Guide: How to Rank Higher on Airbnb

With nine million active listings on Airbnb (and counting), optimizing visibility for your properties has never been more important. As you may already know, the first step to increasing bookings is boosting your search rankings- meaning, where your listings rank within Airbnb’s search results. But with so many variables involved in how your listings rank, it can be hard to know where to focus your efforts.

To help you work towards bumping your listings up the stack on Airbnb, we’ve put together a summary of which factors determine Airbnb’s search results, as well as easy-to-implement tips you can use to get ahead of the pack and increase your visibility.

Airbnb Ranking Rule #1: 
Showcase the Right Homes to the Right Guests 

Airbnb search results prioritize guests’ preferences, their booking history, and algorithmic data from millions of previous bookings. If you want to appear in more searches, your listing has to meet the criteria of more potential guests.

Try to offer lots of flexibility in booking. This makes your listing more appealing, and the process easier for travelers. Offering things like Instant Book, one-night stays, and self check-in are small changes you can make to add flexibility and remove barriers for your guests.

Airbnb’s Ranking Rule #2: 
Increase Guest Engagement 

Airbnb’s algorithm takes ‘guest engagement’ into account – the more guests engage with your listing, the higher up the stack it will land. The first step here seems obvious: entice guests to click on your property. A captivating feature photo and unique title is a great place to start. It’s also beneficial for your ranking if your property is added to wish lists – so make your property look as Instagrammable as possible. Good light, great photography, and a gorgeous gallery of additional images can work wonders.

Once you’ve got guests’ attention, the next step is to convert those click throughs into bookings. Airbnb’s algorithm takes your conversion rates into account, so make sure your property description is detailed, useful and well written. Motivate your guests with a call to action in your description – share your excitement at having them stay.

Don’t rule out external promotion, either. Posting links to your property on social media will boost your click-through rate. It also allows Airbnb to validate your listing, which helps with their ranking algorithm. 

Airbnb’s Ranking Rule #3: 
Prioritize Proven Listings

There are several measures you can take to show Airbnb you’ve got a high-quality listing, and that it’s worthwhile for them to show it to as many visitors as possible. Good reviews, regularly updated listings and an accurate calendar all work in your favor. Consider getting in touch with previous guests and asking them to review their stay. If you haven’t had many bookings yet, consider adding the word ‘NEW’ to your listing, to help travelers feel more confident booking a property with fewer reviews.

Brand new property listings are rewarded with an exposure boost on Airbnb. With this in mind, we recommend only publishing your listings when they’re 100% ready so you can make the most out of this grace period.

Wish list additions are useful here, too. Friends, family and previous guests can all add your property to their favourites, giving you a helpful boost in rankings.

Airbnb’s Ranking Rule #4:
Promote Dependable Hosts 

Great hosts make a huge difference to your rankings. Airbnb rewards reliability and good hosting manners. So when it comes to guest experiences, bring your A-game.

Response rates are key to customer satisfaction. Like you, Airbnb wants happy customers, and one of the easiest ways to do this is to stay on top of guest inquiries. Airbnb tracks the frequency and speed of your replies – any response (even one that declines a booking request!) will be accounted for.

We also recommend that you avoid cancelling bookings unless you really have to. Airbnb penalizes you for a high cancellation rate by lowering your ranking.

Airbnb Superhost is a reward given as a stamp of approval to certain hosts. As you might expect, this is hugely beneficial in terms of conversion rates and guest confidence. In order to achieve Superhost status, you need a response rate that stays above 90%, a <1% cancellation rate, >4.8 review average – alongside other criteria.

Want more useful tips for boosting your Airbnb rankings?
Download our full guide here.

Competition with other Airbnb hosts can be fierce, but armed with the right knowledge and great property listings, you can start maximizing your exposure immediately. For more detailed information on boosting your Airbnb visibility, download our full guide here and enjoy watching your booking rates soar!