When a guest searches for a place on  Airbnb, the order in which properties are displayed is called “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO).  If someone searches for “1 bedroom apartments in San Francisco,”  Airbnb will display a list of suitable places to stay.   Clearly, the higher on the list, the more likely the property is to get booked, so getting good at SEO means your Airbnb will get booked more often, quite likely it will get booked earlier than other homes, and quite possibly at higher prices – so getting good at Airbnb SEO is critical to maximizing your home’s income!   Airbnb hasn’t divulged their SEO ranking parameters, but it’s estimated there are over 100 of them! 

How are homes ranked by Airbnb SEO?

It’s believed there are three broad categories of ranking variables: guest preferences and history, listing quality, and trip details.

Although they appear to be wide, these subcategories can be categorized as follows:

1. Guest preferences and history:  What sort of properties have the visitors previously stayed in? If a guest has previously stayed in a pet-friendly home with powerful WiFi, Airbnb may prioritize listings with those criteria.  
2. Listing quality:  Is the listing complete and comprehensive?  Are there numerous high-quality pictures with descriptions?  Is the property and neighborhood description thorough?  Other factors include the star ratings of the home and host and whether the home is managed by a Superhost, 
3. Trip details:  The details  of a guest’s trip, including dates, location, size, amenities, and how far in advance they’re looking to book

When it comes to improving your Airbnb SEO rank, there are a few things you can do:

Complete your property’s listing

Complete property profiles are extremely important! fill out every section of the property’s profile that you can. Get professional photos taken. Spend time writing a quality description.  Fill in all amenity information.  

Price your listing accurately

Finding the right price for your home is a delicate balancing act. If you price it too high, you’ll get fewer bookings and lose out on revenue.  Price it too low, and you’re also leaving money on the table.  To find the right price, look at competing properties, use your intuition and market knowledge, see what Airbnb’s pricing engine recommends, and adjust prices based on market demand. Homes in the “sweet spot” of pricing get booked more often – and thus get ranked higher by Airbnb’s SEO algorithms.

Update your calendar

Be sure to keep your calendar up to date.  There’s nothing more frustrating for a guest than booking a home and then having the host cancel it because it “turns out those nights aren’t available.”  Canceling bookings can reduce your home’s Airbnb ranking. 

Respond quickly to all messages

Guests want you to be readily available. Hosts with consistently fast responses generally get rewarded with higher rankings for their listings 

Hire a property manager

We simply couldn’t finish this article without a shameless plug for our services!  Good property managers are generally really good at Airbnb SEO since it’s one of the key things to improve revenue!  Give us a call to learn more.