Lots of views, sadly few bookings - your opinion?

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Can anyone offer suggestions on how to improve this listing?

We run five properties in Tokyo and most of our customers are tourists. Our listings get good views on Airbnb (600-800 a month), and this one is no exception. However, the booking rate for this one is really low compared to the others.
Seems that there’s something in this listing that’s turning people off! What is it?

(I should add that booking policies, rules, deposit reps etc are pretty much in line with usual market practice in the area).

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My first impression is that I never see the “apartment”. All I see are tight close up photos of rolled towel ends, tea cups, potted plants, etc. That and photos of the area. I never see the whole rooms; never see how expansive the place is, etc. I never get a ‘feel’ for the listing as a whole, just an unconnected series of tight closeups.

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Good point. We will shoot more photos with better lenses next week, to try to show wider angles. It’s a tight space.

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Agree with Ken. Too many closeup photos of random objects that are not all that important. (The hair dryer?)

Needs more photos of full rooms. The way it stands I have no idea of how the rooms flow.

The only picture which I thought was a bit grim was the one of the outside of the building, which showed all the electric wires. If that’s what it looks like, then that’s what it looks like, but maybe you could get it from a more attractive angle or on a day with better light.

A couple of more photos of street life might be a good idea. You have way too many pictures of towels, dishes and artwork. You can still show these things in larger photos which show the whole room.

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This is what happens when a conversion rate is low - it’s part of a vicious circle. Remember that Airbnb wants to direct potential guests to listings that people are likely to book. Because this listing has a low conversion rate (low number of bookings in relation to views) then Airbnb ‘thinks’ “there must be something a little bit wrong with this listing because x people have looked at it but only x% have booked it”. Remember it’s only a dumb computer so can’t ‘think’ terribly well :slight_smile:

And unfortunately, now it has been posted here, we are making the conversion rate even worse by clicking on it with no intention of booking.

@KenH and @GardenGnome have a great point about the photographs. And let’s look at it from the searcher’s point of view. The searcher is looking for somewhere that accepts four or five guests. The listing doesn’t show very well how four or five people are going to live, eat and sleep in 320 square ft.

I can see only where two people can eat - sitting rather uncomfortably on a sofabed and dining from a coffee table. It’s pretty confusing. So I’m sure that the new photographs will help a lot.

Bear in mind too that Airbnb only allows you a certain number of characters for your title so special characters like the star are a waste. You want your title to be picked up by Google so something like ‘fresh&comfy’ squished into one word means nothing so use that space for something meaningful.

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You might want to add a floor plan …I am sure it is a great space for a couple, but for groups of 4 or 5 …30m2 is really small for comfort.
I can see everybody falling over everybodies luggage…

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It says that the apartment doesn’t have a private entrance - is that an error?

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Is it one bedroom or is it a studio? You have to re fold the bed to make some where to sit?

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Maybe wider photo shots showing overall layout and space.

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Way too many ‘vignette’ photos of stuff. There are THREE towel related shots. Agree with @jaquo and @Ken. Guests need to understand the rooms.

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I thought a “private entrance” meant that it has a separate entrance from the street, not through the common lobby? CMIIW

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That’s a 18 tatami mat apartment so quite big by Japanese standards. I’ve heard a “9 tatami mat apartment” is standard for 1 family, hard as that is for Westerners (and particularly Americans) to believe. No wonder the husband works all day and stays out all night. :japanese_goblin:

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I agree with the above, u don’t see the flat - looks like an advertisement for bedding - sorry! - after 30 fotos I still don’t know what it looks like - if flying from far I wouldn’t stay there as I don’t know what i’m signing up to…i’m sure its a good flat - just redo the fotos. tks )

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If you’ve a dedicated door from your common lobby or complex hallway, you have a private entrance. It only leads to your apartment. By not having that you’re implying there’s an internal space shared.

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I don’t like “fresh and comfy”. Perhaps “bright and cheerful” would be more suited.

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Agree with all of the above comments: too many vignette photos, not enough to show the layout of the place, and the title needs improvement.

I lived in Japan for two years so I know the spaces are tight there. I did see one thing that concerned me that no one else commented on–the TV and TV stand. Umm, you have earthquakes there, frequently. I can totally see that TV toppling off that flimsy looking stand and breaking. I suggest mounting it to the wall on an adjustable swing arm. If you don’t do that, please at least find something a little more substantial to set the TV on.

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I agree with @jaquo
You may have added a couple photos since you first posted. At my viewing, I couldn’t tell how 4 people could sleep there. The vignette photos were nice but didn’t show/tell me much about the unit.

I’ve been watching Stay Here on Netflix. In one of the first episodes the photographer said to take pictures from every corner of the room with the camera level (not pointing up or down). In fairness I can’t do that in my smallest room but I think the idea is to show what it is like to be in the room.

The oddest thing—shows 3-6 of Stay Here progressively displayed more vignette photos. I looked at the pictures of two homes on Airbnb and the pictures included mostly vignettes and no pictures of the bathrooms. One did not show pictures of all the sleeping areas. One left me without a clue where guests were to put their clothes and/or suitcases.

I may be weird but I want to know what the bathroom is like & where I will be able to stow my belongings (closet, drawers, luggage rack).

Vignette photos seem to be “on trend” but not meaningful.

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Thank you very much for the valuable input everyone! We will shoot new photos next week and also tweak the title. Any other suggestions?

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It’s a beautiful space! How about including a photo of a nearby attraction too? Also, be sure to write a bit more about yourself as host. People are turning to Airbnb because they are looking for a more personal experience. Good luck!

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Maybe try reorder the photos to show the more of the outside apartment and rooms in the initial order of the photos. As a searcher, the first few photos catch my eye of what the apartment is like in the first impression. I like to know first in general what the place looks like with the rooms and if the outside is okay with its surrounding area pics. I would not add alot of photos of the rolled up towels and decor…maybe just a few.
When describing the area I know it was mentioned there are alot of stores nearby- maybe add there’s a grocery store too if there’s one. It’s quite a nice amenity store to have for a traveller.
Also, compare your season pricing if it’s competitive with the places near you, if you’re comfortable with the pricing.