BOOST YOUR BOOKINGS: EXPERT TIPS FOR PERFECTING AN AIRBNB LISTING WITH MARK SMITH AND HOST Carla #2

Outline:

In this video, Mark provides a detailed analysis and tips for improving the listing of Carla's Airbnb property. He discusses the importance of Wi-Fi speed, the order of listing photos, and the use of captions. Mark also suggests using specific terms like "bedroom one" and "bathroom one" for clarity. Watch the video to learn how to optimize your Airbnb listing for better results.

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Transcript:

"Hello, this is Mark. How are you? Wow, geez, these photos do look good. I don't actually even remember the old photos, so let's have a look. The first thing I noticed wasn't the photos, but it was actually this about the very first line we've got here about a common area, a dedicated workspace with Wi-Fi. So then I wondered what the Wi-Fi speed is. In your app, you should go to the phone app, go to amenities, and then go down to find your listing amenities and then Wi-Fi, and there's a speed test in there. If you go through those steps, amenities Wi-Fi, and then there's a speed test. So you hook your phone up to your own Wi-Fi, you try and sit about this far away from your Wi-Fi router, and it should be as fast as you can possibly get it. And then do a speed test, and that will add the speed test to the Wi-Fi here. So it'll say Wi-Fi running at 80 megabits per second, which can get you longer bookings where that's important, where someone's working from home.

On my own property, I've got 250 megabits per second. We've got a Starlink there, and so you can guarantee that's a feature that would be faster than everyone else in my neighborhood. So we'll probably, very much so. Anyway, for someone that's important, that was the first thing.

Now, you want to use captions, so we want to see if there are captions. Now, the order is actually very, very important. You've got 56 here, so these are good. You can change the order, but I'm guessing that they've actually picked these. Not sure that I'd go for the one with the next house in the window. If you've got an alternative, so I'm guessing these are the ones that were professionally taken, so yeah, it looks very, very nice.

So your request was, 'Can I see if everything's working well?' I mean, this looks very, very nice. You, I'm guessing, probably wouldn't put a computer there, but you could. I'm guessing that's someone there to do their makeup. If you actually took this, then I'd probably put the lights on. I mean, yeah, the Frangipani, I love the Frangipani.

Yeah, okay. So this is good.

Yeah, look, I'd probably get rid of that one. I don't know that it actually does a lot. It's not an attractive one. Any of these that you can get rid of, perhaps do or move. If you don't get rid of it, you can actually move it to photo 56. So you get there by getting that and dragging it down and reordering it. Show all photos.

Yeah, so you can reorder these. Look, I think that's probably enough for the backyard. I don't think you need to go much further. In fact, that looks good with the chairs out the front. I would get rid of 18.

Yeah, that's nice.

Yeah, and even that's sufficient. Main bathroom, yeah, dedicated workspace. So there's the magic words. So the algorithm will actually... I would change that from 'dedicated office' to 'Dedicated workspace,' that's what it's looking for in the algorithm. Yeah, possibly, I'd move this before photo number 26, seven. So you could give people a bit of a tour. I'm not sure if there is a floor plan, but let's have a look. I'm sipping coffee here; I hope you don't mind.

What is that room? Is that an ensuite or a walk-in robe? I'd maybe change the caption 'main bedroom with a walk-in robe' or whatever, offered. Captions are actually important. See, actually, I think this is probably a better photo of the kitchen. Yeah, I like that. So maybe just try and organize it a little, the photos, just so that it's a little bit more flowing, so you have the entrance hallway leading to this, leading to that, so it's just the order is a little bit better. No one really will mistake this for what it is. I don't think they really need to.

Yeah, I would certainly have the flowing tour: entrance, hallway, living, you know, that other photo of the kitchen, kitchen with the dining. And see how the backdrop there just looks so much prettier than looking at the house next door. Second... or I'd even change the caption to 'bedroom two.' Like, think about the algorithm. It would... this has probably been done by the photographer, but I would probably change that, just the caption: 'bedroom one,' 'bedroom two,' or 'Main bedroom ensuite,' whatever, 'bedroom two.' Yeah, they look very good size. See, this is probably a better photo of the kitchen because the neighbor's property's less prominent.

Bedroom one, bedroom one. So maybe group all the first four are really important. So get your first four and then have that organized tour: entrance, hallway, bedroom one, bedroom two, like certainly put the prettiest photo in your first four, and then have a tour. Air conditioning, so that's good, walking. Ah, so there's... Ah-ha! So see how it's just got to be... you think about if you were the person having this, looking at the property, how does it all flow? So this is part photograph 37, so you want to get it nicely flowing. So group all the bedroom ones and change all of these captions to 'bedroom one.' It's really flowing and simple, 'B1,' 'B2,' 'bedroom.' Use those words: 'bedroom one,' 'bedroom two.'

