January is one of the busiest months of the year on SpareRoom – with thousands of tenants back in the market after the Christmas break. It’s a great time to be letting a room or property out, so make sure you’re ready for the rush – we’ve got some tips to make sure your ad is looking its best.

Include photos and videos

Ads with photos and videos get far more responses than those that don’t. Sounds obvious, but tidy up first to show the property at its best. We recommend photographing each room from two different angles – and make sure you include any shared spaces, the bathroom, and outdoor space if you have it.

Give it a catchy title

A descriptive title like ‘Bright double in friendly garden flat’ will always be more enticing than ‘Double room available’. In January, tenants will be frantically scrolling through pages and pages of ads full of titles and tiny photos – so make sure yours stands out.

It’s all in the description

This is the part of the ad where you can really show off… We recommended following this structure: talk about the room(s) on offer, any shared areas, transport links and how to get around, and then a little bit about the current housemates (if any) and the kind of person who would ideally fit into the share.

Our insights show that ads including information about the current housemates tend to do better than ones that don’t – even a simple one-liner like ‘current housemates work 9-5 and love eating together’ is enough. Mentioning the kind of person that would fit into the share works really well too, as it gets a new tenant to imagine themselves living there.

Try to avoid any demanding language like “I/we want/are looking for” – if you really want to say anything along these lines, put it at the bottom of the description so you’ve shown the most important things to them first.

And absolutely avoid overloading the ad with house rules! If there’s anything that’s a real dealbreaker, mention it but keep it really light.

Sell the area

A great flat is a great flat, but if it’s in a great area too you’re onto a real winner. If its near shops, a gym or park, point it out – and make sure you mention transport links too.

Know your audience

If your property is near a popular business area or in a great commuter location, it will be really attractive to people working there, for example, being near a big hospital will almost definitely attract medical staff. Use things like this to your advantage and mention your close proximity.

Update your ad

You don’t need to wait the 28 days for your ad to expire before you update it. Go in and change things whenever you like and bump your ad back up the listings and keep it current. Changing or adding extra photos will keep your ad fresh too.

Take your time

Don’t rush it! Doing a good job first time round is a much better approach than blasting your ad out in five minutes.

Good luck!