hello youtube this is richard founder of short-term rentals secrets.com and
Airbnb super host welcome back to this week's Airbnb review listing as always
we do it in the following order we talk about the title the photos and the order
of those photos the thumbnail choice is at the right selection to get the most
eyeballs and conversions and then also the description of the copy how you
market the property and then finally we're gonna review what other people say
about it in the review section so let's dive in okay so the first item on our
agenda is the title the title here says Daytona Beach Shores beach bungalow
which i think is really nice I'm not sure exactly what a bungalow means but I
think is probably indigenous to the region and it tells me the location so
that's good now before we went live I went ahead and just took a look at this
and I saw something that caught my attention that this is really really
close to the beach it's like less than two blocks to the beach and like young
kids could walk to the beach and that's missing from the title it doesn't say
that it's close to the beach it just says it's you know a beach bungalow and
so I would encourage Paula and Mark to incorporate the fact that it's so close
walking distance to the shores Beach into the title I think you'll get a lot
more eyeballs and likely a lot more conversions now we're going to turn to
the photos in the order as always I'm going to go ahead and preview them all
so let's do that
I took a look at the photos and I think that overall they're pretty good there's
some room for improvement as always and so let's get right into it I like this
photo a lot I love the purple flowers so I think that this is an interesting one
this potted plant back here looks like it's either dead or neglected maybe you
could I don't know fix that for the photo if you felt so inclined this room
I think the the bright light coming from the outside is a little overexposed it
does add to you know the vibrancy of the room but I think it's a little too
bright and also at the rest of the room looks a little bit gray or drab maybe
you could put a coffee table with some flowers or something over here I see
coasters maybe put a glass of wine or something again we're trying to make it
more beachy and vibey and I think you do a good job of that some of the other
photos and we'll get to those but this room doesn't seem to have that same sort
of beach vibe feel color upbeat sort of stuff and so that's a
room where you can improve quite a bit especially since it's your second shot
again this room again just looks a little bit thin or Spartan it doesn't
look that exciting it doesn't look like there's that much to do I think maybe
you're missing a corner table here with a lamp maybe a rug on the floor just
really minor stuff but I think it could be improved and look more inviting so
let's try and work on that here's the same photo which just shows that you
know a closet door basically so I'm not sure this adds a ton of value and the
description doesn't add a lot of value either so I'm not sure that this photo
really is necessary although I do like the octopus and that you know add some
of that Beach vibe this photo I think is really nice actually the wall color is
sort of blue there's some shells there's a fish I like the staging I might
actually set the table a little bit more if you wanted to reshoot it you know put
like silverware down and wine glasses or you know coffee mugs or whatever but
overall I think this is a superior photo to the ones that we've seen before and
so far as its beachy it's it's a nice blue it's got shells so I
like this photo a lot and you took the time to stage it although I think you
could take it one step further reshoot the photo and in five minutes have an
even better photo this photo is just out of focus and in today's 2017 sort of
Airbnb super host five star status it's out of place like it just doesn't
work there's really no excuse for anybody having any photos that are not
high resolution or out of focus and I understand that it's being nitpicky but
you're being compared to other people that aren't gonna have out-of-focus
photos also it seems like this I can't really tell that it is out of focus but
it seems like this cabinet door is open and blocking something so if you were
going to reshoot it I would probably close that again I would add some sort
of an interesting thing here a potted plant and orchid I'm not sure that this
towel here adds a lot of value and it kind of distracts what does catch my eye
and I'd be interested in seeing is a little bit more of this like Eden
kitchen sort of area so there you go this is what I wanted to see and again
I've got the fish and that looks really nice maybe you could take one shot
that's in focus that incorporates this little eating nook and the rest of the
kitchen I think that that would be good and again I don't think this towel adds
too much value it sort of looks like it's out of place and takes up a fair
amount of space here's a bedroom I think this looks really nice clean I don't
have too much to say again I think that this is fine it looks comfortable it
looks clean it looks inviting I can see it's nice and bright I don't see any
sort of air conditioner or anything like that it's a queen bed so this room is
okay this is a nice shot again with the starfish just incorporating all of what
you're there at the beach for I can't tell what this is you might want to put
it in the description is that just a really small television or is that
something else if it is a really small television I wonder if it's perhaps too
small to actually see it and I don't know if you want to invest more money or
not but you can get a 32-inch or whatever would fit in this space here
Rhea really inexpensively and wall-mounted
and would just look better probably be more usable for people to stream Netflix
or something like that come home after a full day at the beach they're tired they
want to just relax and watch something this television to me looks a little bit
you know less than ideal this room is really nice I actually really like the
colors I love the lamp with the shells I love the fish this looks probably more
inviting to me and more beachy than even the master bedroom
so if you could try and replicate some of this look and feel in the master and
then reshoot it I think that that would be more inviting this doesn't add too
much value to me at all but I've no reason to take it away I guess you're
just trying to highlight that it's got a dresser and it's bright but I'm not sure
that this photo adds a lot of value recognize that a lot of photos are
