Airbnb makes renting out their property short-term easier for anyone to earn additional income. But buying a vacation rental property in an attractive location and getting it listed on Airbnb and other similar websites isn’t enough to maximize your returns.
The key to success is to make your Airbnb stand out and provide a fantastic experience to your guests to make them happy with their stay. Being an amazing host will help you get 5-star reviews and win more bookings.
Here are Airbnb best practices to help you become a great host, maximize your listing potential, and run a successful Airbnb business.
Invest in High-Quality and Durable Furnishing
When renting out your property short-term, you need to fully furnish and equip it to provide a comfortable stay for guests. Invest in high-quality furniture and comfortable bedding that will add personality to your home and enhance your guest experience. Ensure that your furniture is durable and matches the overall style of the location and your rental property.
You must also invest in home décor to turn your home into a stylish, welcoming retreat. Select a theme and decorate your Airbnb to visually appeal to your ideal guests. Refresh your space by adding live plants to make it look and feel more inviting.
You may want to check out our blog article to find Airbnb decorating ideas and tips on creating a cozy and inviting space.
Respond to Booking Inquiries and Guest Messages Fast
Replying quickly when travelers reach out to you will show that you’re an attentive host. Airbnb requires hosts to answer messages related to bookings within 24 hours. A high response rate is one of the criteria for becoming a Superhost. This status can help you get more bookings because your listing will be higher on Airbnb’s search results pages.
Responding quickly can also reduce the chances that potential guests will book a stay elsewhere and is essential for creating the best experience. Ideally, you should try to respond to all guest messages and questions within an hour or two and be proactive in communicating with guests at all stages of their journey.
Use messaging to give your guests the information they need to have an enjoyable stay—check-in and check-out instructions, house rules, and local tips. This way, you can make them feel welcome and encourage them to share positive reviews about their stay at your rental.
Guest messaging is very time-consuming if you manually type each message to each guest, but you can automate this process using vacation rental software like Hospitable.
Have conversations with your guests even when you sleep
Optimize Your Listing for Airbnb Search Engine
Getting your listing higher in the search results on the Airbnb platform will help increase your bookings and rental income. Here is what you can do to optimize your listing for Airbnb algorithm:
Complete your host profile
Create a detailed listing description that highlights its unique features and use relevant words and phrases to help the Airbnb system show your listing in appropriate categories
Upload high-quality photos of each room in your STR property to create a tour of your rental space
Have many 5-star reviews
Enable Instant Book to allow travelers to book your listing automatically
Get Superhost status
Add an interesting guidebook to your listing to give guests a local tour
Price Your Listing Reasonably
You must keep your nightly rates competitive to ensure a high occupancy rate and maximize your profit. But you can’t rely on guesswork when setting the right price for your listing. You need to understand your market, your local competition, seasonality trends in your area, and economic factors. Your pricing strategy should be based on in-depth research and reliable data.
You need to constantly adapt to market trends and update your prices accordingly. Adjusting the nightly rates daily takes a lot of time and can turn hosting into a full-time job. So successful hosts use dynamic pricing tools that can provide you with pricing recommendations based on booking data, market supply and demand, seasonal trends, and other factors.
Keep Your Place Clean
All Airbnb guests prioritize cleanliness and expect the tidy rental space that they see in your listing photos. That’s why it’s important to thoroughly clean your property between guests and use a cleaning checklist to ensure your space is spotless. Giving your Airbnb a deep clean during each turnover can be very time-consuming, so you may consider hiring professional cleaners to help you stay on top of your cleaning routine.
Automate Your Hosting Routine
Many people start an Airbnb because they want real estate passive income, but in fact, running a STR business often feels like a full-time job and can be stressful. Many hosts opt for Airbnb automation tools to cope with the workload.
Vacation rental software like Hospitable can help you automate almost all your daily tasks, such as guest communication, updating calendar and prices on multiple channels, assigning tasks to your team, managing guest reviews, etc. Hospitable will save you time and effort in running your Airbnb business.
Your entire STR business in one convenient platform
Start today with a 14-day free trial.
Offer Amenities That Enhance Guest Experience
Wow your Airbnb guests with the right amenities. They are essential for a memorable stay and can be the key to attracting guests. Guests searching for STR properties on Airbnb often filter their search results to find top amenities. So if you want to stand out in search results, you should add these ten popular amenities and include them in your listing:
A kitchen
WiFi
A pool
A Jacuzzi
Free parking
Air conditioning or heating
A washer and dryer
Pets allowed
Laptop-friendly workspace
You should also research what amenities and extras top-performing listings in your area offer and add them to your property if you can. It’s better to focus on amenities that add value to the guest experience but don’t cost a fortune and don’t require expensive maintenance.
Bottom Line
Buying an Airbnb property with a good earning potential in a high-demand area is the first step to becoming an Airbnb host, but it’s not enough to run a profit. Since the competition in the vacation rental market is intense, you need to put effort into providing your guests with a better space and experience than the other short-term rentals in your location. Follow these Airbnb best practices, and you will be on your way to becoming a successful Airbnb host and maximizing your profit.