Having a vacation property can be a great investment, but at some point, every rental operator asks the question, “How do you get more bookings at your rental property?” For vacation wannabees browsing top vacation rental listing sites, it often all comes down to the listing’s great job of highlighting the property’s unique features and highlights.
We sat down with our senior vacation rental copywriter, Jess Henley, to ask for his secret sauce on writing vacation rental listings that convert viewers into vacationers.
1) What have you noticed has worked best for your context?
Whenever we create tourism development content, the audience comes first. We’re presenting the value of visiting one location over another. That means frontloading content and capturing attention quickly. Focus on highlighting unique amenities and then getting into the fun details that let the audience start building their dream vacation around your property.
2) Are you aware of any pitfalls to avoid?
What many tourist marketers forget is to incorporate SEO best practices throughout the listing. One of the biggest to miss is including alternative text with images. Your featured image should be that same unique value for the property to immediately solicit interest. From there, make sure all images are loaded with the keywords and long tail queries your audience is using, like “image of beautiful AirBnB house rental with pool in Key West.”
You can use free tools like Ahrefs keyword generator tool to find high-performing, low-competition keywords and phrases to sprinkle around the body copy, meta description, title tag, and alternative text.
3) What experiments have you tried with listings, and what were the results?
For a vacation site specifically for Iceland, we focused on local attractions near the property because these are the places that attract the most searches. We frontloaded the amenities surrounding the property and then got into the details of the property itself.
For example, Iceland’s famous blue lagoons draw huge numbers of tourists, so we wanted to make sure we were a part of that conversation and succinctly led into the listing with the proximity to the locale, shopping, and restaurants and then tied in the beautiful property. The results showed a sharp uptick in interest, traffic, and bookings for the property because it was suddenly associated as a top choice among visitors to that specific area. Testimonials are powerful, even ones from nearby attractions that are only by association.
4) Has a guest ever commented on the listing description for a property?
A good listing should open the door to the joy of anticipation. While we’ve never received a direct comment about the listing from a guest, having them provide a five-star review means we told the right story in a way that made sense by telling the truth and highlighting the unique value to let the user make their own memories.
5) What are your personal thoughts and feelings on listings? How important are they?
Vital. The listing is where people begin to envision how they’ll spend a limited budget (both monetarily and time-wise) on your property. Always tell the truth, and if there are blemishes, own it. You can present potential pitfalls in a humorous way as full disclosure and earn trust in the process. Does your property have a terrible view? Own it. “While the property views on the front remind one of Chicago’s industrial past, the breathtaking serenity of the master bathroom’s walk-in shower with steam and oversized Jacuzzi tub is your own personal nirvana after you’ve enjoyed the sights within walking distance of this hidden gem in the heart of downtown.”
A hilarious take on incorporating humor in tourist marketing was seen with the below ad from Visit Oslo that rose to viral status after facetiously highlighting all the “negative” aspects of their city:
6) How do you manage property listings with a multilingual target audience?
Continue to hone in on the property’s unique value proposition to visitors. Make the listing simple yet profound so that translation services won’t struggle with an overly verbose listing.
7) What types of property listings have the biggest general appeal?
Location is everything. Highlight proximity to the big-ticket draws around the property and then highlight the haven the property produces after a wonderful time out enjoying all that the location has to offer. Paint the picture of the amazing time that the visitors can have and help them dream up the perfect trip with your property as their adventure’s HQ.
Get More Bookings For Your Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com Listing
At Bizwrite, we help turn your audience into raging evangelists by highlighting your unique value and compelling action. Whether that’s choosing your property to host their next vacation or a newsletter that informs vacationers about local happenings before their trip, we help differentiate your property from others in your market. Contact our team to discuss your property and how we can help increase visibility.
