A few years into hosting a short term rental, I’ve developed a framework on HOW to understand the Airbnb algorithm, and ultimately, use it to my advantage and get more bookings.
Of course, the algorithm can change, and no one TRULY knows what the official algorithm is behind the scenes, but this framework should give you a comprehensive approach to troubleshooting.
The Base of that Funnel
First starting with the existence of a potential guest for either the location or your type of house. This is.. tourism level data. Affected by external factors – travel restrictions, what travel patterns are like in your area, etc.
While you may not have control over this, having a good baseline understanding is important before you invest.
Next level is where you get to have some input.
Impressions
When a potential guest is searching for a place to stay, is your listing even showing up, aka, how many impressions does your listing have?
How often is it showing up on the first page, i.e. what’s your first page impression rate? The higher up you are on search, the more likely you get booked.
What helps:
- Good reviews, especially if recently
- Clickthrough rate and conversion rate (below) – afterall, Airbnb wants people to book something. That’s how they make money. 🙂
- Pricing
- Cancelation policy
- Previous host cancelation rate
- The “refresh” trick – sometimes it’s helpful to update your listing to make sure you have the right amenities boxes checked, update your description, pricing, etc. When updated the system seems to give your listing another chance to show up higher on the page – and if those appearances go well (lead to clicks at least, or better, bookings) – the listing will more likely go up in ranking. It’s somewhat of a double-edged sword but worth a try if you think you’re stuck in a rut.
Clickthrough Rate
After someone sees your listing show up in search, they see your title and thumbnail and price. They have to decide to click on it to learn more and to book. How many people are doing that, i.e., what is the clickthrough rate? On Airbnb this is shown as the number of views in absolute numbers, and as a percentage on search to listing conversion.
What helps:
- Reasonable pricing
- Great photos – especially the first few that show up as scrollable. I like to arrange the order of these to convey enough info about different rooms of the house (i.e. make sure they’re not like 5 angles of the same living room).
- Title can fill in the blanks for anything that isn’t already included (e.g. bed/bath/headcount is usually listed already – but perhaps you have a special amenity, or if you are a specific distance to a landmark)
Conversion Rate (listing-to-booking)
Lastly, after they’re on your listing page, a few things can happen.
They can decide to book right away, or they can save it to a favorites list, they might ask you a question, or just outright decide not to book with you. On Airbnb this is shown as the “listing to booking conversion rate”.
What helps:
- Detailed (but easily readable) descriptions – you’d be surprised how many people would rather just not ask a clarifying question. Remove any friction possible.
- Photos: every room, multiple angles, professionally taken. Include any amenities.
- Clear expectations are great but overly rigid/inflexible/unwelcoming rules are a deterrent.
- Pricing, fees, cancelation
- Responsiveness – guests can see how quickly they can expect a reply if they had a question.
What else have you learned about the algorithm?
Leave us a comment below!
