For your vacation rental listing to stand out in today’s crowded short-term rental market, you need more than fabulous photos: you also need a great description.
Whether you love to write or find it a chore, following a few simple steps will help you write a clear, compelling description that quickly conveys key information and gives travelers a sense of what your home is like.
Here are five top tips every owner can follow!
1. Write the description for the guest, not for yourself
You’re not writing for writing’s sake. You have a goal: to provide key information about your home and convey a sense of what it’s like to live there.
Imagine having a phone conversation with someone who thinks the home might be right for them in terms of general location, size, and price. What questions might the person have? What features would you point out? What do you love about spending time there?
2. Write a lively, informative headline
When you read a magazine or newspaper, you probably scan for stories that interest you before diving down into the details. The same happens to guests when browsing home listings. Good headlines help travelers spot homes that seem compatible with what they’re looking for.
Think about it: which of these examples would draw your eye?
“House for Short-Term Rent This Spring,” or “Spacious, Fully Furnished Family Friendly 2+ bedroom Home with Stunning View for May and/or June.”
Obviously, the second example provides more useful information – it lets travelers know whether the home is big enough and available for their dates. But it does more: carefully chosen words such as “spacious,” “completely furnished,” and “stunning view” offer a sense of what the home is like, and also implies that it has everything the guest might need.
Think about what guests might be looking for when they browse vacation rental listings in your area. Then jot down some descriptive words to include in your headline. (For inspiration, browse some short-term rental listings yourself!)
Now draft a few headlines. Write quickly, and play with the words until you come up with some headlines that seem right. Try them out on family or friends. Once you settle on a headline to use, edit it to make sure that every word is specific, clear, and needs to be there.
3. Let the ideas flow
By now you have a pretty good idea of what your listing is “selling.” Do some more brainstorming and make a rough content outline by listing all the points you might include in the description.
Don’t try to write complete sentences or put the points in order – and please, don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, or spelling! Doing any of that is almost guaranteed to stop the flow of ideas. Just list your home’s most notable features as quickly as you can.
You can name just about anything that makes your vacation rental interesting and appealing for travelers. That could include its location, size, amenities, facilities, traffic connection, on-site parking, and so on.
For many guests, it’s also vital to know in advance whether your property is accessible for disabled travelers, equipped for families with kids or pet-friendly. Make sure to mention those points in your rental description and any other information you think your guests should be aware of before booking.
4. Write a quick first draft
Great descriptions speak directly to readers. So, imagine a guest asking, “What’s your home like?” Then write a quick first draft as if you were answering that question. Use active language to help them visualize the home and your area. Be specific and truthful. Tell them what you like about living there and why they’ll find it the perfect place to stay.
Once again, don’t stop to edit your writing – you’ll clean it up later.
5. Improve the draft
Once you’ve put all the essential points into words it’s time to read through your draft again and perfect it. Just use these following guidelines and improve your description.
Be specific
Compelling writing is specific and concrete, not vague and general. If you wrote, “It’s a fabulous apartment,” would the reader know what you mean? Instead, list the precise reasons why your home is so great to create a visual that will stick in their mind.
A more useful description would be: “The apartment has picture windows that overlook the ocean, a fully equipped cook’s kitchen, and a firm, comfortable king-sized European Sleepworks bed”.
Use active language
Active language “talks” directly to readers. Restructure wordy, passive sentences such as, “Our fieldstone fireplace is greatly appreciated by visitors on evenings that are chilly,” to make them more active, direct, and concise: “You’ll appreciate the warmth of our fieldstone fireplace on chilly evenings”.
This is way more memorable and compelling and will increase your chances of scoring a booking.
Be concise
Readers usually scan web content quickly to pick out the most interesting and relevant points. The best descriptions convey useful information in the fewest possible words. Use short sentences and short paragraphs, and avoid the common tendency to ramble, write wordy sentences, or include unnecessary details.
If you have a longer list of amenities you want to include, it might even be advisable to turn them into short bullet points instead. That way potential guests can scan all the essential information they need to know at one glance.
Use adjectives with care
Descriptive words such as “cozy,” “spacious,” “elegant,” and “comfortable” can quickly convey the feel of your home. But what a Londoner and or a New Yorker might consider a “spacious” apartment can seem little more than a closet to a traveler from Colorado. One person’s idea of “beautiful” or “elegant” might seem gaudy or overdone to someone else.
Also, too many adjectives, capitalized words, and exclamation points will weaken – rather than strengthen – your description. Instead, use specific language that quickly and vividly describes the features of your home.
Be truthful
Your description creates expectations, so it should closely match what guests will find in your home. If yours is a studio apartment with the bed tucked into a windowless alcove, call it a studio with alcove bed, not a 1-bedroom. If it’s a 7th-floor walk-up or the “kitchen” is a corner with a microwave and miniature fridge, say so.
There’s not always the need to emphasize your home’s less desirable features, but fudging the truth or omitting important details may result in disappointed or even angry guests. Being honest from the outset will help you to prevent negative reviews.
Edit for a final draft
Before posting the description, reinforce your credibility by checking to make sure the punctuation, spelling, and grammar are correct. When it is, you’re good to go!
What makes you find short-term rental descriptions compelling enough to continue reading? Have you found other strategies for writing great descriptions? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments!
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