10 Unique Tips to Ranking Among Airbnb’s Best Listings

If you want to maximize your bookings on Airbnb, you must make it your primary goal to have your listing become one of Airbnb’s best listings. While you can improve the amenities that your property offers or take better photos, you also need to pay attention to Airbnb’s search algorithm.

Airbnb’s ranking algorithm comprises over 100 factors in determining the ranking for your listing. Although Airbnb has not made public exactly how its algorithm works, you may be wondering if it is possible to improve your search engine ranking.

The answer is ‘Yes’ and here are 10 unique ways to do it:

1. Become a Guest Favorite

Wishlists allow guests to save and share properties that they like on Airbnb. Potential guests can add your listing to their Wishlist which will increase views and shares of your listing.

There are popular lists on Airbnb that are focused on particular themes such as location, architecture style, and interior design. By including some of the keywords found in those list names, it will make it easier for guests to find and include you in relevant wish lists.

You can ask guests who have booked with you in the past to add your listing to their Wishlist. This will also help to improve your Airbnb ranking.

2. Make It Easier to Book

While Airbnb hosts already know that offering Instant Book will land them a higher ranking on Airbnb, you should also make it easier to book your listing in another way. Airbnb sees listings with a lot of rules as difficult to book and will rank them lower than other listings with fewer restrictions.

If you can eliminate some of the requirements so that you only ask for the minimum needed to protect your interests, you can attract more potential guests and increase your ranking.

3. Add a Guest Welcome Book

A Welcome Book is an essential tool for creating an awesome stay experience for your guests. By having a Welcome Book for guests when they arrive, guests will have the answers to most of their questions at their fingertips.

This will result in fewer inquiries after guests check in and less pressure on you in maintaining a fast response rate. Having a fast response rate is one of the key factors you need to maintain in order to become one of Airbnb’s top listings.

4. Close More Bookings

If you want to rank among Airbnb’s most popular listings, it’s not enough to just attract more interest. You also need to work on closing more bookings. The ratio of bookings versus clicks is a ranking factor in Airbnb’s algorithm.

Think of common reservations that your potential guests have that ultimately resulted in them not booking your listing. Then come up with some solutions that cater to their needs.

5. Cancel Fewer Bookings

You may be tempted to cancel or refuse a booking at the first sign of a potential disagreement. However, canceled and declined bookings affect your Airbnb ranking and will hurt your chances at becoming one of Airbnb’s best listings.

Next time, decide if you really need to refuse or cancel a booking. You should also consider updating your house rules so that you can avoid scenarios that lead to this problem.

6. Airbnb’s Best Listings Have Hosts Who Over-deliver Every Time

How do hosts who rank among Airbnb’s best listings stay at the top? They under-promise but over-deliver every time.

By offering unexpected perks and making sure that you set a realistic impression of your property, you can improve the odds that your guests will be ready to leave you a 5-star review every time.

7. Increase Your Booking Window to Include More Future Dates

Opening your calendar up to more future dates will help your listing to appear in more search results. However, this is only recommended if you have a good idea of when special events, such as festivals and conferences, happen in your area.

8. Update Your Calendar Daily

Airbnb’s top listings are managed by the busiest hosts, which means that they have to update their calendar pages daily. By doing the same, you can help improve your ranking. Make it a habit to check your upcoming reservations at least once per day.

9. Up Your Response Time to Within One Hour

Airbnb’s best listings have hosts who reply within an hour. As a result, that should always be your goal when it comes to improving your response rate. Responding quickly to booking requests, even if you use Instant Book, will also help to show guests that you are an attentive host and help you to land more 5-star reviews. You may of course answer all requests manually or use a software such as iGMS to automate your messaging with guests.

10. Dynamic Pricing Guarantees More Views

Guests are always on the lookout for the best deals. As a result, you should use dynamic pricing so that your prices are not only competitive, but they’re always changing. You can change prices manually on a daily basis or use specialized tools for pricing optimization. In turn, you can attract more views for your listings due to guests returning to check to price. More views mean a higher Airbnb ranking for you.

Improving your ranking on Airbnb essentially means that you’ll have to think like a guest. As a guest, you want to find the listing that best meets your needs, which is what the Airbnb algorithm intends to deliver. So as you manage your listing, think about what guests want and need from your property and from you as a host. Make your listing guest-focused and you’ll be rewarded with a higher ranking among Airbnb’s best listings.