5 tips to improve your Airbnb listings ranking (2022 Edition)

There’s a classic saying among marketers:

“If you want to hide a dead body, place it on the 2nd page of Google search”

- simply because, it’s all about being visible in the top 10 searches for a keyword, or your business will not get clicks at all. With Airbnb listings, ranking in Brian Chesky’s platform’s search plays an equally important role - if you’re not visible high in search results, chances for keeping your property fully booked are rather low.

So how do you, as a host, can make sure your listings are visible and easily found by guests on Airbnb? Let’s dive deeper into this.

How does Airbnb rank property listings?

A proprietary algorithm at Airbnb ranks listings based on factors like guests' criteria, demographics, and saved listings to provide them with personalised search results.

More than 100 factors are considered by Airbnb's search algorithm when ranking your listing in its search results pages, ensuring that guests find exactly what they're looking for. This approach is crafted to appeal to guests and their specific needs while searching for a vacation rental, but because of the complexity of the algorithm (and the constant changes introduced in it), it’s a challenge for most hosts to position their listings as high on the search results list as they wished for.

What are the key factors affecting the Airbnb listing rating in 2022?

The only way to work on your listings’ visibility and not go crazy in the process, is to focus on the top 4-5 factors and improve on each of them. Don’t try to discover and improve the 100 mythical factors Airbnb uses - just focus on the main ones. The key factors you should take into consideration are:

Listing and review quality. Airbnb's search pages favour higher-quality listings
Popularity. You can increase your Airbnb listing's popularity by having people interact (click, view photos in the gallery) or review it. Message rate also affects your listing's popularity.
Pricing. Airbnb analyses the competitiveness of your listing's pricing against similar listings in your area.
Availability. Airbnb hosts tend to rank highly on listing calendars that have more open dates.

On top of that, it’s a known fact that new listings are automatically promoted with an additional “visibility boost” on the search page, for the first month. So you are not only competing with perfectly written listings of other hosts - but you are also going against listings that are not so great, just new. Challenging? For sure, but it’s worth working on your property descriptions and hosting activities on the platform to give yourself the best chance in this race for guests.

5 tips to improve your listing’s ranking on Airbnb

Here’s what we recommend starting with, for the biggest impact:

1. Invest in (cost-effective) hospitality tech

For example: utilising some of the available solutions to provide automated check-ins and optimise the guest experience before they even arrive. This also allows you to offer extended check-in hours for business travellers and gives a chance to score a higher guest rating.

Rankings boil down to one simple question: Which hosts prioritise the needs of their guests? And offering a self-check-in is one of the features that may visibly highlight your drive to accommodate guests’ needs.

For an affordable (starting at £5.95) solution that offers self-check-in for your guests in a nearby Point, check KeyNest Points - available in 4,000 locations in 12 countries. Let your guest pick up a key in a nearby store or cafe, using a security code. Track the key’s status via the KeyNest app. Simple!

2. Be Active & Spend Time on Airbnb

It’s a less-known fact, but Airbnb rewards active hosts - and that includes the way you use the platform/app.

Airbnb tracks your activity on its apps and websites.

If you are logging in often, it’s the sign of an active host and you may be rewarded with a higher ranking for your listing. Remember to log in frequently, once a day minimum.

Be sure to update your calendar often to show Airbnb you’re active. And of course, keep on updating your listings - with new keywords, different descriptions, and any added information (including seasonal local attractions, like Christmas Markets or Fun Fairs in the summer).

To make it easier, set up your Airbnb profile page as a homepage in your browser, so it opens whenever you start your laptop/computer.

3. Work on the reviews

This means, both the reviews of your property you receive, but also the reviews you write for the guests. Be sure to manage your reviews: review guests, remind guests and react to guest reviews.

Whether you have an Airbnb, Booking.com, or Vrbo listing, your rating and how many reviews you have directly correlated with your potential revenue.

Here’s an example

According to the global data on Airbnb, listings with over 21 reviews are 71% occupied. The stats from SeeTransparent point out that in various countries, occupancy levels grow in correlation with the growing review score.

A high review score also justifies a higher price. Among the top 10% of properties in Blackpool, UK, those with a review score greater than 4.8 received a 38% higher daily rate than those with a score below 4.5.

Ratings and reviews are even more important for new listings to ensure visibility and to build long-term trust.

4. Be Responsive

This one is a no-brainer. Guests want good, quick communication whenever they have a question or send over a request for a stay - so it’s obvious that the speed of response will affect their opinion about you and your listing.

Airbnb tracks response times in detail, so make sure you don’t miss out on this opportunity to rank higher in their search results by showcasing your quick response rate in specific cases:

Reservation request responses
Trip request responses
Replies to messages from guests

All these are extremely important - Airbnb sees any response that takes more than 24 hours as a late response, which would affect your ranking negatively.

5. Avoid limitations

Theoretically, you are free to set up restrictions like a minimum length of stay or not accepting babies as guests. This also includes switching off the instant bookings option.

Airbnb gives you the option to choose if you want them on or off, but at the same time, they do reward hosts who don’t impose restrictions.