Sunday, August 30, 2009

Tips to Increase Your Vacation Rental Bookings

Is Your Vacation Rental Ad Description Dull and Boring?


If you are not receiving the inquiries you want, It's probably due to one or more factors:

  1. Your Headline
  2. Your Property Description
  3. Your Price
  4. Your Pictures
  5. Your Property
  6. The Listing Site

This article focuses in on a common problem, and one that is simple to fix; Your Property Description. Depending on the structure of the vacation rental web site, the first thing customer views is your Headline and a Preview Photo, sandwiched in between many other listings dueling for their attention. Assuming that your headline and preview photo is good enough to get them to click on your listing, you are probably losing prospects with a Dull Property Description


To relate this to a TV show Ad, before the show airs, there is a 10 second TV show teaser to entice you. It showcases some humorous and dramatic scenes depending on the program. Then there is the actual TV Program. If they sell you on the Teaser you will watch the show. If you watch the show and find that it's boring you turn it off in the blink of an eye. So then You have to grab the prospects attention right away. Then you must keep and hold their attention long enough for them to read your page and send you an inquiry.

This article focuses on increasing inquiries.


Inquiries lead to bookings. No inquiries No-bookings! If you are getting a lot of leads and No-bookings there is something else may be going on with your Listing. This article focuses on increasing your rental inquiries.


To create an exciting, informative Listing Description, you must place yourself in your readers place. If you were searching for vacation rentals similar to yours, what would grab your attention and what would make you send in an inquiry to that owner?

Choose those “Attention Grabbers, Showcase them at the very beginning of your listing. This should get them interested enough to explore further into the Description where you will give them more exciting material.


Here's What I Look For In a Vacation Rental.


A Great Value.

With the current economy even the wealthy are looking for good bargains


Critical Information Up Front.

looking through property listings, I want see the critical information from the get-go.) viewing a lot of listings to find the one that you want so you are not going to read every line of every page. You are being a HUMAN GOOGLE as you scan through the page looking for KEY WORDS.


Key Property Features

(Examples) Number of bedrooms, bathrooms, TV’s, luxury kitchen? Parking? A concise summary of everything they need to get them excited about your property


Key Area/Location Features of the Property:

(Examples) Pool nearby, close to main attractions. Restaurants, slopeside at the ski resort,


Rates,

First Demonstrate Value, and then Show the Price has been conveyed #1-4 above now you can tell them what all the great stuff you have mentioned above is going to cost.

Your Intro Description should be communicated in approximately 100 words.


Below is my actual Property Description. In parenthesis I show what key points I am hitting in the ad


(#1 Value)

Save 40% off The Standard Rates by Booking Directly With the Owners.

New Slope Side Condo at The Canyons has 2 Bedroom 3 Baths to 1 Bedroom Master Suites. Silverado Lodge is one of the finest that Park City Lodging & Canyons Lodging has to offer. (#2 Property Features) (#4 Area Features)(#3 Key Features)

Features a Luxury Kitchen with Stainless Steel Appliances & Granite Counter Tops, 3 Fireplaces, 3 27.5" Plasma TV's, A Large Covered Secluded Deck, & Covered parking with direct access less than 4 feet from the Condo. Free High Speed Wireless Internet. (#2Property Features) (#3 Key Features)


(#5 Rates)

Rates Winter Rates Starting at $450/nt for a 2 Bedroom 3 Bath condo.

This is my 30 second sound bite. I consolidate a great deal of information from the get-go. Why? It is useless to place critical content at the bottom of the page if they click away from the listing before they read it.


This is my Property Description formula, and it is very effective. If I cannot get them interested the first 30 seconds then they are more than likely looking for something other than what I have to offer them. Like more bedrooms, closer to Main Street in my case.


If a multi billion dollar company like Microsoft can interest you in their product in 30 seconds or less, so can you.


Once Again your Listing Description could just be one of many issues, but like a surgeon you must diagnose each segment of your Property Description and make the necessary modifications.


For more tips and free tools to improving your leads and increasing your bookings and revenue please Click Here To Visit My Website