really important so people can see what it is that they're talking about but
that doesn't mean you want to jam photos in that don't add a lot of value because
people get tired and they bounce you don't want people to get tired or bounce
you want to keep them engaged looking at a dresser with a flamingo you know this
is where I start to think about bouncing here's a bathroom looks fine nice and
clean I like that the toilet seat is down relaxed whoo nice blues this is a
fine shot given what it is that you're photographing so I don't see much of a
room for improvement there maybe a little candle or a little potted plant
or something again just to bring some additional life and color to the
bathroom now here's a beautiful shot of beautiful traffic-free Beach this is
gorgeous this should be earlier when we talk about the order of events
paint the picture I may have never gotten to see this photo I would put
this maybe second or third and just peppered in there get people excited
keep them realizing you know why they're on your listing this is an unbelievable
shot I love this access to the beach I like the Sun again I would put some of
these earlier don't don't make a whole string of them don't have like your
title shot and then your bedroom shot or your living room shot in your case and
then five or six photos of the beach but maybe one or two photos of your property
one photo of the beach one or two photos of your property
the next photo of the beach again keep people engaged drip it out to them this
is fine I don't think it's quite as exciting as the other ones but you're
trying to show its proximity this one is fine again it's not my favorite I like
the other ones more but if you want to have more photos it's fine
again I like this this is you know paints a nice picture of what I
particularly like about this more than anything is that you say exactly where
it is it's the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and it's four miles south the more of
that that you can do the better and in fact let's go back for a second here on
this here where you show they welcome to the Daytona Beach Shores you've
neglected a really good opportunity to say two blocks a hundred seconds less
than one minute a short walk a short bike ride I don't
know where you're located this doesn't help me either and that's a missed
opportunity so I would improve that and I think you'll see people respond to it
Racing's North turn dining on the beach is two miles south I assume that that's
important and a destination it's a beautiful shot and again I love the fact
that you indicate where it is located
boondocks half a mile south this is great my only concern with this again is
that it's pixelated which means it's not the highest resolution photo
you know I'm being nitpicky but I think that that's the kind of thing that can
be improved easily next time your boondocks
just snap another photo with your high-resolution camera almost all
cameras will take better quality photos than this boondocks restaurant at night
again it's sort of out of focus and then we're back to your title shot so overall
I think that the photos are really good there's rooms that I like more than
others there's really minor improvements that you can make to some of them and
then overall I would just make sure that your photos are not blurry they're all
you know in focus and high resolution and then add some of the descriptions
where we're located and what it is that we're doing there okay now on to the
thumbnail selection I do think this is probably the best thumbnail as it
relates to your bungalow it's really nice and inviting and I love the colors
and the trees and it looks like it's nice and private I particularly like
this little sign here catches my eyes but I would like to make a suggestion
where you a be test and what I mean by that is try running your
your Airbnb listing using this photo as you have been doing take a look at your
statistics in terms of the number of people that view and the number of
clicks and then your conversion rate having used this in the past and try
perhaps using a photo of the beach area and you can try either one of these two
I thought they were both both good photos this is my personal selection but
try this one and try this one and just see if the people that are looking at
the thumbnails as they scroll through your listing and everyone else is
listing if they're drawn to the actual photos of the beach or this walkway more
and it gets you more clickings and/or even more reviews especially if you were
to increase the description on these titles down here talking about
three-minute walk one block walk you know short bicycle ride we provide
bicycles whatever it is but I think that it's a worthwhile test so I love the one
that you've selected I think it's the best one of your bungalow but I think
perhaps time will tell whether one of these other two actually perform better
and if you have any comments or thoughts about that you or anybody that's
watching this please go ahead and leave them below because we're all just trying
to learn from one another ok let's turn now to the description and as I read it
a couple thoughts come to mind it's interesting here that you say this
charming beach bungalow is half a block away from the traffic free section of
the beach and somehow I didn't see it I'm encouraging you to put that into the
title you want to talk about how close it is because that's really why people
are staying here in fact we're gonna film another video about location and
just how important location is not so much in where you buy a place which
obviously matters but in the fact that I think there's a huge opportunity a
missed opportunity for most hosts to highlight and specify and bring people
to your location through marketing and so I think in this particular case as I
mentioned earlier putting this in the title would be better I also think that
the description is rather short which can be good and bad I think in this
particular case there's more information than you should share I think perhaps
Paul and Mark you guys should sit down open a bottle of wine and just maybe
record like why you bought this bungalow what
brought you here what'd you guys do in the community you try and highlight it a
little bit it's walking distance to restaurants beach activities be more
specific what activities what restaurants you
talk about the Space Coast and then Dean parks which theme parks bring it out
somebody may not know what theme parks are there and so while it's general and
helpful don't assume people know I would also suggest that you talk a little bit
