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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
sonenalpmammoth Feb 4, 2019 3:29 PM (in response to benburke)Lovely home and garden!
Not an expert and I honestly think its a crapshoot/guessing game as to why some properties fail .... but I can give my suggestions on ways you might improve the new listing:
Use some of your outdoor pics at the beginning of your reel. Maybe highlight a couple of indoor and outdoor pics at the beginning before you do the full house pics. The pool/outdoor living is a real selling feature so I'd want to bring travelers' attention to that. Your home is so synthesized and coherent in design that the pics all start to look like each other after a while (white everything with blue accents). I think breaking that up with some outdoor shots would benefit the listing.
Try rewriting the copy or breaking it up into smaller, easier-to-scan pieces. You probably already know that travelers don't read, they scan. One super easy fix for your copy : Your first paragraph reads a lot like bullet points, so you could try breaking it up into actual bullets with headings. If you want to spend more energy, Guesthook and a few other services give free advice on their blogs that is helpful in writing copy. They will also write copy for you for a very low fee (I haven't used that but some Comm members have, maybe they'll chime in).
Take time to respond to reviews. You have several reviews and no responses. Responding to reviews gives travelers a sense of who you are as an owner/manager and is well worth the time it takes to write a few lines of response, IMO.
My opinion (and I do understand why you choose it) but a no refunds with cancelation policy would kill my business. It might work for an established property in some markets but if you're trying to build business with a floundering listing, a more lenient cancel option would help (IMO). I only use a restrictive policy like yours on Airbnb, where I only take last minute reservations.
Hope that helps.
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
u0999 Feb 4, 2019 3:40 PM (in response to benburke)You are not alone, I am in same predicament. Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
ashevillelookout Feb 4, 2019 4:26 PM (in response to benburke)Love the area; we go to Scottsdale several times a year.
Your pictures are very professional, but I cannot see what the house looks like due to the lighting used; very austere. I would like to be able to discern the size of the rooms. Important would be clear shots of the master suite, the kitchen layout, and the best view of the backyard to include the pool and dining,
Best wishes for more guests!
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
ohst8er Feb 4, 2019 8:03 PM (in response to benburke)benburke, I have no idea how many people use filters when they do a search but...
When I search for this listing https://www.vrbo.com/1474519
and click on this filter
you disappear....
I've also tried searching with filters for your other property and cannot find it. I was trying to ferret out which filter i clicked that caused that listing to drop off, but it's 9pm and I gotta get my son off to bed, so I had to click off. I would suggest doing a search of your area using filters. Search for the exact number of bedrooms (gives you less listings to sort thru), then click ALL the filters that apply to your listing and see if you can find yourself (be sure to click that pesky, properties are good for for families). If you cannot find yourself, that means either your guests have not mentioned how good you are for families (and I think u0999 can tell you how frustrating THAT is), OR there is an option you have not selected on the owner's side.
The filters do change from time to time, so I would make sure you have all the hot buttons clicked on the owner's side,t hen search for your listing via filters. Sometimes it takes a process of elimination to determine which one is making you fall off the radar.
ALSO.... the more booked your calendar is, the less you show up in searches when travelers use dates. The less you show up in searches, the "less popular" the algorithms deem you to be. The less popular you are, the less you show up in searches, etc. Go back to your listings, take a good hard look at them... are your pictures good? Do you have a good "lead" picture (your thumbnail). Does your description and photos make someone want to stay at your place vs your competition? Did you tell your future guests all the amazing things about your location? (things to do). Once you have done all that, email your listing to your friends and family, post it on FB, etc and ask everyone to click on it from all their devices and look at it. Explain to them that the clicks equate to likes which drives "popularity" in the algorithms. I just encouraged a friend to do this because her calendar was full Jan-March, and completely empty for summer. My condo is right behind hers and my calendar was softer for winter, but is almost sold out for peak season. After she did these things she got quite a few inquiries and so far one has resulted in a booking. It NEVER hurts.
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
gardaflat Feb 7, 2019 8:01 AM (in response to ohst8er)As to the "properties good for families" filter, it may be an A/B test.
I've called CS because my property (which is suitable for families, has all the amenities checked, family friendliness is mentioned in multiple guest reviews) does not show when the above filter is clicked, they told me it is an A/B test and there's nothing I can do about it. I just wonder how many suitable guests I may have lost and will loose due to this A/B test...
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
ohst8er Feb 7, 2019 10:30 AM (in response to gardaflat)gardaflat, The answer "this is an AB test" is sometimes correct, and sometimes it's the answer that CS gives you when they don't know the answer.
In this case, it was INCORRECT info they gave you, which is unfortunate. Check out THIS THREAD>> Re: How to have your property show up when the filter "Recommended for Families" is selected? I've tried everything suggested by CS. for more information.
The "solution" is to have your travelers click the appropriate buttons on their review.
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
gardaflat Feb 7, 2019 12:33 PM (in response to ohst8er)thanks, Ohst8er. Next time I'll ask for a review and the appropriate buttons.
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
dinamight Feb 5, 2019 2:45 PM (in response to benburke)I tried the Family filter as well and the same thing happened - your second property disappeared (I didn't check the first one).
Not sure why, it says Children Welcome and Children Allowed. Perhaps call HA about this?
Also, I would swap that first photo of a table tennis table for one more appealing, e.g. the outdoor furniture.
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
benburke Feb 5, 2019 5:21 PM (in response to benburke)Thanks for the help. I'm trying to figure out the family filter now. That's a good one.
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
georgygirl1955 Feb 6, 2019 4:54 AM (in response to benburke)I think two things might help:
1. Improve the photos, and re-arrange them also. Agree with comments above about showing better outdoor features for lead photo and rotations. Also important to group gatherings is a fabulous cooking area and kitchen, and a den large enough to gather. I dont think these important features are rotating through photos quickly enough and with punch quaility. ( I also suggested that u0999 rearrange photos but I dont think my advice was acted upon. ).
2. Fix your headline. Current headline could have more pizazz, ...it lacks a punch, has spacing issues, and also has a spelling error: ( fit pit )
"Home with large private yard+ pool, BBQ, and fit pit"
Perhaps somethng like: Private POOL Oasis | Cook's Delight-Family Fun | Near OldTown
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
u0999 Feb 6, 2019 2:04 PM (in response to georgygirl1955)while I appreciate the advice, I did not rearrange photos to show games 1st. why? because in our market game tables are "standard equipment" - everyone with 2 bedrooms or more has them. But not everyone has unique architecture, land and views.
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Re: Need help from the experts. Good house performs horribly. Average house performs great.
grant570 Feb 7, 2019 2:08 PM (in response to benburke)As a renter, the first things I notice is the 1252781 one has 1 more bedroom and 1 more bath than 1474519. Also, 1474519 has a pool which although will be an attraction for some it will chase some away..They show as different areas, one is Papago Paradise and the other is Village Grove which may matter if people filter to that level.. If I filter for 4 bedrooms in your location, your 4br is the cheapest 4br in Papago Paradise and only the 4th from cheapest for an all of Scottsdale 4BR search.It even shows up on the 1st page under a 3BR search for Scottsdale sorted by price.. I would say 1252781, just has an advantage in being found by a renter due to the combination of 4 bedrooms and lower price where the 3 bedroom is less likely to be singled out by someone filtering. So unless you close in the carport for a 4th bedroom on 1474519 the difference in demand will probably be difficult to change.