Marketing your vacation rental can be a little overwhelming. With so many listings out there, how will yours ever be seen? Our expert team has a few recommendations for how to maximize your vacation rental listing’s views!

1. High-Quality Photos and Videos

One of the biggest tips we can offer you is to publish only high-quality professional photos and videos. When guests search for their ideal rental, they are looking for something that catches their eye! When you provide gorgeous photos and organized videos, travelers are more likely to choose your rental over one with blurry, low-quality content. We recommend providing your potential renters with a virtual video tour of your property — including floor plans. Guests will love this added layer of professionalism and will get to see everything they want in the rental and less unmet expectations.

2. Many Reviews

Working with us at Reservation Specialists will bring a proven reviews program to increase the number of reviews. A higher average star value can aid in a better listing position on channel partner sites. All these impressions sell your vacation rental listing. People DO read them and the response! We say, don’t fret over a negative review — it’s the average that counts, and future guests see that bad review as a rogue outlier. No property is perfect, so there are going to be issues. Guests want to see how that issue was handled. We like to say that a bad review is one that goes unanswered. Guests are more often attracted to the better reviews, and will often discount the one “bad apple in the bunch.” The two biggest attractions of a listing are definitely great photos and many great reviews. We are review experts and can facilitate that cumbersome side of your business — and now Property Managers can do what they do best, increase their portfolio size!

3. Market Your Property’s Best Qualities

Make sure you are highlighting all the best parts of your rental! If you have a pool, a mountain/water/golf view, a location close to downtown, fabulous indoor/outdoor amenity, close walking distance to…, etc. Make sure they are all featured front and center online — even in the listing title. List the unique qualities of your property that place you above the competition! Guests will love knowing the detailed ins and outs of your rental and will feel even more confident in booking your property.

4. Include Clean, Detailed Descriptions of Your Rental

When you’re describing your rental, you want to be as detailed and organized as possible. Make sure you aren’t just including one to two-word descriptions of the property and amenities. Try including a catchy headline and use fun adjectives like “beachside,” “stress-free,” or “cozy.” In addition, include descriptors like “perfect for your family,” “made for couples, ” “work remotely,” etc. to better describe the atmosphere of your rental. While you want to talk about the basics of your property, there is nothing wrong with adding a little pizzazz!

5. Invest in Small Bonuses & Guides for Local Activities

Guests love it when their rental comes with upgrades or bonus features that will make their trip even more enjoyable! If you’re on the beach, maybe provide an umbrella, some beach chairs and toys for the kids, and beach towels. If you’re in the mountains, some additional hiking gear would be greatly appreciated by your guests (like a flashlight, trail map, and bug repellent) and would entice them to stay with you. It’s also a good idea to upgrade your technology and include features like a streaming service and FAST WiFi so your guests can stay connected to their friends and family back home. Add a snack basket with dog treats for pet-friendly rentals. Provide a map, maybe even framed! Provide fish food for the lake property, firewood for the pit, binoculars, a bird identification booklet, basic board games, s’more fixings … you get the picture! The little things you do add up to big things later!

Now that you know the things that make a vacation rental listing stand out among the rest, you can start getting to work on customizing your own listing. Or, leave it to us…we have onboarded many successful rental properties. The Reservation Specialists are here to help! Get started today!