more about it was completely remodeled that's very vague and doesn't really add
a lot of value so I would say something like this newly renovated charming beach
bungalow is only half a block away from the traffic-free section in 2012 we
remodeled which included boom boom boom boom whatever it is and my family and I
we use it we bought this place because we love going to X Y Z restaurant and we
do things on the beach including surf paddleboard I don't know whatever it is
that you do for a rainy day we love going to the Space Coast whatever it is
but like tell a story don't just list the facts bring it to life tell people
why you bought the place what you do there what other guests do there why
people come to the area what you do in the winter what you do in the summer is
it heated is it available for year-round you know things like that and similarly
this is very Spartan as well bedroom has a queen-size bed what we're seeing now
is a lot more elaboration the master bedroom has a queen sized bed it has
privacy away from the kids which is important for couples or this place is
great for two couples it's great for business try and be a little bit more
specific about you know what this is for you've done a really good job of just
detailing the facts but it's not really painting much of a picture it's not
asking me to come and stay it's not telling me you know why would choose
your place any versus any other it's just the facts and realize this is a
marketing exercise so you get to tell your story and it's only your story so
whatever you include or more specifically whatever you exclude
nobody's going to know I think that the thing that I find a little bit odd and
I'm not sure how you monitor it is that this washer and dryer are only
available for guests staying more than five nights I'm not sure why that's
important meaning like why don't you allow somebody who is staying there for
a long weekend and has you know wet bathing suits and towels and things that
they want to wash like why don't you allow that it seems a little off-putting
to be honest so if it's a real big deal then I guess the rules are your the
rules the house is your house but if I were staying here for two or
three nights and I read that that would just sort of like leave a bad taste in
my mouth even if I wasn't gonna do it was just kind of like I don't know Wow
how about I stay at a bungalow that has a washer and dryer that I can dry little
Ricky's you know bathing suits that the next day he's not complaining about a
wet bathing suit you've heard me say this before I am just not a fan of this
monthly discount of 60% you're basically giving it away basically all you're
saying is that you would rent this place out for your prime month whatever month
that is for a 14-day occupancy and my bet is if you do better photos better
description a little bit better in the marketing you'll be sold out instead of
14 days of occupancy activate you get 18 20 25 maybe even 30 at full asks so I
don't see any reason to give away 60% strict cancellation everything else
is included one of the things that I think we could all do better about is
talk about the wireless internet the speed of the wireless internet you've
heard me say this before maybe even take a screenshot go to speedtest.net on your
telephone and just take a screenshot of the upload speed and the download speed
assuming that it's anything that's reasonably fast that adds value and then
write it in the description what I'm doing right now the verizon files just
to put in perspective I did it the test yesterday it's a hundred and fifty down
and a hundred and sixty up so for me to not highlight that in my listing is
insane because somebody who's really using the internet or streaming videos
or whatever that adds a lot of value they're not going to get annoyed
frustrated with a constant pausing alright so let's go ahead and turn to
the final thing here which is the reviews and I love this 28 reviews five
stars that means you're a great host people love what it is that you're doing
and that's tremendous and so the the commentary that I have here is really
just to take you to that next level so you get more bookings more conversions
more money in your pocket it's not to suggest that you're not doing anything
improper in fact the tape speaks for itself 28 five-star reviews you know
exactly what it is that you're doing as far as the hosting is concerned I think
there's a little room for improvement in the marketing of your hosting and I
think that'll derive more conversions and therefore more money in your pocket
Paul and Mark's place was a life will get away and just a couple of minutes
walk from the beach that's great I'm not sure if it's that quiet there's no one
at the beach this is really nice I also note that you haven't taken the
opportunity to reply to any of these reviews and you really ought to that's a
missed marketing opportunity so go ahead and reply and again try and personalize
it this was a nice house for a family for two stayed near the beach less than
two blocks we love this quiet stretch again I think you need to highlight the
the location even more excellent location great place close to the beach
beach getaway a couple minute walk charming perfect for six we love the
bedding the house is very clean and cozy let's see here couldn't have been more
pleased fantastic place awesome house I love the location the house was so clean
Apollo was wonderful we're ten minute drive from Daytona and
a two minute so everybody keeps saying the same sort of thing you guys are
great hosts it's very nice and clean the location is amazing and I would just
suggest that that you highlight that more right I think it's great that other
people are highlighting it I think it's an opportunity for you to highlight it
and I would encourage it but clearly you're doing it really well and I love
the fact that you're having success with it I hope that this encourages you to
take a few minutes of your time and improve just some of the photos and some
of the listing in the description and really market your property because I
think you're onto something here that could be great and if you all watching
this have comments or feedback please go ahead and leave it in the
it's below because again we're a team and a community and the more that we
share the more that we learn in the continual learning space and if you want
your place reviewed go ahead and leave a request for that also and until then
happy hosting if you haven't subscribed to the channel please do and like and
share the video have a great day