My Number 1 VRBO Ranking Tip

This episode of the Boosu podcast is sponsored by xivu. Zivu is the direct booking revolution. They have got PMS Channel Manager. They've got a fantastic service that I recommend that everybody check out. I've known Naim, who's the founder of xivu for a long time now and I've told him since day one, listen Naim, just crack one thing, get really good at one thing and focus on that. He goes, no, I'm going to do everything. So not only do they have properties, they property management, they do a PMS channel manager, they've got an academy, they do everything. And also as well they now integrate with Google Hotel ads which is really exciting because Google Hotel ads is going to be a very key area of your marketing in 2021. So if you haven't already, go to boostly b o-o s t-l y.co.uk explore e x p L O R E. That'll take you to a landing page where you can find out a little bit more about Xevu and how they are revelation revolutionizing the direct booking journey. And you can also book a call in and have a chat with them to see if they will be the right PMS for you. I'm also excited to say that XIVU and Boostly websites have now combined together. We have, they and us have come together, We've linked our APIs and it just means that you're direct booking WordPress website with Boostly is now straight connected into Xevu so the guest doesn't have to leave the website to create and complete the booking, which is a game changer. I cannot tell you how much of this is a game changer. It's going to save time. It means that everything will be so smooth and it just knocks out any traction in the guest booking process. So please do go check out Booster Cody K for Slash Explore and if you want to go check out boostly websites, boostly website.com okay everybody, are you ready for today's episode? It's going to be a good one. Leave a hashtag live in the comments if you're watching with us. Leave a hashtag replay if you're watching on the replay with us. And also as well let us know where you're tuning in from in the world. If you're on the audio, if you're listening in the car or walking the dog, then just literally pick up the phone, send me an Instagram message and let me know where you are watching or tuning in from this so uk. Thank you so much. Let's get on with today's show. Okay, welcome everybody back to the Boostly podcast. And today I'm going to be sharing with you another channel that has propped up and gotten even more popular over the course of what I'd say the last 18 months. It's Vrbo. So Vrbo used to be obviously home and away and all of those things before they've now settled on this name, VRBO v rbo and it's starting to get a little bit attraction. So for those of you that don't know, VRBO is part of the Expedia group. And this is if you think of Expedia, you think of hotels, and if you were to go to the Expedia group, you will see that they own lots of different chains and brands and whatnot. Don't be shocked to hear this because booking.com do the same with the Booking Holidays group. They've got Agoda, etc. But Vrbo is part of the Expedia group and it is Expedia's way of getting into the vacation rentals. And it is a platform that is just like any other listing site. And the number one tip that I will give to anybody when it comes to listing sites is to make your listing sticky. That is the whole thing. Whether you want to get ranked higher in the Airbnb algorithms, the booking.com algorithms, and you know, the verbal algorithms just make your listing sticky. Now what do I mean by that? Your pictures are going to be everything. Just like with Airbnb, just like with booking.com your pictures are key. So please do not cheap out on your photography. Get a professional, get proper pictures done, get them properly edited and just make them stand out. You want to really make sure that your property is appealing to your niche. So the cool thing about these listing sites is that you can upgrade and update them at any point. You should never be setting and forgetting your listing sites. You should be looking to update them for the season. So what do I mean by that? Those of you that are watching this in popular ski or winter locations, obviously it's not snow all year round and you've done this for years. So you've got ski in the winter and you've got summer, obviously it's more hiking, etc. So you're very used to swapping out your pictures, but that doesn't mean that people in, say, cities and whatnot can't do this as well. So in the summer you're going to show more lighter, more brighter pictures and maybe in the Winter, you're going to look and go for the more higgy sort of feel, snuggy, warm, cozy, etc. You know, obviously November time, it's really good to put up and be a Christmas tree, etc get those pictures up so the picture tells everything. And those of you that are regularly keeping updated, well those of you that are really narrowed down on your niche and who you appealing to will get the viewers. So how do you make it sticky? Is they see your image. The first image, the USP unique selling photo as I like to call it, or as my buddy Sean Rocky G calls it, your hero picture is that first image that sucks to guest in makes them click and come onto your listing. Now the longer you can get somebody to sit on your listing to look at more pictures, maybe read your images, etc. Maybe save you as a favorite. So this is a really cool Airbnb hack. If you can get somebody to save you on the shortlist, that is Airbnb's way of going. Oh, hang on a second. This is a popular one. So again the more times you can get added to a short list on Airbnb, then the more times you'll start to appear in the search rankings, et cetera. But it's the same with Verbo. Get people to stick on your listing and that click through to to then the next step is all important. So obviously this podcast and hola boostly is about direct bookings. And there's so many ways that I can show and help you to convert a OTA book into a direct one. And over the course of the next couple of videos I will share some of them with you. So as you as you know, these are daily. My goal in 2021 is to do a daily podcast every day to give you, the host, all the help that you need in the big recovery, the big bounce back, the big revenge travel. So please do stick around. If you if this is the first time that you've tuned, make sure that you follow, subscribe, hit the like button, share it with a friend or into Facebook groups and I'll be back tomorrow with another tip. If you want to find out more tips, go to boostly.co.uk podcast P O D C A S D okay everybody, that's enough for today. Wherever you are tuning in from, I hope you're having a good one. Remember, be proactive, don't be reactive and let's go and get some direct bookings. But obviously to get those direct bookings you need to be everywhere. This is why being on sites like VRBO and Airbnb and booking.com etc is really important because you've got to get the eyes the next steps. And what I want to show you is how you turn those OJ bookings into diary bookings. And for that you need to tune in tomorrow. So I'll be back then. Take care. Bye. Bye.