How to Get More Bookings on Airbnb
What can you do to get your Airbnb listing to the top of search results and increase your bookings? Read on to discover how to beat the competition. Here are our top tips on getting more bookings.
Airbnb provides an excellent opportunity for property owners to earn extra income and connect with new people from around the world. However, with 4 million hosts and over 6 million active listings on this rental listing site, the competition is fierce, so it takes time, patience, and perseverance to secure bookings for your property.
So what can you do to get your Airbnb listing to the top of search results and increase your bookings? Read on to discover how to beat the competition. Here are our top tips on how to get more bookings on Airbnb.
If you are new to Airbnb, you may also want to check out the Airbnb FAQ to find answers to the most common questions about hosting on this platform.
How to Get More Bookings on Airbnb: 8 Essential Tips
Running an Airbnb can be stressful, especially when guests’ expectations are ever-increasing. You have to juggle many daily tasks to keep up with the competitive STR market: from cleaning your rental and property maintenance to messaging your guests and optimizing your listings.
If you do most of these tasks on your own, it can become overwhelming. But being a host can be a rewarding experience if you get it right. Automate your routine operations using short-term rental software like Hospitable, and you’ll have more time to focus on providing your guests with memorable experiences. Then they are more likely to give you 5-star reviews that will attract potential guests and get you more bookings.
Now let’s look at some proven strategies that can help you increase your visibility in search results and convince potential guests to book a stay at your vacation rental property.
Complete your profile
Travelers want to know as much as possible about you, the host, before booking a stay at your property. So have a nice profile photo and tell your guests about yourself, your interests, and your lifestyle. Write conversationally, and don’t be afraid to get creative.
A complete Airbnb profile will help you make a good first impression and show your potential guests that you are a professional host who takes their business seriously.
Create an awesome property listing
Creating a standout listing will help you rank higher on Airbnb and attract the attention of travelers. Here is what you can do:
Make your listing title and description detailed and informative, and explain what makes your property unique.
Be descriptive to help travelers get a sense of what it’s like to stay at your vacation rental property and appeal to their emotions.
Make sure you use the right keywords to help the Airbnb algorithm assign your listing a relevant category.
Upload high-quality, professional-looking photos that show off your rental space, its best features, and one-of-a-kind amenities.
Keep the details of your listing up-to-date; ensure the information is accurate and set expectations in your house rules and the house manual.
Make booking easier
Turn on Instant Book to enable guests to book a stay without your approval—it’s the easiest way to increase your bookings on Airbnb. Travelers don’t like to send many booking requests until one is finally accepted, so they’re more likely to look at listings with Instant Book enabled. The Airbnb algorithm also prioritizes Instant Book listings, giving them increased visibility and, consequently, more bookings.
Price your rental competitively
Travelers are always seeking the best value for their stay, so it’s essential to establish an attractive pricing strategy. You have to balance covering your expenses and staying competitive to come out on top and make a profit. It’s also essential to consider changes in demand and use a dynamic pricing tool for a more accurate pricing strategy.
The good news is that Hospitable users can take advantage of our built-in Dynamic Pricing solution, which is included in Host, Professional, and Mogul subscription plans, at no additional cost. So with Hospitable, you won’t have to overpay for multiple tools to optimize your nightly rates.
If you activate Dynamic Pricing for your property, Hospitable will automatically adjust your rates based on market demand, seasonality, and other factors to help maximize your revenue and maintain optimal occupancy. We’ll push your recommended rates to all your connected channels, including Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Agoda, and your Direct booking website.
Take a look at how this feature works with the interactive demo below.
Communicate like a pro
Effective communication with guests can significantly enhance their experience, making them more comfortable with you. You should always respond to guest messages as fast as possible and in a friendly manner.
It’s also important to identify situations where your guests may expect or need your support and proactively communicate with them. Being responsive when communicating with guests can help build trust and loyalty and increase the chances of repeat bookings.
Of course, manually typing out and sending messages to your guests can be very time-consuming. A smarter approach is automating your guest messaging using short-term rental software like Hospitable.
With AI tools available in your Inbox, Hospitable can help you reply to guests quickly and effectively. You can use Suggest with AI and Improve with AI to draft and correct personalized responses to guest messages, upload your guidebooks to the Knowledge Hub to help our AI write more accurate messages, and even opt for a fully automated AI Inbox while you sleep or 24/7.
Keep your place clean
Guests appreciate a neat and clean place to stay, but turnover cleaning is one of the most time-consuming responsibilities of an Airbnb host. So it makes sense to outsource this task to professional cleaners to ensure your rental is always guest-ready. You should also provide them with a cleaning checklist they should follow during each changeover.
Boost your bookings with 5-star reviews
Obtaining more guest reviews is crucial for running a successful Airbnb business. Excellent reviews and high Airbnb ratings increase your listing’s visibility in search results, enhance your credibility as a host, and help attract more bookings. Therefore, strive to provide a stellar guest experience that justifies a perfect rating and encourages guests to leave a review.
Send a thank-you message after your guests check out, expressing appreciation for their stay.
Politely request a review and emphasize how it helps improve future guest experiences.
Post a review for each of your guests—this way, you’ll significantly increase the chances of guests reviewing you in return.
Leaving a personalized review for each of your guests is time-consuming, but Hospitable can help you streamline the review management process. We’ll help you encourage guests to leave you a review with an automatic review request. You can automate publishing reviews for your guests using Review Rules or use AI to draft personalized reviews and review replies for you.
Avoid cancellations
If you want to be a successful Airbnb host, don’t cancel any bookings you have accepted. It’s a serious inconvenience for guests because it can mess up their travel plans. Airbnb wants to avoid this at all costs, so its algorithm penalizes hosts who cancel bookings.
Final Thought
This isn’t a definitive list of tips on how to get more bookings on Airbnb, but using them should get you started on the path to increasing your occupancy rate and making the most out of hosting. It’s all about making your listing more appealing to guests, setting competitive prices, and being an attentive, welcoming host.
However, to maximize your listing’s exposure, consider using additional online platforms, such as Vrbo, Booking.com, and Agoda, and create a direct booking website to secure repeat bookings.