I don't love that you've got a dog, have you? Main bedroom walk-in. Next, well, what does that mean next? Bedroom one ensuite, bedroom one ensuite. So you probably don't need all of these. I would... if you're going to have an ensuite one, just have that one and get rid of this. It doesn't... it doesn't...

I'm not sure that I love that. You can have too many... bedroom. Now this gives the sense of proportion. Like, that looks really nice. So I'd actually think about having that as your main one. See how you've got really big spacious areas? Like the bed looks lush. Ladies that love this sort of thing, you've got this roomy space. You've got somewhere to relax and read a book. Super wine.

Think about using the terms 'bathroom one' and 'bathroom two' because then a lot of people say, 'Oh, it's got two bathrooms,' you know, whereas if you use the words 'main,' if it's just 'bathroom,' you probably don't need to use it. If you've only got one bathroom, you just say 'bathroom.' But if it's 'bathroom one,' then they start to think, 'Oh, okay, there's more than one.' So again, I'd get this order just a little bit better. How you have that flowing: entrance,

 hallway, bedroom one, bedroom two, bathroom one, ensuite, you know, or whatever. Bedroom three, again, it looks a huge bedroom. It looks huge. That's probably only a double bed.

It does look... And I like that. That's actually better than the... There was another one with the furniture right at the door. This is actually better. So this is all part of that tour that we're talking about. This would probably... put this entry, you know, the hallway. I think you get the gist. So, again, it's really nice and flowing: bedroom one. So change all these captions. Does that fireplace work? People would wonder, for sure. My guess is it... I'm not sure how it works, but you... you've clearly got a chimney there. Ah, so you've got a carport, have you mentioned that anywhere? You've got an... Is this another Frangipani? I'm not sure.

Again, no. So this one, you want to have, um, porch, entry, hallway, you know, again, in this flowing order. This shouldn't be number 49 because you can't make sense of where it is. Now this is fabulous. This is a really good one. This should be much earlier than... and in fact, this is better than the... There was that other one that had the... that was taken from over here looking in that direction. You couldn't see the house next door so much, but you could see the kitchen, the dining. So I would put this much earlier. Yeah, this is good.

I don't know that I'd use that or make this... Yeah, really one of your last ones. The other one where you can see the ocean, now that's the feature. Ocean... Do you actually have chickens? Do they... do you want the eggs or can you... have the eggs? Can... can guests use the eggs? Help yourself. That looks nice.

Okay, all right. So that's... That's a tour through the photos. Are really important because it doesn't even... if you don't use words, bang! There's your photos. Now, I've added it to a saved list, but you don't want too many people to add it to their saved lists unless they book. So you want them to add it when they book. Well, when they're thinking about it. You can add wish lists, but you don't want all your friends to add it because if they add it and don't book, that tells the algorithm, 'Oh, all these people are interested,' but then they lose interest, so we'll rank it lower. No, you don't want that. So you've got to be very careful. I would change the order. I think you can do better than this. I'd get that other photo where you had the looking at the lush bed, the lounge, and the fireplace. I'd change this from a different angle. I would not have that one there. So get your order, because if this is the only thing that people see, just these photos, you want the first... Okay, the first four, but really the first five here, they've got to be knockouts.

Let's see if you've updated. Now you've got to tell us more about you, Carla. We want to know about you. Oh, you know, I'm a brain surgeon. I've, you know, whatever. During your stay, speak English. Well, okay, that's good. Check-in after four. Okay, you've changed that. Oh, you've got the carbon monoxide. Good, good. But we want to see the Wi-Fi. So, yeah, let's have a look. You haven't got a real lot of dates available. So that's a two-night stay, cleaning.

I'd say some one-night stay. Minimum two nights. Now you really want to check that minimum five nights stay. So if you're going to have those five-night stays, you want to find out when are people booking in, so you don't want them to book in. See, this is what they can do. Book in, book in on a Sunday and go out on a Thursday. Well, what happens then? We do Saturday night. How do you get that full? So I'd... I'd get this order just a little bit better. How you have that flowing: entrance, hallway, bedroom one, bedroom two, bathroom one, ensuite, you know, or whatever. Bedroom three... Again, it looks... a huge bedroom. It looks huge. That's probably only a double bed.

It does look... And I like that. That's actually better than the... There was another one with the furniture right at the door. This is actually better. So this is all part of that tour that we're talking about. This would probably... put this entry, you know, the hallway. I think you get the gist. So, again, it's really nice and flowing: bedroom one. So change all these captions. Does that fireplace work? People would wonder, for sure. My guess is it... I'm not sure how it works, but you... you've clearly got a chimney there. Ah, so you've got a carport, have you mentioned that anywhere? You've got an... Is this another Frangipani? I'm not sure.

