How do I get a higher listing?

Marina148
Level 2
Washington, DC

How do I get a higher listing?

I've been hosting for years in a very desirable location.  Right now almost all of my bookings come through a competitor, the one that starts with "V".  Even though my Airbnb listing is 4.8 on more than 150 reviews, a "Guest Favorite", it doesnt even show up in the listings when someone searches to book in my neighborhood.  I scrolled through 15 pages of listings and mine is not even there.  What's the magic secret? (and yes, it's listed and active)

2 Replies 2
Shelley159
Top Contributor
Stellenbosch, South Africa

Hi @Marina148 

Guests really like your listing, so that counts very strongly in your favour. But there are a number of things that count against your rank. If you get a lot of bookings on other sites, you're not turning guests on Airbnb, which means the algorithm doesn't get to see a lot of positive, recent reviews (as it may see from some of your competitors). You don't use flexible cancellation (something that would've boosted your rank) and (most importantly, unfortunately) the algorithm wants to see a low price.

 

I see you're quite booked up, so I used August to search for your listing.

For DC, 3 guests, Entire home, 1 to 3 August, your price is 53% higher than the average price of the first 6 listings that come up. If I specify US Capitol and repeat the search, your price is 56% higher than the average of the first 6. These results are for entire units only and already exclude the (usually cheaper) rooms listings.

Guests may be willing to pay more to stay at your listing because of its reputation, but (as you mention) it's a visibility problem and the main way to fix it is to lower the price. You can test it by lowering the price for a specific date range and searching in private mode until you can see the listing. Then lower it more and see how it moves up. Also study the effect of free cancellation and instant book. Many hosts don't like either of the three (especially not the low price!), so you can change it back, but at least then you know the effect.

 

Thanks for the thoughtful and detailed reply.   

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