Building a Quality Outer Banks Vacation Rental Listing
Do you have as many bookings in your Outer Banks vacation rental as you would like? Unless you have solid bookings year after year, you know that you can always find ways to improve your marketing and to get more bookings over the course of the year. One of the areas that you will want to focus on is your listing. You can often do things that will help to make the listing more appealing to potential renters.
You want your property to stand out from the crowd, and you want to make sure that it is getting traction.
Let’s think about some of the most important elements of a high-quality listing and how you can incorporate them into your own listing.
A Great Headline
One of the first things a potential renter will see and read is your headline. Just as with an article in the newspaper, a headline has the potential to draw a person into the rest of the listing. So, how do you go about writing a great headline? What should be in the headline?
You want to do a good job of summarizing the type of experiences the guest can expect when they stay in your home. The headline should include the location of the home, along with some of the best amenities that your home offers. For example, if it provides great views, a pool, or anything else that is outstanding, it should certainly be a part of the headline.
Make sure you are putting the most pertinent details into the headline, such as the number of bathrooms, bedrooms, price, and similar items that a potential renter needs to know before they look further into the listing.
One of the other things you should remember is that your headline is not static. It can and should change a bit, as needed. For example, you may want to change with the seasons or holidays to reflect some different ways that the people could use the property.
Finally, you want to proof the headline for spelling and grammatical errors. In fact, this is true of every part of your listing. It is very easy to make some small mistakes, but these could be problematic. Not only do you need to look at the spelling, but you also need to make sure that the content is accurate. If you have a three-bedroom property, make sure it reflects that and doesn’t say two-bedroom anywhere, for example.
Photos
The next thing that people are going to be looking at with the listing are your photos. People on the web expect photos for everything, and they will certainly want to have a lot of photos of the rental property to look at before they go any further. However, not just any photos will do.
The photos need to be great quality, and that means using a good camera, such as a DSLR. Using your phone for the photos is simply not good enough. You need to have proper lighting, and it is a good idea to try to capture as much of a room as possible. Using a wide-angle lens can help here. The photos should be staged as well, to make the property look appealing.
Make sure that you take photos of the exterior, as well. Make sure the exterior is free of clutter, and that you show several angles of the property, as well as any outside amenities that might draw the attention of the renter, such as a swimming pool.
If you are not a professional photographer, it is still possible to take good photos with practice and the right camera. However, you will find that working with a professional can provide you with better quality photos that have the pro touch to them. It might be worth the cost to work with a professional photographer.
The Description
Next, you will need to get into the meat of the listing, which is the description. It is here that you can really sell the potential renters on all the great things that the property offers. Everything you write about the property needs to be factual, but you can still be creative with your words. You want the opening sentence to act as a hook that draws the reader through the rest of the description.
Highlight the things that make your property unique and that will help to make it a good choice for the renter. Be very specific about the features of the home and the amenities it offers. You want the renters to know exactly what they will be getting when they choose your property. Describe activities available at the home and in the area.
You want to be detailed and thorough, but you do not want to overwrite the description either. It should be informative and easy to read. Separate the text into paragraphs to break it up and make it easier to scan. Each of the paragraphs should only cover one topic, and the sentences should be punchy and to the point.
The Price of the Rental
Of course, even if you have the best listing description and photos in history, you will not have many rentals at all unless you have a good price to go along with it. Guests know their budget when they start to look at rental properties, and they do not usually want to look at properties that are above their budget, as it is too easy to fall in love and be disappointed they can’t afford it. Make sure the price is upfront, so they potential renter can see it easily in the listing. By having competitive pricing with other vacation rental homes in the area, it can increase your chance of getting bookings.
These are some of the most important elements of your listing. In addition, be sure to have the properties availability calendar and information available for the property.
Think about the things that you would want out of a listing, and make sure your listing delivers.
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