How To Promote Your Airbnb Listing

Promoting your Airbnb listing both on and off the Airbnb platform can be an extensive process. This article will share some tips on how to better promote your Airbnb and as a result, make more money.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The title of your listing and the description of your listing can be scanned by Google and Google will show your Airbnb listing if a user searches for keywords or a phrase that sufficiently matches your listing title and description. So how can you take advantage of this? You can try adding things to your title that are a part of the amenities that you provide. For example, “King Bed Suite with Breakfast and Free Parking...” or “Entire Property with Hot Tub and Gym...”. The choice of keywords is more an art than a science. You can play around with titles that are things people would search for in hotels and make it a little click baity.

Another search engine is, well, Airbnb itself. One tip is to put “King Bed” in your title somewhere (if you actually have a king bed in your Airbnb). This is because Airbnb currently doesn’t yet have a king bed option to toggle for users to filter listings with. This way, users will click on your listing simply because you are explicitly offering a king bed option and they are looking for an Airbnb with a king bed in it. Also, the more users click on your listing, the more the algorithm may emphasize you in the rankings. Nobody really knows what goes into the Airbnb ranking algorithm but it can be inferred that more views tend to lead to a higher ranking.

Offer Things Other Listings Aren’t Offering

For example, as the world is moving towards electric vehicles (EVs) and a more sustainable lifestyle, mention that you have the capability to charge EVs at your Airbnb or that you only use environmentally friendly ways to clean your property and that the soaps in your listing are environmentally friendly. Mention these things in the description. 

A Picture Is Worth A Million Words?

Ok, you have nice photos but everybody does. Correct, having nice pictures is the bare minimum but what you really want is to differentiate yourself from the other listings. One way is to have an accent wall which is a wall that’s painted a different, but complementary color than the other walls. This way when users are cycling through listing photos of white walls, yours can stand out. Another thing that you can do is to hang up photos that are unique that grab the attention of a user. There must be some differentiation between your listing photos than others to entice a user to click on your listing.

Another thing you can try is to stage the photos. For example, for kitchen photos, to show that your guests can cook at your Airbnb, put out the pots, pans, cutting board etc. This allows you to cater to that demographic and it conveys to them your amenities without having them actually read the list of amenities on your listing. Same thing with showing that you have Disney+ or Netflix on the TV.

And obviously, if you want to promote your listing: have great pictures. Ensure that the lighting is good, the colors are highlighted, and the room is clean. Take the pictures such that it captures everything in the view that you are trying to capture. A wide angle camera lens can help with this. Having more pictures is better than having less. Take pictures of the inside and the outside of the property and ensure that they are nice but accurate.

How To Write Your Description

Always list reasons why the guest should book your Airbnb IN LIST FORM. Use bullets to tell your guest what your amenities are, where it’s located and how far away it is from important points of interest, free stuff that comes with the stay, etc. The list will stand out in their mind easier than paragraphs of information. 

Also, use emoji check marks after every list item to add some color and fun to your description. Technically, the emojis aren’t supposed to be in the title of your listing but it may be possible to use them in the description. Use this strategy at your own risk though.

Make the description have personality. Write a story. Describe the Airbnb in a way that stands out to the user.

Manually Posting on Social Media in Actually Helpful Ways

Facebook and Reddit comments are a great way to share a link to your Airbnb. The good thing about this is that the link stays on the post as long as the post remains public so your listing is out in the universe indefinitely. The downside of this is that it is a manual process and if you don’t do it correctly, you can look very spammy. The best approach here would be to actually add value to the conversation and then provide the link.

Keep Reviews Great

This is also obvious but it should be emphasized. Providing a great experience to your guests is paramount to getting a good review. This can improve your ranking and be a big factor in the Airbnb algorithm. Improving your ranking means that you will be promoted more.

Disclaimer: BNB Toolbox does not provide tax, business, legal, investment, or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for educational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, business, legal, investment, or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, business, legal, investment, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction. Using this website means you've read and agreed to our Terms of Service.