If your listing doesn’t rank well in the Airbnb search results, then potential guests won’t see your listings, and you won’t get traffic, which leads to fewer bookings and lower earnings.
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If you’re looking to improve your Airbnb search optimization and get more bookings on Airbnb, you need to optimize your listings properly. However, learning how to improve your Airbnb ranking isn’t only about creating better listings, how you manage your Airbnb account also matters.
What Factors Influence Search Rankings?
While Airbnb’s search algorithm might seem impossible to decode, they do give some insight into what factors can help you rank higher. A deep understanding of Airbnb ranking factors is key to your Airbnb SEO strategy. The ranking factors they list are quality, popularity, price, and location. Let’s break down what each of these means.
Quality
This includes guest reviews, quality of service, cancellation reports and the overall reported guest experience.
Popularity
Popularity looks at the interest in the listing, including guest messages, the number of times guests save the listing to their Wishlist, and booking numbers.
Price
Competitive pricing is a huge factor in ranking higher. Similar listings with similar amenities but lower prices tend to rank higher.
Location
Simply put, if you are in a location more people want to stay at, you will rank higher.
What Can You Do To Up Your Search Ranking?
While some of these ranking factors may be beyond your immediate control – you can’t just pick up your property and put it on the beachfront – others are things you can manage.
Quality:
Out of all the ranking factors, quality is the element where you have the most control and you can do a lot to get a higher ranking. Provide guests with a great experience and you’ll see your listing’s search ranking soar.
Get Those 5 Star Reviews
Airbnb host Nick Child determined that guest satisfaction was the most important factor in ranking high in the Airbnb search results when he performed a data experiment that uncovered that “the average Page 1 listing on Airbnb has a guest satisfaction score of 83.7%.” There is a direct correlation between positive reviews and how you show up in the search ranking.
It’s important to note here that the Guest Satisfaction score is only calculated after each Airbnb guest completes their review of their stay. As a result, if you want better rankings, you need to encourage all of your guests to leave a review. Furthermore, you should make sure that you attempt to resolve any issues that may lead to a less than stellar review to keep your average ratings as close to 5 stars as possible.
Being attentive and responsive before, during, and after a guest’s stay will significantly decrease the chances that a guest will have a poor customer experience and will help ensure positive reviews.
Maintain a High Response Rate
Hosts must maintain a response rate of 90% or higher in order use Instant Book. Therefore, it’s clear that your response rate is pretty important to Airbnb when it comes to determining the rank of your listing in the Airbnb search results.
Respond quickly to booking requests. Responding within 24 hours of receipt from a guest will significantly enhance your Airbnb search ranking. This is where automation software like those offered by iGMS can give you the upper hand.
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Avoid Cancellations and Rejections
Airbnb prioritizes reliable hosts (hence their continuous push to have hosts achieve Superhost status). So naturally, this sentiment extends to the search results as well. If your cancellation rate is starting to climb or is abnormally high in comparison to other hosts, it will negatively affect your Airbnb ranking.
There’s simply no trick to avoid the SEO damage that cancellations cause so it’s in your best interest to keep cancellations from happening at all costs.
In the same way that cancellations matter in determining your Airbnb ranking, keep in mind that rejections also matter. Airbnb hates to disappoint guests and considers rejections to be one of the worst experiences for guests. Instead of counting rejections, Airbnb compares you to other hosts. As a result, if you reject guests more than other hosts, it will lower your Airbnb ranking.
Keep Your Booking Calendar Updated
An up-to-date booking calendar is crucial for visibility and avoiding penalties. Ensure your calendar accurately reflects availability to prevent double bookings and cancellations, which can hurt your ranking. Regular updates signal to Airbnb that you are an active, engaged host.
Managing your calendar across multiple listings on Airbnb can be a hassle and lead to increased mistakes and double bookings. Using rental management software like iGMS can synch multiple calendars and help you keep on top of all your booking requests in one place.
Popularity
Airbnb SEO strategy: know the search criteria of your target audience
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. While you want to make sure to consider the Airbnb search algorithm, you also should consider how your listing description will appear in other search engines.
Everything from the listing’s title to the listing description needs to match guests’ expectations. Have a descriptive title, a proper description, and mention any nearby attractions. Making sure to include specific amenities and unique features in your description such as a barbeque or a hot tub is a great way to attract guests and up your listing’s visibility.
