Advert advice please

[Steve n Sandra]

Hi everyone

We're hoping that some of you can help us to identify if there is anything we can improve on our page on Holiday Lettings, at www.holidaylettings.co.uk/10915

The problem is that we're getting plenty of hits, it seems, but very few of those turn into enquiries.

We don't think the pricing is out, in fact HL released an average price guide today and we're bang on average for the region throughout the year. We think the photos are okay and we've worked hard on the content, trying more and less, depending on who we've spoken to in HL for advice.


We tried a spotlight and were getting in excess of 10 hits a day over six weeks, resulting in 1 enquiry! Fortunately it turned into a booking and they want to book again

This is our first year at this game and it may even be that our expectations are too high, but we would be grateful for any input you can give us.

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, we weren't sure whether to put it here or in rental listing sites.

Many thanks
Steve & Sandra

[vrooje]

Hi Steve & Sandra,

Welcome to the forum!

Just out of curiosity, do you advertise on any other listing sites besides Holiday Lettings? It would be interesting to see how your listings do on other sites, and whether HL is underperforming compared to them.

In general, your advert looks fine to me! I think the pictures are nice, and I couldn't see anything really wrong (though I admit I didn't take the time to read the whole of the advert text).

What is your ratio of hits to enquiries? Ours is rather high, but I don't really care about hits (some are search engine crawlers etc.) -- I care about enquiries that convert into bookings. If you're not getting many of the latter, have you tried contacting Holiday Lettings to see if they can help? The best listing sites will often help you troubleshoot your advert because it's in their best interest to help you succeed!

Sorry I can't be of more help...

[Margaret]

I think you have too much in the way of blocks of text. I found it difficult to maintain concentration. Perhaps more headings and fewer words would catch the attention better.

Also, I thought the 1st 2 photos imply a very dense urban development? I think your text implies it is not?

[Mouse]

hi Steve and Sandra!

I'd agree on the amount of text. You sell the area more than the house and I would imagine if people are already looking at your property they know the area fairly well.

I'm also a fan of sunshine spilling into rooms...sell the dream. So my tips would be;

Reduce text, make it sharper and more focused and concentrate more on the house and immediate area.
Re-take photos of bedrooms with windows open and sunshine spilling in
Re-take the patio shot...I take it with the house in the background as it may look more private than having the street in the back...I'd also dress up the table a little.

Another idea...as you have so much information to provide...why not send a small 'brochure' to your enquirers containing the stuff you cut out of your ad? PLus it can re-sell the benefits.

Having said all that tho' - if you're getting enquiries your advert is working. It's the conversion side of things that is letting you down so I'd analyse that a little more.
Are people asking for things you can't provide?
Are they expecting the price to be lower?
Are you underselling something unique?
Are they comparing your property with others (i.e. doing a global enquiry)
Hopefully looking at that area may yield a clue?

best of luck
Mousie
x

[marcus]

I know the approximate stats for 3 different rental listing sites - on average 500 viewings of a property results in 3 enquiries and 1 booking.

There are 101 variables that affect it but that could give you something to judge by or aim for.

[Marks]

Just a couple of things to add to the above suggestions. The communal pool looks (from your photo) to be quite small so I would take a shot without people in it and try to take the shot from lower down to give the impression of size. Your advert implies the house is on a small development so it might be worth adding that the pool is shared by xx number of houses if xx is a smallish number.

Also how about having the shutter up in the kitchen photo and also dresssing the dining table? Minor things I know but it just may help with the other suggestions.

[roxytoo]

I think maybe your prices are too high, if you have full occupancy the cleaning bill comes to around 80euros on top of the high season price which makes it around £435 for a week? Bit high maybe with all the competition in the area

[Steve n Sandra]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far.
I am going out there next week so I'll redo some of the photos. As for the text - anyone know a good copywriter?

[Margaret]

One way to get it more readable is to sit down with a friend and explain why he/she should take their holidays there and answer their questions. It should come out a lot livelier. Or look at how other people describe their places and use the style of the ones which appeal to you most - but look at places in completely different countries and don't copy anything!

[Adam Apple]

Hi,

The first few words do not exactly draw you in - is 'facing south' really the best thing about your house. Then you mention the Sierra de Colombares, but we are not told why it is so special and why we would want to stay there. But I think the real killer are the photos which contradict your assertion that this is rural Spain.