Create listing for vacation rental

A successful listing for your vacation rental is the key to your success as a host, owner, or vacation rental manager. This is because of the obvious fact that only if a guest finds and clicks on your listing, they can book with you. Furthermore, the more guests who book your vacation rental, the better your listing ranking on Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo will be. In our guide for vacation rental owners, you will learn how to optimize your listing, get more clicks, and achieve a high occupancy rate.

The perfect listing for your vacation rental

Here you will learn what you need to pay attention to when creating the listing for your vacation rental:

1. Think about a meaningful title

The most important part of your vacation rental listing is the title. Think about a meaningful headline that will stick out in the mind of potential guests.

What type of vacation property are you offering? Are you renting a villa, beach house, city apartment, chalet, etc.? By being specific, your rental will sound more appealing than simply “vacation rental” or “cottage”.

2. Appealing photos

Appealing and high-resolution photos are a must, because first impressions count. Put your rental in the right light and show it from its best side. If you want, you can even record videos to give your future guests a virtual tour. If you don’t like taking photos yourself, get help from an amateur photographer from your circle of friends or even hire a professional one. It’s worth it because the photos are the cornerstone of your listing!

3. What is special about your accommodation?

Your vacation rental is very special, you know that. But make sure that potential guests see this as they quickly glance through listings. Think about it: What makes your accommodation stand out from the competition?

Perhaps it’s a special feature, such as its location, for example:

• Beach house directly by the sea
• City apartment in the heart of the center
• Villa with sea view

Maybe it’s features or amenities that make your accommodation special:

• Historical villa with a large pool
• Cozy chalet with open fireplace
• City apartment with roof terrace

4. Detailed description

Your vacation rental listing must not leave any questions unanswered and must contain all the necessary information. However, it is also important to be honest: How many guests can stay in your rental? How far is it from the ocean? How far is it to the nearest supermarket? Help your guests get an idea of whether your vacation home meets their needs. Only then will you have satisfied guests who leave good reviews.

It is also important to be the point and not waste your potential guest’s time. Also, keep in mind that many potential guests do their research on their smartphones, so a short, to the point decryption is all you need.

Divide your listing into topics like “surroundings”, “facilities”, etc. and use bullet points or a numbered list to make points clear. Potential guests will quickly find what is important to them even when skimming your ad.

5. Search engine optimization

If you offer your vacation home through your own website, you can also score points with Google with an appealing title and a detailed description to increase your findability in Google search results. Make sure that your description contains all important keywords that are important to your potential guest (i.e., your target group). This way your rental will be easier found online and you will achieve more direct bookings.

Think about your target group

1. Who is your target group?

When creating your listing, always think about the target audience you want to address and mention aspects that are important to them, such as barrier-free, child-safe, allergy-friendly, etc. After all, many potential guests search for these terms online when planning their vacation.

Apart from that, you should mention all the great features of your rental in the text: large terrace, pool, fitness room, etc. because this is how you can attract potential guests.

2. The right address & wording

Put yourself in the shoes of your target group, also in terms of writing style and images. If you are addressing a younger target group, use “you”. For an exclusive apartment in the upper price segment, you may choose to be more formal. Write your texts in a friendly and personal style and mention what you are particularly proud of them as the owner or manger.

When describing your vacation home, use active language and figurative phrases: “Our city villa is an oasis of peace in the middle of the historic city center. On hot days, the trees in the well-maintained garden provide shade and the spacious pool ensures you can also cool off…”

If you want, you can also adjust your listing seasonally and, for example, focus on skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer.

3. The right booking portals

One of most important factors in listing of your rental is choosing for the appropriate portals on which to create your listings. This is important to consider beforehand and design listings with their corresponding images and texts accordingly.

-> Tip: If you offer your vacation home on different booking portals, your booking calendars must always be up to date on all portals. Otherwise, double bookings can easily occur, which means unnecessary stress for you and your guests. With a channel manager like Smoobu, your calendars are automatically synchronized on all booking channels. In addition, you can automate a lot of things and save time and money as a vacation rental owner or company. Test it now for free for 14 days!

Conclusion

Take the time to take high-quality images of your vacation home and adapt your description to the needs of your target group. All this will lead to high quality listing. Advertise on the booking platforms where your target group is active and really get started as a vacation rental agency. Smoobu is here to help you with anything from listings to the day-to-day management of your rental!

14-day free trial