You can make your listings fresh and new for the Airbnb search algorithm by using our Stealth Mode feature.
Choose Your Photos for Shareability to Appear Higher in Search Results
As already explained, your Airbnb ranking is partially determined by the amount of traffic that your listing receives. If you choose high quality photos to represent your listing, the higher the chances are that your Airbnb listing will be added to a Wishlist or shared among guests on social media.
In addition, the more visibility that your listing receives, the more traffic you can expect.
Make sure to choose photos that are enticing, yet a realistic depiction of your property. Arrange your photos in batches if you have multiple photos of the same room and provide photos of all of the rooms that guests are likely to spend the most time in. By doing this you can increase the amount of time that users spend browsing your listing and decrease your bounce rate.
Remove Objections to Increase Guests’ Booking Decision Speed
A lesser known method of improving your Airbnb ranking is to decrease the amount of time that it takes for a guest to book your listing. You can determine whether guests book your listing quickly after browsing it simply by reviewing how many guests have questions before they book or abandon your listing. If guests have a ton of questions or they aren’t booking within 24 hours of contacting you, that is a clear sign that your listing needs some optimization.
Airbnb SEO firm, Higher Bookings, uncovered that guests’ booking decision speed is a ranking factor for Airbnb after obtaining access to an internal tool used by Airbnb in measuring split tests on their platform. In the test shown, the SEO firm found that Airbnb ranks listings based on how quickly a listing gets booked quickly by guests who have just searched for properties on Airbnb. If your listing has a quick response rate, a low ratio of searchers to bookings, among other fast booking decision factors, it will receive a higher Airbnb ranking. You can also test different call-to-actions in your listings to see if you can improve your booking rates.
Complete Your Host Profile
A well-completed host profile builds trust and increases your listing’s appeal. Ensure your profile includes a high-resolution photo and a detailed bio. Share information about yourself, your hosting style, and what guests can expect. A thorough profile enhances guest confidence and can positively impact your search ranking.
Use Instant Book
Airbnb has encouraged hosts to use Instant Book for some time now as the company’s goal is to make booking accommodations as fast and easy as possible for guests. Another reason why turning Instant Book on results in a higher Airbnb ranking is that Airbnb has officially confirmed that it is part of the Airbnb search algorithm.
In some cases, the Instant Book filter may actually be turned on by default. When the filter is activated, listings that do not have Instant Book turned on are not going to show up in the guest’s filter unless they turn it on. This means that you won’t get visits from those guests which will hurt your Airbnb ranking.
Price:
Make sure that you have competitive pricing.
Use Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing adjusts your nightly rate based on demand, seasonality, local events, and competitor pricing. Tools like PriceLabs or Beyond Pricing can automate this process, ensuring your rates are competitive and maximizing your revenue. Increase rates during peak seasons or local events and lower them during off-peak times to maintain occupancy. Effective dynamic pricing helps balance profitability with attractiveness to potential guests.
Consider Your Fees
How you configure your settings for your Airbnb listings can actually make a huge difference when it comes to your overall Airbnb search rankings. Things like extra service fees, security deposits, and discounts can actually have more of an impact than you think. That is because these settings will affect the amount of traffic that your Airbnb listing receives.
When you start adding extra charges to your listing that other hosts in your area aren’t charging, you could inadvertently increase the bounce rate for your listing. When you receive fewer bookings because of the extra charges, your Airbnb search rankings will drop.
The solution to this problem is to carefully study the listings of the top hosts in your area. What do they charge for their listings? What are their minimum stay requirements? Do they offer additional services that they charge extra for?
Then make sure that your Airbnb listing settings match those of the top-ranking Superhosts in your area as closely as possible.
Final thoughts:
Boosting your Airbnb ranking is key to getting more visibility, bookings, and, of course, revenue. To climb up the search results, focus on quality by keeping your guests happy, responding quickly, and avoiding cancellations.
Popularity can be boosted with competitive pricing and eye-catching photos. Make sure your host profile is complete and consider using Instant Book to attract more guests. Plus, dynamic pricing helps keep your rates competitive all year round.
By tackling these tips, you’ll see your listing rise and shine on Airbnb!
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