete descriptions, and poor grammar. Instead, focus on a short and sweet description that highlights the amenities, location, and features of your property that evoke strong emotional responses from guests.

Low-Quality Photography

Does your property listing feature a few blurry, unprofessional, or poor-quality photos you snapped on your iPhone? If so, these images will do the opposite of attracting guests — it will actually deter them.

Investing in vacation rental photography with a professional photographer is crucial to attract guests to your property on Airbnb. The competition is steep, and your blurry photos will not stand out among crisp, clear, professional images. If you currently have poor-quality photos — don’t panic. Just get in touch with a photographer who can come and take some new photos as soon as possible, and update your listing when you get the photos back.

Outdated Furniture

Is your furniture old, outdated, or worn out? If so, it may be time to give your short-term rental a makeover. Guests will be more likely to stay in a rental with new, stylish furniture over a space with outdated or drab furniture — wouldn’t you?

Hiring a professional decorator, like THE STAGING COMPANY, allows you to work with an expert to choose furniture, fixtures, and finishes that will appeal to guests. We’ll choose everything — you just have to pay for the furniture!

High Pricing

It’s important to keep your prices competitive to boost your occupancy rate. Prices that are too high — or even too low — may deter a potential guest. If prices are too high, guests will be able to find a cheaper property elsewhere, and prices that are too low may lead guests to believe that something is wrong with your property.

Changing your prices regularly to keep up with holidays, weekends, peak seasons, and slow times is the best way to ensure you’re happy with your income and the prices match the guest’s expectations. Usually, finding other hosts in your local area and taking a peek at their pricing strategy can help you find the pricing “sweet spot” at different times of the year.

Negative Reviews

Positive reviews can work wonders for your short-term rental business! However, bad reviews can tank your listing just as quickly.

When you start hosting, focus on collecting as many great reviews as possible. Not only will new guests book with you because your property — and you — seem trustworthy, but when someone writes a poor review, it won’t impact your rating as much.

Solidify Future Bookings and Exceed Guest Expectations with THE STAGING COMPANY

Owning a vacation rental requires some trial and error. It will take a while to find the perfect price, description, and photos that resonate with guests, but once you do — you’ll start to see the bookings rolling in in no time!

Would you like some help furnishing your Airbnb to give it a fresh, modern look that guests will love? Our team at THE STAGING COMPANY offers professional decorating services for property owners in San Antonio, Austin, Tampa, Orlando, and other cities in Florida or Texas.

Contact us to learn more about our services and to get started!