Optimizing Airbnb Search Visibility: 6 Ways to Do It

Home to five million hosts and 7.7 active listings, competition for bookings on Airbnb is tough. With all those hosts jockeying for position, your listing can easily get lost in the shuffle. That’s why you need to do everything you can to improve your ranking on Airbnb.

Ranking highly on Airbnb search requires constantly finetuning a broad range of factors. But one of the simplest and most effective ways to improve your listing’s visibility on search results is to open up your availability.

In this article, we’ll explain how availability affects search visibility and how to maximize your Airbnb property’s availability so it shows up on more guest searches.

How Availability Impacts Airbnb Search Visibility

Airbnb's search algorithm is a sophisticated system designed to match guests with their ideal accommodations. It takes into account a variety of factors including listing availability, location, price and quality.

Listings with more open dates are more likely to meet a guest's search criteria, appearing in more search results. By offering more open dates, Airbnb hosts can significantly improve the visibility of their properties on search, thus increasing their chances of capturing potential bookers.

6 Strategies for Enhancing Airbnb Listing Availability

1. Minimize blocked dates

Avoid manually blocking too many dates.

Conducting routine maintenance is important for property maintenance and ensuring guest satisfaction. But by being strategic about how and when you schedule maintenance tasks and block out time, you can increase your listing’s availability.

2. Optimize for orphan nights

Orphan nights or gap days or sandwich nights are vacant days between bookings. If you have set a long minimum length of stay, your listing won’t show up as available during these orphan nights as they cannot accommodate your minimum night policy.

Adjust your minimum night stay policies dynamically to open up availability during gap days to improve search visibility and capitalize on last-minute bookings.

You can also schedule maintenance for a gap day rather than eating into future availability.

3. Accommodate shorter stays

Allowing shorter stays can help your listings better match guest travel plans and appear more often in search results. This is particularly effective for capturing last-minute bookings and quick getaways.

Professional hosts are already savvy to this with the average length of stay for professional host-managed active listings decreasing 20% globally in the six months from July to December 2023.

4. Allow long-term stays

Long-term stays of 28 nights or more represented 19% of gross nights booked on Airbnb in the last quarter of 2023, and generated an average 45% more earnings in 2022.

Making your listings available to long-term stays opens up availability, increases search presence and can help bring in higher earnings. They also require less turnover and operational costs.

Make sure your property has amenities such as a dedicated workspace and high-speed wi-fi that is available throughout the house and that there are photos on your listing to prove it.

5. Keep your calendar open

Airbnb listings that allow bookings up to at least 12 months in advance have a better chance of being seen, wishlisted and booked by travelers. Getting wishlisted can also help rank higher on Airbnb search.

6. Be flexible with check-ins and -outs

Some Airbnb hosts still hold on to outdated policies like allowing check-ins and check-outs only on particular days. This will severely limit availability and thus search visibility and bookings, leaving your property more often unbooked than not.

Elevate Your Airbnb Game: How to Optimize Your Airbnb Listing with Hostaway

Beyond availability, ensuring your listing is optimized for both short and long-term stays is crucial.

Airbnb management software like Hostaway offer a seamless way to manage your Airbnb listing's content and settings. As a Preferred Plus partner with Airbnb, Hostaway provides access to all the APIs and products Airbnb offers to its partners, allowing for real-time updates and optimization of your listing through a centralized dashboard.

From setting length of stay discounts to managing calendar settings for orphan nights, Hostaway can be an invaluable asset in maximizing your listing's performance on Airbnb. You can even use its guest portal to upsell additional services, experiences and even merchandise to maximize your revenue.

Hostaway customers can also contact its dedicated Customer Success team for hands-on advice and guidance on how to improve their listings for greater success.

From Listing to Bookings: Mastering Airbnb Visibility for Success

As the competition on the platform heats up, it’s imperative to use every tool and strategy at your disposal to improve your Airbnb listing's visibility. By focusing on availability and utilizing all-in-one Airbnb management platforms like Hostaway, you can enhance your chances of success in this dynamic marketplace.

FAQs

1. How should I schedule maintenance tasks to minimize blocked dates on my Airbnb calendar?

To minimize the impact on availability, try to schedule maintenance tasks for just one day, if possible, rather than spreading them out over several days. Keeping regular tabs on maintenance needs can help you plan these tasks in advance and ensure that your handyman or service provider is available at your schedule.

2. How can I effectively manage orphan nights or gap days to enhance booking opportunities?

Adjust your minimum night policy for the period of the orphan nights to make them showable. Consider adjusting rates, offering discounts or adding perks like early check-in or late checkout for a fee to make these nights more attractive. Listing your property on last-minute booking websites like GetawayGoGo and Whimstay can also help fill these gaps.

3. What amenities are important for attracting long-term stays?

For long-term stays, providing a home-like environment is essential. Important amenities include high-speed Wi-Fi available throughout the home, a great TV, dedicated workspaces, comfortable living areas, well-equipped kitchens and laundry facilities.

4. What are the best practices for setting check-in and check-out policies?

Use automated smart locks to allow guests to arrive and depart at their convenience within the time period for which their booking is active.

Clearly communicate any guidelines around check-in and check-out times and consider offering guests the option to pay for early check-in or late check-out if they need it.