How to get more bookings on Meiman
The default order of properties in search is not random: every property has an internal score, and a noticeable part of it depends on you. Below is what it is made of, what to do about it, and what settles the guest choice once they are inside your listing.
What the property score is made of
Several things go into it:
- the guest rating — the average across reviews;
- the number of reviews — the first ones count most, then the effect levels off;
- how you handle requests — the share you confirm, the share you answer at all, and your average response time;
- cancellations by the property — counted separately;
- guest interest in the listing — how often it is viewed.
The score is recalculated regularly, and requests are counted over the recent months rather than all time: a bad week is not a verdict, the figure recovers as soon as the behaviour changes. While there are very few requests this part counts for less — the first ten requests are exactly when a property gains weight.
Answer requests quickly
Three separate things are measured: whether you confirm requests, whether you answer them at all, and how fast. An answer within an hour loses almost nothing, an answer after a day adds nothing on this point.
Ignoring a request is worse than declining it: a declined request frees the guest to keep looking, while an abandoned one hangs for 6 hours and damages both figures — confirmations and answers. If the dates are taken, decline the request and close those dates in the calendar right away. The other way round, confirming by itself does not hold the dates — payment does, so confirming two requests for the same dates is not a problem: the first to pay gets them and the rest close by themselves.
Keep the calendar current
A cancellation by the property is the worst thing that can happen to a guest, and it is counted in the score separately. Nearly all such cancellations come from dates sold twice. Close dates as soon as they are taken, including when you rent the same place elsewhere: how the host calendar works. What happens to the deposit in a cancellation is covered in When the host cancels a booking.
Ask for a review after check-out
Only a guest with a completed booking can leave a review, and they give six scores: cleanliness, timely check-in, location, match with photos, price-quality and service quality. The average of those becomes the property rating; the review itself goes through moderation.
Ask on the day of departure while the impression is fresh: a short chat message works better than a reminder a week later. The first reviews count most — a property without a single review is trusted noticeably less than one with three. What affects the scores most is the arrival itself; the short checklist is in How to prepare for a guest arrival.
Photos
Five at minimum, up to thirty. The first photo is the one you are picked by in search results: make it a wide shot of the room or the yard in daylight, not a close-up of a detail. Shoot the place tidied up, show every sleeping space, the bathroom and the kitchen. A missing kitchen photo reads to a guest as «there is no kitchen».
Description
The description answers the questions that would otherwise arrive in the chat: how many beds exactly, what the price includes, how far the water or the centre is, whether there is parking and heating out of season. The more specific it is, the less back-and-forth and the fewer drop-offs.
Price
Check what neighbouring properties of the same type in your city charge and stay within that range. The price in the listing must match the one you name in the chat: a mismatch is the first reason a guest leaves.
Would you like a manager to look at your listing? Phone and WhatsApp: +996 550 993 993, calls: +996 503 993 993, email: partners@meiman.kg.