How to improve your listing
The first thing a volunteer does when they find your listing is look at the photos. Before they've read a single word, they're already forming an impression of whether they'd feel comfortable staying with you.
That might sound obvious, but most people spend far more time on their listing description than on the visuals. And more often than not, it's the other way around that pays off.
Here's what the listings getting the most enquiries tend to have in common.
Add plenty of photos (or more)
Six photos should be the minimum - Ideally more! Volunteers want to see the accommodation they'll be staying in, but they also want a sense of the wider property and the surrounding area.
Think about including: the room or space the volunteer will be using, any common areas you're happy to share, the exterior of the property, the land, and the local area or nearest village. If you have animals on the property, include them too. For a lot of volunteers, that's genuinely a draw.
Listings with more photos consistently receive more enquiries than those without. More photos means more confidence, and more confidence means more people reaching out to you.
Make the photos count
Quantity matters, but so does quality. You don't need a professional photographer. You do need decent light and a tidy space, and high resolution photos (not ones downloaded from a website)
Shoot during the day when natural light is coming through the windows. Straighten up the room before you take the shot. Get the whole space in frame rather than a corner of it. These small things make a real difference to how your accommodation comes across.
The photo of the volunteer's room matters most. That's the one they'll look at and picture themselves in. Make it as welcoming as possible.
If your photos look small too small on your listing, get in touch with us and we'll investigate to improve the resolution.
Add a profile photo of yourself
Volunteers aren't just looking for a place to stay. They're looking for someone they'd feel comfortable sharing a week with. A photo of you, your family, or even just you and the dog goes a long way towards building that connection before anyone has sent a message.
A personal profile photo makes your listing feel approachable. It signals that a real person is behind it, not just an empty property. It doesn't need to be a professional shot. Something natural and friendly is exactly right.
Tell them about the local area
Many volunteers choosing a work-for-accommodation (WFA) stay are doing so partly because they want to explore somewhere new. Your local area is part of what you're offering, even if it doesn't always feel that way.
What's nearby? A good pub, a market town, a stretch of coastline, a National Park? What would you tell a friend visiting for the first time? Write that down and add it to your listing. Even a short paragraph of genuine local knowledge is more useful than a generic description of the county.
Be specific about the help you need
Vague listings won't attract volunteers. If your listing says "help around the property", that could mean almost anything. Volunteers want to know what a typical morning looks like, what skills might be useful, and what they won't be expected to do.
The more specific you are, the more likely you are to attract someone who genuinely fits. Weeding the kitchen garden, helping with lambing, painting the outbuildings, laying paths: these details make your listing feel real and filter in the right people.
Let's get you some volunteers, ASAP!
FarFrom is a UK work-for-accommodation platform connecting volunteers with hosts across the country, from stately homes and glamping sites to farms and rural retreats. The hosts who get the most from the platform are the ones who put the most into their listings.
10 minutes of updates today could change how many people find and choose you.