How to Get More Reviews on Airbnb
Getting good reviews is necessary to make people book your rental property on Airbnb. Following are some of the tried and tested ways that experienced hosts use to successfully get more reviews on Airbnb.
1. Make Sure to Turn On Instant Booking
Instant booking makes it easier for people to book your rental space. Instant booking means booking without your approval but you can cancel if the guest does not comply with or meet your house rules and other requirements.
Easy booking is one way to provide guests with a great experience and increase the chance of a good review on Airbnb.
2. The Right Price
If your new listing has a few or no reviews yet on your profile you should offer something to make people take the risk of choosing your listing.
Search for similar properties in your area offer yours at a lower price. Once you have enough positive Airbnb reviews, you can consider increasing your price.
3. Accurate Listing Description
It is important to provide a clear and detailed description and photo of your space and its location.
Don’t leave out anything for fear that it will scare off guests. You’ll be only hurting yourself if you book guests that don’t like something about your property and location that you failed to mention in your listing. You’ll most likely get a bad review.
So, include information such as no air conditioner, no convenience stores nearby, road noise, etc., in your listing.
4. Be Guided by a Cleaning Checklist
Cleanliness is one of Airbnb’s rating criteria. So, don’t skimp on cleaning. For consistent cleanliness, create a checklist to make sure you don’t miss any cleaning activity.
5. Write a Good House Manual
The house manual will serve as an instruction book for your guests. The manual may include the welcome message, transportation services, the WiFi password, relevant information about the property and location, house rules, local must-sees and things to do, any special instructions about your appliances, recommended restaurants, check out time, emergency contacts as well as your contact information.
Add a page to explain the review system so they don’t have to worry or waste time learning how to do it.
Continue to improve your manual based on your guests’ feedback.
6. Good Communication with Guests
You can establish good communication with your guests through the check In, checkup and check out messages aside from the welcome note.
The personalized welcome note can be written on a small blackboard or whiteboard posted near the entrance.
• Check-in Message
Send this message through an email or Airbnb’s chat feature within 24 hours before the guest’s expected arrival time. Inform the guests again of your phone number so they can contact you in case of any problems during check in.
• Check Up Message
Send this message after the guest has checked in to inquire about their stay so far. This is the guest’s chance to clarify and settle some issues that are not in the manual.
If you resolve issues early, it’s more likely that they won’t appear in the reviews anymore.
• Check Out Message
This is the message sent just before the guests leave your rental property. Thank them for booking your place and ask if there are other issues during their stay. If you can resolve the issue, it’s one way to prevent bad reviews.
This is also another opportunity to ask the guests if they can leave a review.
The messages should not be longer than 200 words so the guests would not be bored reading them.
7. Give Out Free Stuff
They don’t have to be expensive stuff. In fact it can be chocolates, coffee or some fruit but they will help get that 5-star review.
Give free stuff for babies if he guest mentioned having a baby. Baby bibs, toys, feeding bottles are examples of inexpensive but needed items for babies.
If you’re living on the property, you can offer free breakfast which will be very convenient for the busy guests.
8. Provide Modern Amenities
Guests would prefer rental properties with a smart TV where you can plug a USB stick, Netflix subscription, free WiFi, coffee maker, board and video games and other amenities usually found in average homes.
Ensure that the amenities mentioned in your listing are in good running condition.
9. Leave Your Review before the Guest Checks Out
Airbnb will alert you to leave a review before your guest checks out so they can also leave a review before they get busy after leaving your place.
After you submit your review, Airbnb will inform the guests of your review that they can only read if they leave one for you too.
Out of curiosity, many would take the time to leave you a review, to be able to read yours. Hopefully they leave 5-star reviews.
10. Reply to All Public Reviews
Every time you receive a review, whether good or bad, it becomes visible on your Airbnb page for interested readers to see.
Airbnb allows hosts to directly respond to public reviews. You are given the opportunity to thank those who left good reviews and set the record straight or resolve issues in bad reviews.
Read carefully and report bad reviews that don’t comply with Airbnb’s content policy. Airbnb will verify and remove those that violated their rules.
Conclusion
The suggested ways cover the various categories which guests are asked to give ratings on such as: overall experience, cleanliness, accuracy, value, communication, check-in, location and amenities.
By making sure you’re doing well on each rating categories, you don’t just get more reviews but more positive reviews.