Again, no. So this one, you want to have, um, porch, entry, hallway, you know, again, in this flowing order. This shouldn't be number 49 because you can't make sense of where it is. Now this is fabulous. This is a really good one. This should be much earlier than... and in fact, this is better than the... There was that other one that had the... that was taken from over here looking in that direction. You couldn't see the house next door so much, but you could see the kitchen, the dining. So I would put this much earlier. Yeah, this is good.

I don't know that I'd use that or make this... Yeah, really one of your last ones. The other one where you can see the ocean, now that's the feature. Ocean... Do you actually have chickens? Do they... do you want the eggs or can you... have the eggs? Can... can guests use the eggs? Help yourself. That looks nice.

Okay, all right. So that's... That's a tour through the photos. Are really important because it doesn't even... if you don't use words, bang! There's your photos. Now, I've added it to a saved list, but you don't want too many people to add it to their saved lists unless they book. So you want them to add it when they book. Well, when they're thinking about it. You can add wish lists, but you don't want all your friends to add it because if they add it and don't book, that tells the algorithm, 'Oh, all these people are interested,' but then they lose interest, so we'll rank it lower. No, you don't want that. So you've got to be very careful. I would change the order. I think you can do better than this. I'd get that other photo where you had the looking at the lush bed, the lounge, and the fireplace. I'd change this

 from a different angle. I would not have that one there. So get your order, because if this is the only thing that people see, just these photos, you want the... Okay, the first four, but really the first five here, they've got to be knockouts. Let's see if you've updated. Now you've got to tell us more about you, Carla. We want to know about you. Oh, you know, I'm a brain surgeon. I've, you know, whatever. During your stay, speak English. Well, okay, that's good. Check-in after four. Okay, you've changed that. Oh, you've got the carbon monoxide. Good, good. But we want to see the Wi-Fi. So, yeah, let's have a look. You haven't got a real lot of dates available. So that's a two-night stay, cleaning.

I'd say some one-night stay. Minimum two nights. Now you really want to check that minimum five nights day. So if you're going to have those five-night stays, you want to find out when are people booking in, so you don't want them to book in. See, this is what they can do. Book in, book in on a Sunday and go out on a Thursday. Well, what happens then? We do Saturday night. How do you get that full? So I'd... I'd get this order just a little bit better. How you have that flowing: entrance, hallway, bedroom one, bedroom two, bathroom one, ensuite, you know, or whatever. Bedroom three... Again, it looks... a huge bedroom. It looks huge. That's probably only a double bed.

It does look... And I like that. That's actually better than the... There was another one with the furniture right at the door. This is actually better. So this is all part of that tour that we're talking about. This would probably... put this entry, you know, the hallway. I think you get the gist. So, again, it's really nice and flowing: bedroom one. So change all these captions. Does that fireplace work? People would wonder, for sure. My guess is it... I'm not sure how it works, but you... you've clearly got a chimney there. Ah, so you've got a carport, have you mentioned that anywhere? You've got an... Is this another Frangipani? I'm not sure.

Again, no. So this one, you want to have, um, porch, entry, hallway, you know, again, in this flowing order. This shouldn't be number 49 because you can't make sense of where it is. Now this is fabulous. This is a really good one. This should be much earlier than... and in fact, this is better than the... There was that other one that had the... that was taken from over here looking in that direction. You couldn't see the house next door so much, but you could see the kitchen, the dining. So I would put this much earlier. Yeah, this is good.

I don't know that I'd use that or make this... Yeah, really one of your last ones. The other one where you can see the ocean, now that's the feature. Ocean... Do you actually have chickens? Do they... do you want the eggs or can you... have the eggs? Can... can guests use the eggs? Help yourself. That looks nice.

Okay, all right. So that's... That's a tour through the photos. Are really important because it doesn't even... if you don't use words, bang! There's your photos. Now, I've added it to a saved list, but you don't want too many people to add it to their saved lists unless they book. So you want them to add it when they book. Well, when they're thinking about it. You can add wish lists, but you don't want all your friends to add it because if they add it and don't book, that tells the algorithm, 'Oh, all these people are interested,' but then they lose interest, so we'll rank it lower. No, you don't want that. So you've got to be very careful. I would change the order. I think you can do better than this. I'd get that other photo where you had the looking at the lush bed, the lounge, and the fireplace. I'd change this from a different angle. I would not have that one there. So get your order, because if this is the only thing that people see, just these photos, you want the first... Okay, the first four, but really the first five here, they've got to be knockouts. Let's see if you've updated. Now you've got to tell us more about you, Carla. We want to know about you. Oh, you know, I'm a brain surgeon. I've, you know, whatever. During your stay, speak English. Well, okay, that's good. Check-in after four. Okay, you've changed that. Oh, you've got the carbon monoxide. Good, good. But we want to see the Wi-Fi."

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