How to write a service listing that gets booked

A customer looking at your listing is usually comparing it with a few others in the same category and city. They want to know quickly what you do, where, for how much and when. A listing that answers those questions clearly tends to get more requests than one that is simply well written. This guide goes through each part of the listing form on Bouncing Bison in the order you fill it in.

Title: say what you do, in the customer's words

People search with plain words like "plumber", "wedding photographer" or "move a sofa". Use the words they would type, and add the detail that sets you apart. Compare:

• "Professional services, quality guaranteed" says nothing about the job.
• "Emergency plumbing repairs, leaks and blocked drains" tells the customer immediately whether you are the right person.

Keep it short enough to read at a glance on a phone. Leave your company name out of the title; it already appears on your profile.

Category: pick the most specific one

Choose the category and subcategory that match the main service. A listing in plumbing shows up for people browsing plumbing, which is a smaller and more relevant audience than all of home repair. If you offer several distinct services, such as regular cleaning and carpet cleaning, create a separate listing for each. Each one can then have its own title, photos and price.

Description: answer the questions before they are asked

Most messages providers receive ask the same few things. Answer them in the description:

• What exactly is included, and what is not.
• The area you cover and whether you travel to the customer.
• What the customer needs to prepare or provide.
• How long a typical job takes.
• Your experience with this kind of work, stated plainly: what you have done and for how long.

Short paragraphs are easier to read than one long block. Leave out claims you cannot back up, like "best in town". Specific facts are more convincing.

Photos: show real work

Photos are the first thing people look at in a search grid. Use your own pictures of finished jobs rather than stock images. For trades, before and after shots of the same spot work well. For events and beauty, show a range of different jobs.

• The first photo is the cover in search results and on the map. Pick the clearest one, and drag the others into order in the listing form.
• Take pictures in daylight where possible and keep the frame tidy.
• Remove anything private, such as a customer's house number or a face that should not be shown.

If you have a short video, you can paste a YouTube or Vimeo link, or a link to an .mp4 or .webm file. Portfolio albums, which you manage under Albums, appear on all your listings. They suit photographers, decorators and anyone with a body of work to show.

Price: be as clear as the job allows

A visible price removes a reason not to contact you. You can set a fixed price or a rate per hour, day, session, week, month or minute. If the price really depends on the job, you can leave it empty and the listing shows "Contact for price", but then explain in the description what the price depends on and give a typical starting point if you can.

Price the service the way people buy it. A cleaner charging by the hour and a mover charging a fixed price per job are both easy to compare, as long as it is clear what the price includes.

Location and availability

Add your city and pin your location on the map so you appear in searches near you and on the map view. Customers see an approximate location on the listing. If you come to the customer, tick the home service option. Many people filter for exactly that.

Set the days and hours you work. Customers then pick an available time when they request a booking, rather than sending a request for a time you cannot do. You can choose whether the weekly schedule is shown publicly, and block out holidays or busy periods in your schedule.

Trust signals

Two badges can appear on your listings. If you run a registered company, add your business details and tax ID under business details; with a tax ID in a valid format you get the "Registered business" badge, and you appear when customers filter for verified businesses that can invoice. You can also request provider verification from your account page, which our team reviews.

Reviews matter just as much. Reply to them, including the critical ones. A calm reply that explains what happened reads well to the next customer.

Respond quickly

When a request comes in, accept or decline it, and use the booking chat to confirm the details. Your analytics page shows your listing views and your median response time. If views are high but requests are low, the title, photos or price are the first things to revisit.

Before you publish

You can save a listing as a draft, which only you can see, and preview it before publishing. Publishing requires an active posting subscription. Once it is live you can pause the listing when you are fully booked and reactivate it later without starting again.